Story Two: Of raccoon Bees and Corn Mice


The wind rustled through the forest of tall corn stalks as the little forms of mice darted about. Upon their heads they wore small hats woven from strands of corn husk and hairs from their tails as they worked; pulling kernels off their tails and burying them in the ground with small shovels. The little critters simply called corn mice enjoyed their labor, planting and watering their seedlings till the plants towered far above them for the big folk to harvest. They knew that in late fall the Great Groo; their revered friend would come at first harvest, signaling that it was time to gather all the young mice born from their special seeds and hunker down in their dens for winter. But for now it was mid spring, the prime planting season. As the mice worked, cute raccoon bees buzzed around, inspecting the tall plants for pollen. The friendly mice would tip their hats to the bees as they flew by and give a friendly hello before resuming planting.

By mid day the mice and bees would wander over to Moo Meadows and share a lunch of honey and nuts. The strange pairing of raccoon bees and corn mice would happily chat, trade goods, or snuggle up for a short nap before they would have to return to the fields and their respective tasks. At sundown the bees and mice would bid each goodbye and head back to their hives and dens for the night. This routine was rarely interrupted from spring to early summer when the stalks bearing the next generation of corn mice would ripe. There would be a celebration, the oldest of the mice; too old to plant in the fields, would don their safety vests woven from corn fiber and painted meticulously in blue and yellow by the Great Groo himself and greet the specially chosen raccoon bees that guarded the special birthing fields.