Extraordinarily Ben

From an eagle's perspective, it was a perfect location. The yellow-green fields and the deep forest tree which shaded a lake and held up man-made jetty with its routes. From a child's perspective, it was an adventure playground. From Ben’s perspective, it was a world map with an endless spinning compass.

Sprawled out on a rug upon the luscious freshly cut grass, Katie, a 30-year-old receptionist, lay pleasantly soaking in the warm winters sun. Her notebook lay sprawled across her lap, on top of her baggy boyfriend jeans, and deep in thought. The sounds of the ducks floating on the lake gave her peace, the distant laughter of the children in the playground brought her comfort. Her oceanic blue eyes fixated on the ripples in the water caused by the ducks. Lost in thought, and then lost the thought altogether because there were a pair of white shoes and dark grey pants standing in her view.

Katie looked up in surprise to see a young boy with a halo ring of sunlight around him. He was no older than eight, she squinted, raising her hand above her eyes to help them adjust to the collision of contrasts. He didn’t say much at first, he just stood there rocking backwards and forwards, his hands fidgeting, his eyes on her shoes. Katie stared stunned at the boy and then whilst still frowning, she smiled with a friendly yet confused expression. Katie looked off into the distance, waiting for someone to call his name, an adult to walk over to them, anything. No one called out, no one walked over. It was just her and this kid.

“ah, hello. I’m Katie, are you alright?”, Katie asked smiling.

With his eyes locked on her shoes, he placed his left hand over his right hand and forcefully pushed his hands to his chest and called out his name.

“Ben!...I.. I.. I am.. am Ben.” He stuttered.

“Hi Ben, Are you lost?”, Katie asked calmly. His eyes hadn’t moved off Katies grey sneakers and ignored her question. Instead, with a sad expression, Ben asked her a different question, with a shaken tone.

“Why.. why.. why does a bee die after it stings you?” With his eyes still glued to her shoes, Ben held out his hand to show Katie he was holding a dead bee. Katie had panic in her eyes. Her first initial thought went right back to the child’s wellbeing.

‘Who owns this child? Did he just get stung?’, she thought to herself as her eyes skimmed over the perimeter in panic. No distressed adults spotted.

“Ben, did the bee sting you? Where are your parents?”, Katie blurted out quite concerned.

“The bee died, and I am still here. Why did the bee die?” He asked determinedly. Then Katie thought back to his question. She honestly couldn’t answer him. Ben’s way of wording the question had struck a chord in her throat. She had already learnt so much from this young boy. Ben had asked her about one individual bee. Katie was in disbelief, up until one minute ago she didn’t know Ben at all, but now she knew he wasn’t up for a 101-Science lesson explaining how the barb eventually stops the bee’s heart. He knew all that already. No, instead, a random boy, stood before her demanding answers to one of life’s philosophical questions.

Katie was now once again deep in thought, but now about Ben’s question. Her own issues suddenly felt irrelevant. It came to Katie’s attention now that she was also gazing in thought. Like popcorn, an idea popped into her mind, perhaps an answer? Katie’s eyes met Ben’s gaze, still fixated on her shoes.

“Ben, they are Earth warriors. The bees fight to keep their Queen alive, as without their Queen they cannot create more life.” This was her five second thought to his endless life question.

“But if the Queen needs her bees alive for her own survival, why do they die?” Ben asked again. His frustration became more evident as his stutter had completely disappeared. Katie sat deep in thought again. Ben wanted a philosophical explanation, and the more Katie thought about it, the more she knew she couldn’t give him one answer; she had three forming. From her own experience, she knew that she should never give a child multiple answers to one question. This child, however, was unique. Katie thought Ben was extremely gifted. Just before she could properly answer his question, Ben’s father approached them out of thin air, and quickly whisked Ben away apologetically. He appeared to be not much older than Katie, and muttered in embarrassment that his son had ASD, as if that were an excuse for his child’s behaviour.

Katie in shock, watched as they staggered across the field. If Ben’s father sat with them and allowed them to finish the conversation, Katie wouldn’t have had to endure a screaming child being dragged away by his father.

“Why did the bee die?!” Ben continued to scream in hysterics. Katie watched Ben’s Dad forcibly attempt to shove Ben in the car, and then like clockwork an answer came to her. She threw her book to the side, left her phone, keys and bag on the rug and ran. Katie bolted across the field and cut Ben’s car off, with two hands hitting its bonnet, before it hit the main road. Ben’s father stopped in the middle of the road, bewildered and going purple in the face.

“I have..”, Katie panted as she slapped her jeans and lent forward. “I have.. answers.. for… Ben.”. Ben was excited and jumped out of the car and waited with Katie while his dad drove back into the parking lot.

“I’m Katie. Ben and I had a nice chat before, and I think it’s important we finish it.”, explained Katie apologetically. Ben beamed up at her.

“I’m David, Ben’s father.”, David expressed uncomfortably. The three of them started their walk back to where Katie and Ben first met, to where the ducks swam, and the water rippled. In the time it took them to walk over to the rug, David found his own words.

“I just want you to know, I am not ashamed of my son. I’m very aware of the space Ben takes up and I need him to learn how to not disturb or interrupt others…”, said David rather abruptly. “… Especially when they looked like yourself in thought.”, David sheepishly expressed.

“I appreciate your feedback, if anything it was good he distracted me from my own problems.”, Katie expressed as her blue eyes shone in the red drooping sunlight. “..Ben I have an answer for you.”. Ben’s eyes lit up in excitement.

“Sorry..”, interrupted David. “..What is this about?”

“Oh, Dad. Keep up. Bee’s. Why they die when they sting you!”, Ben sprayed impatiently as the three of them sat comfortably on Katie’s rug.

“Ben, did you get stung?”, asked David concerned.

“Dad. Stop! I need the answer!”, yelled Ben who was now extremely frustrated. Katie tried not to laugh and David shot a concerned, confused look at her.

“Yes, that was my initial response to, but Ben didn’t let go of the question. He was locked on.”, laughed Katie and David shot her a comfortable look of acknowledgement, he understood all too well what she meant.

“Oh, go get married already!!!..”, shouted Ben which shocked Katie and David back into reality. “.. But first! Tell me! WHY DO BEES DIE WHEN THEY STING YOU!”, shouted Ben.

“Oh, yes of course..”, laughed Katie with an odd look on her face, now diving back into Ben’s world. “.. Ben. If there is no Queen Bee, there is no bee colony. All the bees will die…”

“Yes, I know, I know. Get to the point.”, Ben scolded frantically.

“Ben, deep breaths, I’m not going to say anything more until you’re ready to listen.”, Katie spoke calmly, and soothingly. Ben took a deep breath and nodded for her to proceed. David’s eyelids rose wide in disbelief as if he was seeing his son correct himself for the first time.

Katie smiled, she realised that Ben no longer had his eyes on her shoes. They were locked onto Katie’s eyes. His eyes were a mix of the ocean and land. She had never seen anything like them before. He was more than just interested; he was more than just absorbing Katie’s every word, he was engaged.

Katie continued, “…I understand that you just want to know why the barb is the mechanism for both the survival and the succumbing of the bee. In my eyes Ben, you and Queen-Bee play very similar roles. The Queen keeps the colony alive and without you Ben I personally wouldn’t be feeling so attentive right now. You aren’t responsible for keeping me alive, but you can wake me up as a person and I believe you have capability of waking up the whole society. You are the very thing we need in order to strive and survive. Without you Ben, we would be lost in our normal everyday routines. We would be lost in our own thoughts without the necessary disturbances. Without you, we would only be breathing and not truly living. We, as a society should not be ashamed of you and what you bring to the table. We should be learning from you. You can teach us how to connect with one another again. I need to thank you for approaching me today. Thank you for asking the questions that allowed me to see with fresh eyes.”, Katie explained. Ben looked at her with an expression that could only be read as “you see me,” or “I feel heard.” David looked at her with an expression that could only be read as "what did she just say?". Tears welled up in his eyes as disbelief shook him.

Katie once again left her things at that now, very special place, and walked them back to their car. Ben ran ahead chasing a butterfly and it gave David and Katie some time to talk.

“I want to thank you…”, David started as he shifted awkwardly, “… It’s just that I am so used to people shoving Ben to the side. Katie, you made me realise he will be okay.”, David said, tearing.

“David, I don’t see Ben as a challenge, he is the challenge. Not only could he see through the bee’s fundamental issues, but he was also capable and willing to approach a stranger to express his concerns. I guarantee you; he will be able to give depth, clarity and insight to those people who wish to learn from him. He will be able to challenge and push for answers from those who try to hide it. If this child has the ability of zoning in on something so miniscule and be able to see the cracks and flaws in that system, he has the ability to scare the ordinary, to throw life off balance, to spot the concrete-cancer causing cracks in our system. He asks the right questions.”, Katie said slowly. David embraced Katie in one of his bear-hugs, and sobbed uncontrollable grateful tears.

“You see him too.”, he choked up.

Katie watched as their black sedan drove away for the second time that day, only this time it she watched Ben wave as it disappeared out of sight. She then walked back to the spot where they once all sat. An unfamiliar wave of tranquillity washed over her. Her recent challenges no longer served a purpose. Only after nightfall, had her thoughts finally words, and Katie began to write.

'April 10, 2019

I met Ben today,

He taught me to step back and observe from a new angle.

To all the Ben’s out there, I hear you, I see you.

This story was never about me;

it was about Ben and his bee.

And I will see them again….’