One bright sunny day in July, my parents and brothers and sisters decided to go berry picking in our boat. We invited my great aunt and her daughters to come too. My great aunt, Anna Polty, Nora Tikiun (Oney), Martina Harry (Oney) and Florence Peter (Oney) got into the boat and everyone was ready to push off. We pushed off and went upriver to Kwik to pick blueberries.

All morning we walked on the tundra looking for berries to pick. Since there weren't any on the wide open tundra we decided to check near the tree line. It was hot and there were a lot of bugs biting. Nora, Martina and I walked close to a clump of trees to look for berries and then went over to a little creek to get some water to drink for our mothers.

When we came to a clump of pine trees and willows we found a lot of blueberries, big ones! We started picking. Then Martina went into the trees to take a drink of water and relieve herself. Pretty soon she came out screaming and crying. Nora and I ran over to her to check what was wrong. She said, "A bumble bee just stung me"! Nora and I investigated the area and we found a bee hive with a lot of bees swarming around it in the hot sun. Nora wanted to knock down the hive but I said, "No! the bees will chase us!" Nora said, "That only happens in the movies!" Then I said, "Wait until I'm far away first," and I started running.

Martina went back to see what was happening. Nora knocked the bee hive down and took off running. Martina was so stunned at the event she just stood there watching the bees swarm until she got stung! Then she took off running after Nora and me. Our mothers asked us what was wrong and we said it was bumble bees. We ran toward the fire they'd made for lunch. Martina was crying loudly. Our mothers tried to calm her down, but she kept on crying.

Then all of a sudden we saw a black bear coming toward the noise we had made at the tree line. It probably thought Martina was her cub. So we all got into the boat as fast as we could and moved to another spot. We all stayed away from the trees in our new spot. We didn't want to have a bee bramble again!!! No trees for me!! "I don't even want to see a bee!!!

By Clara Shorty
THE END Typed by Matthew Shorty