Spring, spring at last. She had been looking forward to it for so long! Her mother had finally allowed her to go into the garden in her bare feet. The grass felt so good beneath her feet! The little fair-haired girl slid open the patio door and jumped happily into the garden. Oh, what a wonderful smell! She took a deep breath.

This is a reading sample. If you like the story, the butterflies would be happy if you bought the book!

Sun, spring, satisfaction! She was ready to conquer the world and show everyone what she would be able to do this year. For she was now a year older than last year and that was a big deal! She was already well prepared for this spring. She had put on her pink princess dress, and more importantly, she had new sparkling chalk! Yes, this year she wouldn’t just draw pictures on the patio, no, … this time she would conjure up a proper runway for their bees! „So that you can all find your way around even easier,“ she mumbled with a smile. Last year, they had already grown some sunflowers which had grown to an amazing height! They had reached the sky. „Almost ten feet high,“ her father had said. And they were really huge. Probably a hundred times her height. Or thereabouts. They wanted to do that again this year. Everyone in the family had promised to join in. And they had already made a start by planting seeds in a growing kit. She was quite proud of that. She watered them every day. Well, most days, when her mother reminded her to do it. But sometimes she even remembered on her own. Yay! After all, she was four now. No longer still three like some of her friends. „Move!“ her brother pushed her out of the way. He was going so fast that she hadn’t heard him coming. Right now, he was a Ninja. He was wearing a real Ninja suit! Chasing a monster with his water pistol crossbow. The story was that the monster was trying to hold back the spring, but there was no chance of that happening. „Eeew,“ Romy complained immediately. If looks could kill … . „I’ll get you back later for this,“ the 4-year-old was adamant. But first, she needed to get her sunglasses. Gosh, it was so bright. A ray of sunlight was hitting her like an arrow. Only her. And okay: her brother Oskar too. He was standing in the middle of the withered lawn, shading his eyes with his hand. Romy swiftly turned around, dashed into the house and came back with her pink, heart-shaped sunglasses that she had got on their last family holiday. But the funny thing was that no matter where she moved in the garden, the ray of sunshine followed her wherever she went! That was really strange. But it was also a nice warm feeling. “ Hee-hee,“ Romy giggled, jumping backwards and forwards. The sunbeam was literally sticking to her body. Oskar had now noticed this too. He did a really excellent Ninja-Judo forward roll, unexpectedly diving to the left at one point and the sunbeam still stuck to him like a magnet. „Romy, look,“ he exclaimed enthusiastically and took off on what might have been the fastest sprint he had ever run in this garden. He ran in a circle, made a loop, then jumped backwards … knocking over several flowerpots. Crash, bang, wallop. „Hee-hee,“ Romy giggled and pointed at Oskar. That was for pushing her, but the sun’s rays continued to follow both of them, no matter where they moved to. „What’s going on here?“ a voice suddenly wanted to know. Click … the two sunbeams disappeared. Their mother was standing on the patio. Romy looked at Oskar in surprise. „Nothing, Mum. Nothing!“ He raised his hands innocently and quickly put the flowerpots back. Fortunately, none of them were damaged. „Well, it was pretty loud out here for nothing,“ she whispered, and seeing that nothing was broken and nobody was hurt, she went back inside the house. Click … the beams of sunlight were back. „Hee-hee,“ Romy just giggled. However, a white fluffy cloud now moved over them in the sky. And somehow, Romy got the feeling that hundreds of pairs of eyes were watching her. Not nearby, but from the other side of the field that bordered their house. Only a small hedge separated it from their garden. But at least she was able to see over it now. After all, she was no longer three and therefore no longer a little girl. „Shall we count spring bees?“ Oskar came over to her. Oh, yes! They had done that the previous year, too. It was really easy. You just had to sit down in front of the blossoming rosemary and start counting. Romy and Oskar wandered through the garden, past the swing and the sandpit, and sat down in front of the green bush. A beautiful scent came from the bush with its purple flowers. Their father was a forest warden and had brought it home from the forest. Or something like that. Neither of them had really paid attention. Whatever, the rosemary had suddenly been there. Last year, wild bees had loved it. Romy and Oskar had issued themselves a bee rescue pass each, because of it and the sunflowers, but that was top secret. Strictly confidential. „Can you see anything?“ Oskar asked Romy. Apart from three electric blue fireflies, there was nothing going on. „Hmm,“ Oskar scratched his head. He got up and took a look at the thermometer. He had already learned how to read. „But it’s warm enough,“ he shouted over to Romy. It was more than 10 degrees, he had determined. Where were all the wild bees? This time last year, the bees had already been flying around! Strange, really strange. Oskar looked at Romy with a questioning look. In her pink princess dress, she only shrugged her shoulders sadly: „I don’t know … “ She stood up and went closer to the rosemary. „Hmm“ now the three electric blue fireflies had disappeared, too. Oh no, they were still there. Right at the back of the insect hotel. Romy followed them and was now standing in front of the wooden block with holes in it. It was hanging quite high up on the garden shed. Oskar came and stood right next to her. „Well, that’s unusual“ he scratched his head again to show that he was thinking about the situation. The holes that should actually have been open by now were still blocked. Usually, there would have been mason bees, but they should have already hatched and been on their way to eagerly fill the tubes with eggs, pollen and nectar themselves. That had always been their job, ever since the beginning of time. It was the law. „Should I lift you up and you can see if there are any in there?“ Oskar suggested. „Oh yes“ Romy exclaimed. Oskar was her big brother – and he was pretty strong. One, two, three… he already had his hands around her waist and she shot up. Sitting on top of the insect hotel, the three electric blue fireflies were watching her. „Nothing to see, Oskar,“ she shouted down from her position up high. Romy even got one eye very close to a hole in the log. It was strange. There really was nothing at all to see. Romy felt herself starting to feel sad. But they had made such an effort last year. „Ugh,“ came from down below. Romy looked into another hole. Nothing, absolutely nothing! „How much longer?“ „There are no bees, Oskar!“ Oskar groaned, as he set his little sister back down. „And now?“ The answer to this question came in the form of another question: „Will you please come back in now?“ called their mother. Ninja Oskar was also dejected. They had known for some time that the wild bees were unwell. That was why they had made bee rescue badges and planted the sunflowers last year! That was the reason their father had built the insect hotels with them! What could have happened to them? Had they maybe moved? Was their big garden with its four or five sunflowers not good enough? But their garden was spacious! There was plenty of mowed lawn for them to play on! The bees could also play around there! Oskar and Romy turned around one more time. That’s when they noticed that the two rays of sunlight had disappeared. So had the three electric blue fireflies. Could it be that they didn’t have enough tasty flowers and herbs for wild bees in their big garden after all? „Or could it simply be that they had been kidnapped by a monster?“ Oskar looked at Romy in shock. „Oh dear,“ she exclaimed.

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Oskar took up his Ninja stance again. Romy anxiously positioned herself behind him. „Then, then…“ his imagination ran away with him. It must have been the three double-headed troll Martians he had chased earlier. He had had to push Romy aside for her own safety, otherwise they would have gobbled her up. But if they were able to abduct all the wild bees from the neighbouring field, maybe even other creatures as well, or even to eat them, then he was not strong enough to fight them on his own. Some kind of superhero squad would be needed. Romy realised that her brother’s imagination was taking over. Oh yes, she loved that. Just brilliant! That’s where the greatest stories came from! This would require a super-secret elite special gang which he could support with his Ninja powers. Something like … „The Bee-Team,“ he cried out. Romy opened her eyes. „Yes, the Bee-Team!“ Romy and Oskar high-fived and hugged each other.

But suddenly, a voice called out. „Children, are you coming inside?“ Oh! Not now! But they missed something. Three rabbits scurried away frantically. They had been hiding in the hedge, eavesdropping. When the name „The Bee-Team“ was mentioned, their eyes had grown wide. Now they were running as fast as they could. „The Bee-Team“. They now had a name, and it was their only chance.

Later that evening, after their good night prayer while they were lying in bed, their mother gave them each a kiss on the forehead, then she pulled the door, nearly closing it but leaving it slightly ajar. Romy and Oskar waited until they heard her going down the stairs. „I have asked the good Lord to send the Bee-Team,“ Romy whispered to Oskar. He was looking up at the starry sky above their beds. He waited a moment. „Me too,“ he whispered back.

As he rolled over, he started to wonder what they would look like. Romy was already picturing the Bee-Team saving everyone. „Good night,“ she whispered, playing with the blanket with her feet. She held her cuddly toy cat close to her neck. „We need the Bee-Team,“ she gently whispered. Her thoughts now turned to her friends, they had to tell them about the missing bees, then they both fell asleep. Soon both of them started to dream. But they were not good dreams: there were wild bees that were being eaten up by hundreds of monsters, and others that were starving and dying of thirst in bare fields. Farmers in their welly boots stood right in front of them and mocked them as they lay dying. They pointed their fingers at them. There were neighbours screaming, „We’ll show the wild bees and animals who’s in charge.“ Then they uprooted the last flowers and bushes from their gardens, chopped down the last beautiful trees and burned down whole forests.

Once that had been done, the concrete mixers came and covered all the surfaces. Everything turned to grey. Even the gardens. They wanted space for cars and stinking factories. Not one spot was left green. Not a single one. Romy and Oskar both began to sweat and tremble in their beds. „Help, help,“ they murmured anxiously. They twitched. Suddenly, at the same time, they both whispered out into the night, in barely audible voices: „Help, we need the Bee-Team!“ triggering a magical code. The three electric blue fireflies on the outside of their windowpane opened their eyes in surprise.

All of a sudden, there was a crackling and cracking noise in the children’s room. Magic was returning to the blue planet. Thousands of little stars appeared directly above their beds, they literally electrified the air. And then it happened: suddenly the golden stars danced beautifully across Oskar and Romy’s faces, then gathered in the middle of the room and turned into a rainbow-coloured ball of energy. The children’s room was now a sparkling part of the rainbow magic. „Bee-Team, come,“ Oskar and Romy tossed and turned at the same time in their sleep and the magic coloured ball shot out into the night, deep into space. They had sent out the call for help which was known throughout the universe – the code. The code for the real Bee-Team …