When The Bee Stings Thrice

It was about a most normal morning today, except that I had a little repair job at the lighthouse parking lot, where local vandals had demolished a picnic bench. So I had been out there doing the necessary repairs. With the sun out it was already pretty hot when I was on my way back home riding down the road with an open side window. Suddenly something hit me in my face really hard, an insect, no doubt, and it was big. Almost expecting a sting, I was surprised when nothing happened so I continued driving thinking that whatever it had been, was knocked unconscious on the floor. When going through the village of Wilsons Beach, I suddenly felt a sting at my throat. I hit it with my hand, and I felt the insect falling down the inside of my T-shirt, where it stung twice. By now, I had my foot heavily on the brakes, coming to a screeching emergency stop right in front of a storefront, where I exited the van banging on my chest and ripping and tearing off my shirt. I was in a panic. And there….I saw a huge paper vasp falling to the pavement, where it was crushed by my foot. Indeed, I was stomping on it. Ouch, my chest and my throat were hurting, but had somebody seen my involuntary strip-show?  Looking around I couldn’t see anybody, so I got back behind the wheel. When approaching the next bend I noticed that my brakes were gone.  The brake pedal was soft like a balloon with half the pressure. Later, I found that a brake line on a rear wheel had ruptured when I did the sudden brake-up. So, Monday I have an appointment at the local repair shop. Like I said initially: It was about a normal morning…well, almost.