The Sting (twice bitten)

I used to go climbing on an old ruin in Cannizaro Park, near to where I lived in London. I’d walk there once a week and my route took me past some allotments. One time, just as I’m passing the allotments, I hear a woman’s screaming. I look through a hole in the fence to see a woman - a redhead with long hair - alone in the middle of a vegetable patch, pulling her hair and shaking her head like mad.Then alone amongst the greens, the redhead stops pulling her hair and starts slapping her head. I deduce she has a bee her hair. I continue on my route.

Now here’s the sting. The following week – at about the same time of day – just as I’m passing the allotment, the same thing happened all over again: same redhead, same screaming, same hair-pulling followed by the now familiar head-slapping routine. For all I knew it might have even been the same bee.