Sadly the excess baggage and his minor body faults caused the ensuing and much larger accident. Buzby caught his undercarriage on the tall trees and the impact that followed was rather stunning to say the least.
He had a full head-on collision with a very old established tree and his descent seemed painfully slow to the onlookers and not to mention poor Buzby whose beak was crumpled and stuck in the tree!! He went down, in a vertical position with his beak making the most awful grinding and scraping noises as it cut a furrow in the bark. Buzby came to land at the base of the tree and went ‘splat’ into a patch of soft mud, which was the only fortunate part of the whole sorry incident.
His stocks and supplies were scattered far and wide and soon tidied away by the local ant community. This was by the by except, if they had been left at the crash site it would have been proof for Buzby as to the cause of the bump and ensuing grind.
Buzby lay there flat on his belly and tried to lift himself from the mud but to no avail. He was so deeply embedded that, had it not been for his totally upward-bent beak pronged into the tree he would have sunk completely into the soft spot. The farewell party were in shock after seeing Buzby’s awful downfall and it took them a while to gather their wits. They rushed to the embedded Buzby. With much struggling, pulling and pushing, they lifted him from the mud.
The damage was surveyed and this time not only was his beak bent and further ridged his underbelly and legs were severely bruised and battered too. The next moment Buzby’s mother went over to Buzby and gave him a severe reprimand for attempting a flight in such an unfit and overweight condition. All Buzby could do was emit a splutter - mainly because his poor beak was bent and bunged with mud. However, it was also in disbelief at her false accusations about his body’s lack of condition.
He was even more surprised though at her timing being just after his accident but he thought, Perhaps she is in shock. Surely his Mum couldn’t have forgotten his accident already. Or could she? Mrs. Beakwell was rather renowned for her muddled remembrancies but even so it seemed unlikely that she could have forgotten. Poor Buzby was never to find out the reason for her strange behaviour and so it was to stay one of life’s many mysteries.
He was even more surprised though at her ill-timed chastising and lack of concern - perhaps his Mum was in shock. Surely she couldn’t have forgotten his traumatic accident already. Or could she? Well Mrs. Beakwell was rather renowned for her absentmindedness but even so it seemed unlikely. (Buzby never was to find out the reason for her strange behaviour and it was to stay one of life’s many mysteries. Nonetheless he forgave her without question and tried to forget the incident which was not always an easy thing to do.)
Poor Buzby continued to proclaim his innocence to all around and even reminded his Mum of all the supplies she had loaded onto him. As there was not a scrap of evidence left at the scene of the accident, they were rather inclined to believe Buzby’s absent-minded Mother. And so it came to be that Buzby was grounded for what seemed an eternity.
Following the long incapacitation after his fall from grace he had become severely overweight and this added even more fuel to the ‘excess fat’ theory. It also became apparent that he would be living with a permanently upward bent and corrugated bill. Buzby was so despondent about the shape of bill and his current lifestyle that he took to comfort eating.
Once again all his friends teased him and this time gave him the new and more hurtful name of Bill Bowing. His family still called him Buzby, or Buzz for short, and whenever his mother called out ‘Buzz’ the whole neighbourhood hid their heads or scuttled for cover. Even the word ‘Bill’ shouted across the airways caused a major stir.
Not only did Buzby have a problem with his identity he also became rather hurt by the uncalled for reactions. Just to add insult to injury he suffered the indignity of chronic nasal congestion, too. This he could accept as a result of his most recent mishap but the unreasonable response to his given names hurt and perplexed him.
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Soon after this he decided to get to the bottom of everyone’s moving responses and he set off in search of Beryl Buzzington-Beezwax. They were very old friends and had spent many hours comparing buzz n' bee notes. Even though Beryl thought she was the 'beez-neez' Buzby was very fond of her because they had a lot in common. You see, Buzby was honey-legged and Beryl was honey-combed, not to mention honey-nosed, at times!
He located her buried in the lily trumpet where she often played with a very distant cousin of Nigel the Nectar Collector. It was always wonderful to watch them romping, rolling and generally posing in flower trumpets whilst bathing their bodies in all manner of pollen. Henry Honey-Body happened to be with her that day and Buzby was mesmerised by their pollen antics. When Beryl caught sight of the awe filled buzzard she hummed out, “Hello Buzby,” and Henry flew away in what seemed a great flap.
Beryl looked at the very despondent Buzzard and asked him why he looked so fed up and sad.
The down and heart buzzard lifted his head and answered Beryl by saying, “Do you know, Beryl, you are the only one that, with the exception of my mother who just cringes, does not duck away when they hear my name.”
Beryl thought for a moment and then confided that whenever she heard ‘Buzz’ or ‘Buzzy Bee’ yelled across the airways, everyone seemed to do the same to her.
Because he was so far away in thought he was not listening to what Beryl had said. He came back from his dream state and said, “It is very hurtful and the only reason I can think of is that it has something to do with the recent mishap.” Buzby became more despondent and Beryl looked puzzled at what she thought was his concern for her.
