Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Beatrice the Batty Buzzard


Blogging from A to Z April Challenge

 The ABCs of Behavior and Emotions



Beatrice the Batty Buzzard

It wasn’t just that Beatrice talked a little crazy and did strange things, but she looked the part as well. Her neck feathers always stuck straight up as though she never even tried to groom herself, her claws were always dirty and crusted with fur and blood, and her eyes were wild. Nobody wants to be close to a buzzard with wild eyes.

The day she flew into Scrubby Palm Nature Preserve, she knew right away she was in trouble. In a flash she was surrounded by parrots, thousands of them, flitting and zooming and squawking, doing their best to chase her away. After one of the parrots attacked Beatrice from behind and pecked her hard on the head, Beatrice gave up. She spread her huge wings and soared out of the park on a gust of wind, finally landing on the cross beam of a wooden telephone pole. She hung her head and cried.

A high voice squeaked a greeting. “Hey.”

Beatrice glanced up at the sound and looked all around. Nothing.

“Down here,” the squeaky voice said. “What’s wrong?”

Squinting into the sun made it hard to see, but eventually Beatrice spotted the vole. Hardly big enough for a snack. “Parrots,” she said. “A whole flock of them. They just chased me out of Scrubby Palm.”

“They’re always like that. They think they own the place. I’m Victor the Vagabond Vole, by the way. And you are?”

“Beatrice.” She chose not to elaborate.

“Nice to meet you. Well, gotta keep moving. Don’t let the parrots get you down.”

“Wait.”

The vole stopped. “Yeah?”

“I just want to thank you…for being nice.”

“No problem.”

“Hold on. I’ll swoop down there and give you a proper hug.”

“Uh, a hug?”

“Sure. Is it okay with you?”

“I guess. Yeah, okay.”

 And that was the end of the vole who tried to be nice to Beatrice the Batty Buzzard. Maybe Beatrice isn’t so batty after all.

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15 comments:

Bob/Sally said...

Thanks for stopping by - happy 'B' day.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

That's just what buzzards do!

Jan Morrison said...

Yikes! That Beatrice. By the by, my mother's name was Beatrice Beulah! How's that for a moniker? I love your new Aesop approach Pat and look forward to the whole animalia alphabetium.

Unknown said...

How wonderful to see new work! I love that you are being so original. This is my first visit to your blog. Please visit ours at http://citymusecountrymuse2012.blogspot.com/ and please sign up to join our site if you like what you see!

Unknown said...

Beware the bald bird. You're so creative, Pat!

Patricia Stoltey said...

Creative? Or just plain silly? Anyway I'm having fun.

J.L. Campbell said...

Oh boy, this smacks of a Jamaican proverb that says 'sorry fi mawga (meagre) dog, mawga dog tun (turn) round bite you. Just what the buzzard did to the vole. Entertaining stories so far.

Mary Aalgaard said...

Oh, that tricky, tricky, Beatrice!
Play off the Page

Rebecca Green Gasper said...

Very cleaver- fun topic:) Oh Beatrice. Best to you !

Laura said...

HaHaHA! Genius!
We had a william the bewildered buzzard when I was a kid. He seemed to have forgotten that he was a buzzard and just hopped around our field, eating worms. Silly thing!
Lx

Carol Kilgore said...

Perfect mystery theme ... things are not always as they seem. Especially if they look like a batty buzzard :)

Loved this!

Anonymous said...

Pat - I am so very much loviing your way of going about this A-Z challenge. And you're so right. Batty isn't always batty...

klahanie said...

Hi Patricia,

Excellent and I've met a few batty buzzards. Some of my neighbours, good grief! :)

Enjoy the alphabet challenge.

Gary :)

Luana Krause said...

Love your alliterative character names! Very cool. Can't beat the "give me a hug" ending.

Rena Jones said...

Love it.