Do you remember Fuzz the bumblebee? Well, Fuzz was now almost three months old and a teenager in bumblebee years.
Eager and curious about the wide world, Fuzz would talk to his friends, the birds, about the places they flew to. As he heard them describe lands far and near, Fuzz's eyes would shine with excitement!
The birds told him about mountains and lakes, oceans and cities, and all the wondrous places they had gone to. As Fuzz heard these wondrous tales, he started to wonder when he would visit them.
But there was a problem! Fuzz’s mother and father had never shown any interest in going on vacation and Fuzz had not been anywhere on a holiday. That afternoon, when he went home to eat lunch, he asked his mother, Mrs. Bumblebee, “Ma, why don’t we ever go on holiday?”
Mrs. Bumblebee served him a dollop of nectar and said, “Because this is our home. We cannot live anywhere or go anywhere. We must live in a cold place.”
“But why?” asked Fuzz, puzzled. “Don’t ask so many questions!” said Mrs. Bumblebee in a stern tone.
Fuzz stopped asking his mother questions but he decided that he would go on a holiday by himself, if his parents did not want to take him. But now that he had decided this, the next thing that Fuzz had to figure out was where he wanted to go. Should he go to see a mountain? Should he go to another forest? Or should he visit the beach?
Fuzz decided to go ask his friends, the birds, again. The birds described the mountains and forest and seas in detail. After hearing them, Fuzz decided he would go to a nice nearby beach on a vacation. The sea seemed to be the most amazing thing to him. It was unlike anything he had ever seen in his short bee life. And so Fuzz started to prepare for his vacation.
The next day, early in the morning, he packed a small backpack full of shorts and tee-shirts, a beach blanket and some suntan lotion. As he was putting some sunglasses into his bag, Mrs. Bumblebee entered his room and looked around astonished. “What on earth are you doing?” she asked.
“I am packing to go on vacation!” replied Fuzz determinedly, not looking at his mother. “But where will you go?” she asked, stunned. “To the beach..” answered Fuzz. “And don’t you try to stop me, because I am determined to go!”
Mrs. Bumblebee folded her wings and said, “You are a stupid child! Fine, I will not stop you!”
Fuzz was surprised at how easily his mother had given in, and giving her no chance to change her mind, he slung his backpack onto his shoulders, kissed his mother, and flew up and out into the sky. As Fuzz flew, he met many other birds and bees and stopped to eat some honey sandwiches he had brought from home.
After flying nearly four hours, Fuzz heard a curious roaring sound. It was faint but slowly grew louder as he flew towards it. He was terribly excited. Fuzz’s bird friends had told him how the sea made loud sounds and had waves. Sure enough, as he flew some more and looked down, he saw a large ocean, with waves and everything.
Fuzz was very happy. He slowly flew towards the yellow sands and landed with a soft plop onto a nice sunny spot. Putting his backpack down, he opened it and took out his beach blanket. Someone had put up some beach umbrellas and he spread the blanket underneath one of them.
He lay down contentedly and sighed with happiness at finally being on vacation. But after about 10 minutes, there was a problem. Fuzz started to feel very hot. The sun was burning down and though the beach umbrella did provide some shade, it was not nearly enough.
Fuzz was a bumblebee with a furry body and that made it worse. Moreover, he was used to living in cold areas and had never been to a warm place. Fuzz started to feel almost faint with the heat and collapsed onto his blanket.
Luckily, there were two birds nearby, who had seen what happened. They flew over and gently sprinkled some cold water on Fuzz’s face. Fuzz looked around weakly and saw the two birds hovering over him.
“Hi! Are you ok?” asked one of them in a high piping voice. Fuzz nodded and said, “I am ok but this heat is too much!”
The other bird who was a little older and wiser exclaimed, “But you are a bumblebee! You cannot be in a hot place like this. How and why did you come here?”
“I flew here for a vacation!” replied Fuzz sadly. “Well, we must get you back home as soon as we can!” said the bird firmly. “Come on, Chirpy, let’s get him up and away!” he said to the younger bird. “Sure, Triller!” replied Chirpy.
So, Chirpy and Triller lifted Fuzz between them and started to fly, asking him for directions now and then. It took them a little longer as Fuzz was really weak, and they stopped twice for water and some nectar.
Finally, Fuzz saw the tree he lived in up ahead. The birds gently laid him down on a branch and said, “We must get back! We are flying further south for the winter months.”
Fuzz thanked his two new friends and made them promise to come and visit him next year. After waving goodbye, he went inside. His mother and father were both home. Seeing him, his mother asked, “What happened? You did not stay on vacation?”
“No, Ma! I am sorry. I made a stupid mistake. I could not stay on the beach - it was too hot for me” said Fuzz ashamedly.
“Hmmm” replied his mother. “Let this be a lesson to you. There is a reason we don’t go on vacation..” HIs father nodded and raised his wings. Fuzz flew to his parents and hugged them, saying, “I will never do it again”.
And so Fuzz the bumblebee learnt the hard way that not everything is for everybody!
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