Miss Trudy's Mishap

It was last Monday morning when Ozman called Fuzzy to his office. It seems rumours were flying as to the absence of Ms Trudy from the office. She was normally the first one in, as not to come she could not stand to be second at anything, even an ability to be prompt. When Fuzzy entered Ozman's office, he found his boss on the phone and the expression on his face did not bode well.

Ozman motioned for Fuzzy to sit. He did and waited for Ozman to finish what was clearly a stressfull call. The news could not be good. After he hung up the phone, he shook his head, took deep breath and to Fuzzy's surprise let out a bit of laugh. "Well my boy, looks like in this issue we have bit -- would not call it sad -- a bit interesting news to report. It would seem that that Ms Trudy has had a rather unfortunate accident, and so it looks like I will be writing the gossip column for her until she gets back on her paws.

"Now what I have to share with you at this point is mostly hearsay."

Fuzzy nodded his head to indicate he understood then asked, "What was that mishap which has befallen our ever sweet and sour Ms Trudy?"

"Like I said, all bits and pieces as far as I have gathered, but so far looks like this is the basic truth of what happened.

"Trudy's house is a short walk from the Mah Hoo Nah River Spa, which is operated by her sister, Judy. Trudy and Judy look very much alike such is the nature of twins (not to mention being all covered in fur and all, as is the case with bears - no offence), however their personalities are quite different. Trudy is very girly, inquisitive and nosy, if a smidgin biased on a variety of issues, and hence makes a terrific gossip columnist.

"Judy, on the other hand, is kind, outgoing, athletic and a bit of a rebel. She is the co-owner of the spa, is a good and stern businesswoman and dislikes things that are not good for business. The two ladies do not always see eye to eye on social points, and yet the sisters in the best of times are like the sun and the moon; they each shine bright in their own way.

"Anyway, I understand from my sources that Ms Trudy walked to the spa Sunday to meet up with someone she had hoped would become of her new beaus, the delightful ex-temple novice Benny Whitepaw. Now you have to understand that Benny has been making up for lost time since he left the monastic life, discovering the pleasures of the fair sex. And being a very handsome bear of the panda persuasion, said lady bears gave him very little grief when he smiled at them and gave the come hither look. Anyway, to come to the point, Ms Trudy was smitten by Benny's charms. and her foray to the spa on this fateful day was to arrange an intimate dinner for two with Benny.

"However, when she arrived at the spa, Benny was nowhere to be seen. She asked one of the guests if Benny was around, and got a chilling reply: 'Benny? Oh yeah, he's upstairs with Ms Judy...'

"Have you ever seen a bear, even a well dressed one, turn green? Well, Ms Trudy turned a lovely shade of chartreuse upon hearing this news. 'Why that two-timing, sleazy, moth-eaten fur ball of an illegitimate panda,' snarled Ms Trudy to herself, as she marched with firm steps toward the stairs to Ms Judy's office. 'And that selfish sister of mine, always what's mine taking away from me! Me, of all bears. She should know better and is she going to get a piece of me!' she muttered hotly as she marched on.

"Only to find that jealousy and anger combined has a tendency to blind one so that what's before the eyes isn't seen. And so Ms Trudy, with steam pouring out of her ears, muscles tensed for a fight, mind bent on revenge, more or less overlooked the "Danger, maintenance being carried out" sign by the side of the pool that Digby had so thoughtfully provided. Ms Trudy walked smack into that sign. "This startled her to the extent that she forgot where she was, turned and walked straight into the pool, but not before having her leg catch the end of the sign, which twisted her hind paw severely as she plummeted into the water head first.

"Rosie the lifeguard on duty leaped into the water and dragged Ms Trudy out of the pool and laid her out on the side, and saw that her leg was bent in a rather strange direction. And Trudy was out cold. Rosie did what she could, and Ms Trudy was dried, and the leg appropriately tended to before the ambulance came to take her to the Admiratio Day Hospital.

"Now while all this was going on, Benny and Ms Judy were upstairs in her office on the other side of the building, having a discussion about putting Benny on as permanent staff at the spa to be the front desk manager. Ms Judy was not the least interested in Benny as a beau, but saw his potential for bringing lots of lady customers. Benny, on the other hand was really looking forward to seeing Trudy and his attention was not what it should have been. Ms Judy was not pleased and ended the meeting with a caution: "Benny, if you want stay around here job comes first play comes second understood! Now clearly you need to think on this." She motioned for him to exit office. Benny felt bad; he knew that Ms Judy's offer was a grand one but for some reason all he could think about was Trudy. He went to the pool everyone was still gathered after the commotions. "what's going on he asked?"

"Meanwhile across town, a short time later, when Trudy came to in the hospital and found herself in a bed, leg plastered and extended, was rumoured to have said "Oh well. That will teach me to look before I leap...(( moments later someone claimed to hear her to say something like '...making them pay...' but that is only rumour.))

"And that's how I heard the story. Ms Trudy will be back in the saddle with her column for the next edition. Meanwhile Fuzzy, I would like you to, well sort out a few facts and get back to me with the reality of the situation."

Fuzzy's head was spinning as he left the office. He never really thought of Ms Trudy and Romance. And as for Benny, what in the world did all these ladies see in a chubby panda?? And how in the world would he sort out fact from fiction without getting mixed up in this mess. He could not help but recall all the trouble he got in when he tried to help Shakey.

Oh my whatever will happen next?

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