The Bunny and The Rabbit

Once upon a time there was a bunny. She lived with the Smith family.

Well, when I say lived with them, she had her own spacious, multi-storey hutch in the garden with a large bunny run full of grass to play in. Food was plentiful, the carrots were fresh and crunchy and she could see the beautiful blue sky from her bunny run. Life was good.

One day, just as the bunny was finishing her first ear polish of the day there was a tremendous commotion. The wooden sides of the bunny run began to quake in a most alarming manner and there was the loud scraping noise of claws on wood. Something was coming into her run. The bunny sat as still as only rabbits know how

and looked round carefully with quick, darting eyes. It didnt take her long to see who the intruder was because a bunny run is not an easy place to hide in. The intruder was another bunny.

Hello, said the intruder.

Hello, said the bunny. She had been feeling a bit lonely in her bunny run all by herself.

Who are you? said the bunny.

Im a rabbit said the intruder.

Oh, another bunny, said the bunny.

No, said the rabbit, 

Im a rabbit, wild and free. I live in a warren in the greenwood she continued.

Whats the greenwood? said the bunny.

Ooh the greenwood, said the rabbit, is very beautiful and very big. It is full of winding paths that stretch so far that you can never find the end of them, no matter how hard you try. The greenwood has lots of creatures living in it. Some are tiny like beetles and some are massive like foxes and they all live together in the greenwood. The trees in the greenwood spread their mighty branches up to touch the sky and they are so tall that you cannot see the tops. The trees change with the seasons. In spring-time their translucent green leaves shine and grow in the light of the sun. By midsummer they have become large and strong, shading us from the bright sunlight. No need to get sunburnt ears when you have a tree for a friend. She said, smiling. When Autumn comes all the leaves turn beautiful shades of yellow and red before falling to the ground like rustling raindrops. The fallen leaves give the above-land creatures shelter through the harsh iciness of winter but all the wild rabbits are snug and warm, nestling underground in our big warren. The trees stand like black skeletons in the wintertime,

never hiding from the cold and frost like we have to. The rabbit continued.

Then she paused for a moment and her eyes became glazed with thought. Suddenly she said, The greenwood can be a very dangerous place because there are always lots of creatures who would like to eat you, but it is the most beautiful place on earth and we rabbits are safe in our warren beneath the ground.

"This is all very interesting", said the bunny, "Would you like to stay for breakfast? I have some nice, crunchy carrots and lots of the green grass that grows so well in my bunny run." she added temptingly. After all, it did get very lonely living in a bunny run all by herself.

"No thanks", said the rabbit, "I must be getting on. The greenwood calls you know. I'm just visiting and I must get back."

"Glad to have met you", said the bunny.

"I hope I'll see you again if I'm ever passing this way.", said the rabbit. And with that she flexed her back legs and gave a massive leap upwards, out of the bunny run and was gone.

The bunny looked around her bunny run for a moment, gave her ears an absent minded polish and then said, "What a liar! Greenwood! How preposterous!" and went back to preparing her breakfast, sure in the knowledge that nothing could possibly be bigger than the bunny run in the Smith familys garden.

Copyright Rebecca Holton 2002