Tiny Rabbit

Many eons ago, a family of Rabbits lived in Green Glenn with other old-time families—the Minks, Mockingbirds, and Foxes. Life was good for everyone, particularly the Rabbits. Their days were filled with sweet grass, crunchy flower bulbs, and plentiful wild cabbages.

Good health and prosperity were evident in the magnificent coats of each Rabbit.  In the summer, the Rabbits’ coats were the Minks’ envy. In the winter, the Rabbits’ coats were so white and pure they could not be seen in the snow.  Many in Green Glenn thought the Rabbits migrated South with the Birds.

In the Winter of the Borealis, Tiny Rabbit was born. As Rabbits go, Tiny Rabbit was quite rambunctious. Her family thought she would have been better off being born a Squirrel. Tiny Rabbit constantly chattered and laughed, darting here and there.  She asked many questions. Why did the Sun rise in the East instead of the West?  Why did Rabbits have so many children when the Oliphant had only one?

Tiny Rabbit’s curiosity brought her to the homes of many of Green Glenn’s families.  In this time of peace and goodwill, Tiny Rabbit romped in the meadow with the Fox cubs. She sang the song of almost all the birds in Green Glenn—a special lesson she learned from the Mockingbird.

The Rabbit family’s concerns grew about Tiny Rabbit.  When would she sit quietly in the shadows, munching tender morsels?  When would she be demure and restrained? Her winter coat was always spotted from digging into Fox’s burrow. She was ruining the family image. For many years, Tiny Rabbit did not notice this consternation. She was busy with so many other families and exciting discoveries.

Tiny Rabbit looked forward to Winter; it meant her birth day was coming.  The Rabbit family, with so many children, rarely paid attention to birth days. One day was no different from another. Besides, winter was a time for quiet, for contemplating the past year’s events.

Nonetheless, Tiny Rabbit began the campaign early.  First, there was the countdown—it’s only 20 nights to my birth day.  It’s 15 nights to my day.  There was the hopping about, telling everyone how old she would be. Lastly, she posted her list of wishes in the middle of the Glenn.

On this tenth birth day, friends from the Glenn came by to wish her a long and prosperous life. No one in her family said anything about Tiny Rabbit’s special day.  By evening, Tiny Rabbit sat lonely at the Glenn’s edge.  For the first time in all her days, she felt different, as in odd. She felt that she did not belong.

Tiny Rabbit gazed at the Moon, whose clear light bathed her and all of Green Glenn.  She wished to be with the Moon, removed and above all of Green Glenn.  The longer Tiny Rabbit gazed at the Moon, the more she tingled with energy and life.  And so it goes, Tiny Rabbit knew she belonged wherever she chose to be.