Название: Short Stories and Nonsense
Автор: W.R. Lacy
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Публицистика: прочее
isbn: 9781648011832
isbn:
Just then, a racket erupted from somewhere else and a dozen baby rabbits came tumbling out.
“Children, behave! We have company,” Mrs. Rabbit said.
This did no good. The rabbit children were climbing, hopping, and crawling all over me. I was laughing so hard, I just couldn’t help myself. They were so cute. I wanted to take all of them home with me. Mother finally got them settled down.
“Now,” she said, “let’s get ready for dinner. Our guest has brought lots of good food for us to eat.” Immediately, the children scampered to their places at the table. Mrs. Rabbit sat a lovely table. When all the children were settled, Mr. Rabbit took his place at the head of the table.
“Please sit down next to Mr. Rabbit.” Mrs. Rabbit said. She started bringing food to the table, and it smelled wonderful. So many dishes! I couldn’t believe this was from the food I had brought. When she finished, she sat at the foot of the table and said, “Robert, will you bless our food?”
Mr. Rabbit folded his hands and said a wonderful blessing. When he finished, he started passing bowls. First to me, and I continued passing them on. Soon bowls were going around the table. The children were very well behaved. No one started eating until all the food bowls had been passed and were back in their places at the table. Mr. Rabbit picked up his fork, and so did everyone else. After that, it was eat at your own pace. I have never eaten such good food, and so much of it. I complimented Mrs. Rabbit on a very fine meal.
“It is your doing,” she replied. Soon, everyone was finished and the children began gathering up plates. When everything was gone from the table, Mrs. Rabbit brought in the carrot cake. Everyone oohed and awed. Everyone got a slice, and it was very good. When we were finished, the children went into the kitchen and started cleaning up.
“The advantage of having a large family…I cook, and they clean. I try not to leave too many pots and pans for them to clean up. They do a very good job.” Mrs. Rabbit said.
Again, she thanked me for the food. I was enjoying the company and learning a lot about how the other side lives. It was so nice to be small and learn of the difficulties these animals have to deal with. We talked late into the night. With his large family, Mr. Rabbit had a really hard time feeding his family. He apologized to me for thinking I took his carrots. I accepted and vowed to myself to help more. It was late when I left. I wondered how I would return to my normal size. I suppose Mr. Rabbit knew I was thinking about this, because he said “When you reach the end of the trail and go outside, you will return to your normal size.”
Again, I thanked them and took my leave. As I walked up the tunnel, I vowed again to bring more food to the rabbit family, so their life would be somewhat easier. It’s always nice to know we are all in the same boat. We don’t always think of animals having a hard time in their lives, but all things considered, they handle it very well.
Snow Bunnie
As I sat thinking about what to write a short story about, I looked out the window at the accumulated snow on the ground. Suddenly, I saw a small head peek out from under a pile of snow; bright black eyes, rabbit-like ears, pursed lips, and snow white hair appeared. I blinked my eyes to clear them, but the small creature was still there, looking around. I shook my head, thinking I was out of my mind. As I sat staring, another creature peeked out, only this one had purple hair. Same look, but the hair was different. They looked around some more and slowly inched further out of the snow. They were about twelve inches tall. Their upper body was formed much as a human’s; however, the fingers on their hands were much different. I didn’t get a good count, but there were approximately ten fingers on each hand. Wow! I was stunned.
As I sat watching; several more creatures began to come out. They all looked the same except for their hair, which was all different colors—yellow, pink, orange, green, blue, violet, and one even had stripes! They looked around very carefully. Their feet were different too. They were very long and had about thirty toes on each foot. How could they walk with all those toes? The answer is, they didn’t. They hovered slightly above the ground. They moved about with ease. They reminded me of a butterfly, fluttering here and yon.
Soon there was about twenty of these creatures fluttering about. They were wearing skimpy little suits but didn’t appear to be cold. I couldn’t tell what they were doing flittering around. Nothing but snow was out there. They appeared to be gathering something. Hands and toes were flying so fast, they seemed to blur. My eyes could not keep up with their movements. Something must have spooked them, because quicker than a blink, they flew back where they came from. All was still for a while. I realized I had been holding my breath. I took a deep breath and waited to see what would happen. Slowly, I saw movement around a small hole in the snow. I waited with bated breath. Sure enough, the white-haired one peeked up. I guessed he was the leader. Soon, they were all out and about again.
I eased out of my chair to see if I could see what spooked them—nothing. They resumed their fluttering, and soon, they were busy as bees again. I sat mesmerized for what seemed like hours, but it was only a few minutes. As I watched, one of the creatures caught me watching it. It didn’t leave or appear to be afraid. I watched, not breathing. Slowly, one of the creature crept toward me. I could hardly believe my eyes. Such a cute little thing. I smiled. It smiled back at me, but what a smile. Its teeth looked like daggers, and so many. I know I backed away. I surely did not want that thing to bite me! I really didn’t know what to expect from it. The little creature continued to approach me. Good thing there was a window between us. In the next instant, it was standing right in front of my face! I must have jumped back, because the creature returned to the hole where they came from but did not go in.
I continued to watch them.
Suddenly, there was a noise, and they flew back down the hole! Just as suddenly, a large cat jumped at the hole, just missing the last creature. The cat stuck his nose close to the hole. All of a sudden, he let out a howl, jumped sky high, and took off down the street running for his life! When the small creature poked his head out of the hole, there was a kind of fluid dripping from its mouth. Ugly color, not red. Poor cat. Now I was wary of getting closer to these little monsters. I sat watching them until the sun started to sink. I closed the curtains and let them be.
I wondered if I was going crazy, or had I really seen such a thing? As it got dark, I took my flashlight and went outside to investigate. No sign of a hole or anything else was there! Well, now I knew I must be dreaming. I went back inside and got ready for bed. I read for a while and then turned out the light.
Early the next morning, I rushed to the window and opened the drapes. Nothing. Well, good, maybe they left. For some reason, I could not leave the window. I pulled a chair up and got comfortable. Soon, out popped the white-haired creature. I took him to be the big boss, because he was always the first one out. Then the rest of the crew came out and began to flitter and flutter about. I wondered what they were gathering because it was apparent they were collecting something. I also wondered how they came to be here.
All day long they worked. No coffee breaks, no lunch breaks, and apparently, no potty breaks. Nothing bothered them. I guess the cat spread the word not to go anywhere near that place! I watched all day, but I had to have a potty break. Nothing unusual happened. I wondered how long they would be around. Surely, they would leave when the snow melted. I guess I would have to wait and see!
As the winter progressed and the more snow accumulated around the hole, the earlier and longer the creatures worked. Somedays, it was dark when they started and dark when they finished. It never seemed to bother them. They continued to flit and flitter. Suddenly, I noticed a different creature! It looked smaller than the rest and didn’t have as many fingers and toes. It seemed СКАЧАТЬ