Fluffy was a little tiny, off-white bunny with loppy ears (Order: Lagomorpha; Family: Leporidae; Genus: Nesolagus, to be exact, but he knew nothing of this) who was the most splendidly wonderful present April received on her fifth birthday. April's birthday was on the fifth of July and this particular fifth of July was a perfectly stupendously wonderful summer day.
April had picked fluffy out all by herself from a quivering huddle of nearly blind, functionally deaf, brothers and sisters from the pet store. Fluffy's mother and father and their parents and their parents and grandparents, as far back as anyone knew had started their lives in cages kept by humans. Now, it wasn't Fluffy's fault that he wasn't a wild bunny and didn't know the ways of wild, outdoor bunnies. His teeth were small and blunt and his gentle little paws had hardly any nails at all -- no claws, there was no need to dig burrows down in the earth to live in. Fluffy's rabbit-hole-digging skills were nonexistent. In the pet store there was always an abundance of the bland food that all of the rabbits ate, so no fighting for tender green shoots of lettuce was never required. It was never really dark either, and the temperature in the pet store, even after closing time, was kept at a balmy 72. So it wasn't really a bad or scary place at all. Sometimes, the rabbits got selected by owners that weren't quite as nice as April, so that once in awhile, rather bad things happened to the bunnies after they left, but they rarely ever came back to tell about it.
Yes, life at the pet store was pretty okay. There were usually people, little people, who loved the bunnies every day and they stayed near the cages and spoke nicely to the little bunnies. There were always plenty of the dried "rabbit pellets" to eat -- they weren't very wonderfully tasting, but the bunnies rarely had anything else so that they didn't know what they were missing. They didn't know the taste of a fresh, young carrot or the tender young shoots of Romain lettuce. There was just one thing that troubled the young rabbits as they began to grow older and become more curious. Often, young hands would reach in and hold the baby bunnies, sometimes taking them out of the cage for a bit of play. And sometimes, the older rabbits said, once in a very great while, there came a strange and frighteningly splendid event, although there was no proof that it wasn't just a tricky way the old rabbits had of scaring the younger ones. But legend has it that sometimes, special little hands would remove one of their brothers or sisters and he or she were never returned to the cage at all -- not ever!
Whenever this actually happened, of course, it was because a rabbit had been bought and taken home, just like what had happened to Fluffy on April's birthday. On that day, his life changed forever. Oh, they sent home a bag of the rabbit pellets, but fluffy hardly ever ate them -- he didn't have to. Where he had been taken, delightfully splendid food grew up out of the ground, everywhere! Now one thing I haven't told you yet was about something that fluffy could do. Fluffy couldn't do most of the things that a wild rabbit must learn how to do, but there was one thing that fluffy was an expert at.
Somehow, fluffy new how to climb up a little arm, rest a moment as soon as he had reached a little shoulder, and then; and here is the part that I want to tell you about, that part that fluffy was especially good at -- nervously nuzzling in and around the neck. He especially liked the soft hair that hung there, sometimes curly, sometimes straight. Whether it was a result of many generations of having spent entire lifetimes in cages under the care of humans or just something special about Fluffy's personality, we can't be sure, but Fluffy was nervous, nervous and scared a little to run right up near a great big human's head. He also really liked the nice warmth and feeling of safety that he often found AFTER attaining the neck and nuzzling under the collar. His whole body shook, partly from this fear and partly from his happiness.
The first time he did this with April was in the pet store and it made her giggle and feel a bit nervous herself. But home, in the quiet of her bedroom, Fluffy's nervous little quivering was delightful! Finally, Fluffy had found a home! At first, fluffy lived in a "habitat" that had come from the pet store. It had a clear tube which fluffy could crawl through (if he wanted to). It had lots of smelly wood chips on the floor and a water bottle arrangement that slowly leaked, making the nearby wood chips wet and sticky. Even though fluffy couldn't speak to April, they soon agreed that this wouldn't be his home much at all. He liked to play with April's dolls -- anything, as long as she was there, talking to him, petting him and encouraging him to make the long climb, to their favorite place. April discovered that she could walk about her room, carrying on as usual, and Fluffy would stay right there, nestled in her neck, hidden by her hair.
On warm days, April liked to take fluffy out and play in the yard. April lived on a large wooded lot in the country. She would lie in the grass and watch fluffy investigate. Some of the larger dandelions on the lawn were too tough going for fluffy and he would get stymied, trying to crawl over them, falling back, rolling over, only to attack again, breathing heavy. April smiled and chuckled to herself -- the idea that she had a pet unable to negotiate a dandelion tickled her to no end. Fluffy tried a new tack, this time, he would eat his way through. As soon as he had bitten into the milky stem, he stopped and recoiled, looking at April as if to say, "how could you have something this distasteful growing in your lawn?". April laughed out loud at his expression. Fluffy loved the clover, however, especially the very bottom of each flower petal itself. Each clover blossom looked like a small, exploding fireworks, frozen in time. April discovered that if she pulled out each pink blossom, the tiny whitish green end which had been hidden tasted very sweet if she carefully tasted it. Fluffy would nibble these right out of her fingertips.
And then they learned the game of hide and seek. It was hard for April to hide on fluffy because he wouldn't look away. And, he wasn't a very good hider himself, that is, until he discovered the concrete steps. The concrete steps were, just that, a small set of stairs with a railing; it was all one really hard piece, as if it were made of stone. It wasn't made of stone, her father had explained how men had used gravel and cement to form the stairs which, when they had cured, we're just about like stone. One difference was, her father pointed out, that even though they were very heavy and immovable, they were hollow! There was a large open space underneath the stairs. These heavy steps were positioned against April's house, but there was, a small space between the stairs and the foundation of the house; a space just big enough for fluffy to fit through.
Finally, fluffy had found a way to hide from April and she couldn't catch him. I think you already know that fluffy loved April very much. But she was so big and so tall and so strong that little fluffy didn't stand a chance against her. But here, behind the stairs, fluffy could hide, and then poke his nose out, to see if she was still there, and then quickly, dart back into the darkness under the stairs. As a matter of fact, fluffy found himself, the first time, plunged into this darkness, quite by accident. His first instinct was to freeze, although he was nervously vibrating as usual. It was only April's voice, floating in from the outside that made him dare to move. She sounded so very far away. But he mustered up the courage, there in the darkness, to turn around. And there it was, the outside, with its wondrous breeze, warmth and fragrance. A great high column, all he had to do was walk through. He had become aware of a strange, dank smell in the darkness and quickly stepped out and saw April looking for him.
Each time he darted behind the stairs, it reaffirmed the absolute sanctity of this stronghold: even mighty April was powerless to pick him up and bring him out. Even though he loved April above all else, to be gently retrieved by April, that dank and musty unknown was HIS secret power. He came out and went back in to that black void many times that afternoon, allowing her to catch him and playing with her in the yard. But always, he would yearn for his sanctuary. The frustrating surrender he heard in her voice when he hid there was a reminder that the nuzzling in the neck was a choice that he made from then on.
The progression of that summer represented Fluffy's formative years, his memory of the pet store became a shadowy vagueness from the past. They didn't go out and play in the yard as often as at first but often April took fluffy on other adventures. A small satchel that had once been part of a doctor's kit that April used to play with became fluffy's traveling coach. With his small head partially poking out, April brought fluffy to friends homes and once to school. He grew up and was a well behaved bunny, in most cases, and became part of the family.
One day, fluffy and April were playing in the yard and fluffy was hiding inside of the concrete steps, expecting her to call lovingly to him to come out. Just then a large automobile pulled in the driveway. It was April's cousin from far away and it caused great excitement. Lots of doors opening and people excitedly exclaiming, "hello". There were hugs from uncles and aunts and lots of how-do-you-do's and new toys brought to play with. April's cousin Linda was six months older and had lots of interesting news from her big school in the city. And you would think that that would have been enough, but, you'd be wrong because it wasn't enough and the next thing you knew, Linda brought with her a new doggie! He was very small, had little white paws and except on his face, long black hair. And the worst of it was the yapping! Yap, yap, yap! He would only stop yapping long enough to pee, then he'd start yapping again. Everyone thought he was so cute. Everyone that is, except fluffy. Fluffy looked out from behind the steps and knew that this little dog meant trouble. He decided, then and there, that he would not be coming out until that dog was long gone.
Things went from bad to worse, for, in a short time, everyone went inside the house -- everyone that is, except fluffy. Fluffy came out from behind the steps and sat there, right in the open. No one was there. He was truly alone now. He could still hear the yapping, but now it came from inside the house. Could they have forgotten him? He walked out a little further. He could hear talking and laughing from inside the house. He nibbled some clover. Somehow, even the clover tasted bland and boring. Fluffy hopped around the yard some, it just didn't seem fun anymore. A cool breeze parted his fur, suddenly he felt cold and a shiver ran through him. Forlornly, he hopped back to the steps, at least here he was out of the wind and felt a little warmer.
Just then, there was activity at the front door, fluffy instinctively ran behind the steps and passed through to the darkened zone within. April and Linda clattered out through the front door and bounded down the steps. "Fluffy, Oh fluffy...", April's voice had a confidence that fluffy usually didn't hear when he was hiding beneath the steps, "where have you gotten to now?" He heard the girls talking quietly in the front yard. Next, they were upon him, faces pressed against the narrow margin between the steps and the house, their faces were scrunched up with big confident smiles. Fluffy quietly backed up, moving further into the darkness. They mockingly called to him with deep silly voices. Now Fluffy was downright angry! So, they didn't even care if he came out, that was it, was it. Well he would show them a thing or two. Fluffy had brought in some longer grasses, to make a comfortable sitting place for his game playing. He now snuggled down on this quite comfortably. He even put his head down upon a paw and closed his eyes, momentarily.
Yap, yap, yap, again it came, Fluffy imagined the dog out in the front yard, running round and round to the girl's excitement and glee. Well, he certainly wasn't about to come out now! The din of laughter and play faded as the girls moved further and further away from the concrete steps in their play with the little black dog. If Fluffy had still been the little baby bunny that he was when April first brought him home, he would have been miserably downtrodden. While it did hurt his feelings to not be "number one" to April today, his overall feeling was one of anger. He was mad at April. Fluffy wasn't sure what his plan would be, but he knew one thing: he wasn't going out there now with that miserable, yapping mutt. Maybe he would just stay for a while in his comfortable independence. Unbeknownst to fluffy, the sun began to set and very slowly, the day's light began to fade. Fluffy had had a tiring day and dozed off on his comfortable pile of straw.
The truth was, April and Linda had been looking all over the yard for fluffy. When he didn't even stick his little, pink nose out when she called to him made her believe that he had hopped away from the steps. She became very worried and the two young girls looked all over for him. Her parents and her visiting relatives were all going out to a restaurant for dinner and insisted that the two girls must come with them. "He'll come back", her parents insisted, "when he becomes hungry." The two girls fell asleep on the way home from the restaurant and were carried up to bed. So it was that Fluffy came to spend the night alone outside.
Fluffy awoke in a terrible fright. He couldn't see anything and then remembered he had stayed under the steps. But this was darker than even that. Fluffy could not see a single thing! This was very frightening, but Fluffy tried to keep his wits about him. He could smell the musty but familiar odor of his hiding place under the steps. He could feel the straw beneath his feet and decided to inch forward. When his whiskers touched the wall he was relieved and began to follow it to where he knew the opening was. Sure enough, the wall gave way and he could suddenly sense of the night air passing by the opening. Why can't I see the lawn, he wondered. He ventured forward, very cautiously. He could hear the crickets much more clearly now that he had emerged from the opening. Still frightened, the darkness of night did have an intriguing appeal. As he inched along the outside of the steps, towards the lawn, he began to see faint outlines, there was that big tree over there, and there's that prickly bush right by the step. He knew where he was all right, it was just that the sun was gone. As his vision improved, so his fear ebbed and excitement began to soar in his heart. He hopped out into the night and danced around under the twinkling stars. He felt like a real wild bunny now and he didn't need anyone to pick him up and carry him about anymore.
The next morning, April awoke early. The search for Fluffy was renewed. The whole family combed the yard for a little off-white bunny. Nobody really expected to find fluffy except April. She pressed her face to the crack between the steps and the house and called pitifully for him. Her eyes filled with tears and she blamed herself for not playing with him yesterday. She began to walk dejectedly from the steps and just then her father noticed what looked like part of an old plastic rake lying in the grass. He casually toyed with the white comblike object, then a chill ran down his spine. He quickly covered the object with his foot. Could it be the completely cleaned center portion of a small rib cage? There was no other evidence in sight: no bones, no fur, nothing that would indicate the demise of a small rabbit. He could still see the broken sternum in his mind's eye. Yes, he concluded, there could be no doubt, his daughter's little pet and suffered a savage ending that night. He couldn't help but imagine possibly several gnashing jaws ripping into the tender, little herbivore. Nothing left at all, April's father shuddered imagining the carnage.
A young red fox popped his head up from behind a stump in the woods at the edge of the yard. His triangular face cocked intelligently as he wondered what all those smelly humans were doing. He licked his chops as he slunk off silently, stealthily moving deeper into the forest. He would come back later to investigate.
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