Once upon a time, there lived two rabbits. They both lived together happily in a trash can in the side-yard of a most beautiful house. The owner was on vacation that week, so their situation was even better.
The sun was scorching hot the first few days of the week, much to hot to do anything but swim laps in the gargantuan pool in the backyard. The fox from beyond the fence came too. The rabbits especially liked him, because he was so friendly and funny. Whenever the fox came, he brought his gofer pal from the garden across the street. The four knew each other quite well, and they all loved swimming. The fox especially loved pawing the beach ball around in the water. One of the rabbits had a special talent for balancing himself on the top of the beach ball, while it was floating. But the fox would not let him get to hot, being out of the water, the ball would soon be batted out from under the hare.
Today was a special day. The animals had not gotten together since the 5th of May, two months earlier, when the house-owners had gone to some barbeque until early in the morning. The gofer remembered the nervousness from that time, however.
It had gotten so later that the animals had all thought that the owners wouldn’t be back until later the next morning, so they had snuck into the house through the slightly-ajar bathroom window to watch scary movies on the television. When they saw the headlights coming up the driveway, they all bolted. The fox even broke that tiny little bathroom window on his way out. He had always had trouble getting through, but had made sure not to have to be rushed. Not that time.
They all made it out in time, but they had all felt intensely the exhilaration of terror. While resting on the other side of the backyard fence, one rabbit had panted, “Lets next time have a rotating watch”. Everyone agreed eagerly.
But, today, this week, was different. The rabbits had overheard a conversation through the kitchen window, which was above the trash cans, all about the owner-family’s plans for a getaway. The rabbits had eavesdropped with uncontained excitement, they had only had a chance like this once before. And that was a long time ago, before they leaned how to take advantage of it. Now they knew. It was going to be amazing.
Usually, the gofer had a hard time swimming, so he often blew up a little floatie to paddle around on. No one made fun of him for it, he was the smallest of everyone because he was a gofer, and that wasn’t his fault. He happened to be incredible fast, also. He would splash one of the rabbits a few times, then skim his floatie across the water to the other side of the pool, squealing in the delight as his victim chased futily.
The animals had the time of their lives all week together. They knew the owners had planned to return on the Monday, so they decided to have a special celebration on Sunday night. A rabbit and the gofer infiltrated the house and brought out the finest champagne in the cellar (the finest, that is, that they could safely reach). The fox popped the corks with his fangs, and the other rabbit remembered to run and grab the fancy wine-glasses that were stashed above the kitchen stove.
“To us! And to a perfect summer’s week among friends!” toasted one rabbit. The rest smiled in contentment, cheered, clicked ostentatiously, and downed their sparkly beverage. They stayed up all night remembering the best memories of the week. They remembered how they had each met each other. They appreciated how this house was such a blessing to them. They marveled at how lucky they were to be able to experience such good times, together. They wouldn’t rather be with any other animals
Too soon the first rays of dawn breached the cracks of the tall wooded fence. It was time to say goodbye. No one had gotten any sleep that last night, and none of them could be more glad. The fox jumped the fence. The gofer squeezed under the gate in the side yard. And finally the rabbits took refuge in the recycling been, for the family always seemed to have a load of trash to dump whenever they came back from anywhere. They soon fell asleep, nestled in newspaper. It was the best kind of sleep, knowing that they were exhausted from enjoyment among friends, and resting up for another chance, as soon as they could take it.
No comments:
Post a Comment