This weekend we had a bit of an “incident” in our front yard… but let’s take a step back. Or a hop back if you will.
When I was a kid there was a time when we had bunnies. My brother and I spent hours in the barn whipping-up Top Chef worthy bunny bites at our hipster eatery: Rabbit Restaurant. At some point, our bunnies procreated, as they’re known to do, and we had our own fluffle.
One cold foggy morning it was my job to feed the farm and all I know is that I unwittingly stumbled upon a decapitated baby bunny lying several feet from the hutch. We’ll never know exactly what happened, but my dad surmised a hole in the bottom of the hutch plus a heavy nesting box equaled the most disturbing image burned into my baby bunny brain for life. For-e-ver.
So that’s my traumatic childhood baby bunny story. And of course James has a story like this, too.
I’m sorry you now have an inkling of where this tale is headed. Fast forward to this past Sunday. We let the dogs out and they’re racing over the hill and through the wood. All of a sudden Jacob is yelling– Piper has trapped a wild baby bunny in the lower meadow. He’s running down the rocky embankment, screaming at a pair of hunting dogs. The bunny is squeaking in distress. And before he can get there, Piper scoops up her catch and makes a run for it.
Jacob grabs her at the top of the hill and makes the most heroic and valiant attempt. It’s heartbreaking. She won’t drop it. James intervenes. And, please excuse the traumatically graphic nature of this entire story– she swallows her marshmallow whole. One little cotton ball down the hatch.
Poor Jakey is sobbing and angry and stalks into the house to grieve. “Don’t feed her” he proclaims through gritted teeth, “She. Already. Ate.”
Sometimes nature is just too much.
Later that afternoon at the grocery store, everywhere I turn I’m faced with bunny fruit snacks and cheddar bunnies and bunny grahams. A Whole Foods House of Horrors, Annie.
It’s been several days and I still can’t look Piper in the eye. Jakey also needs more time.
Traumatic childhood baby bunny story? Check.