Adri-Cake (limepopsicle77) wrote in fandom_r_us, @ 2008-06-08 02:24:00 |
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The Bunny and the Manatee
A Children’s story by Adrienne Long
One day a little yellow bunny was hopping along the river. Bunny was on her way to the letterbox to pick up her mail for the week. She only did this once a week because although the letter box was just across the river not far from her burrow Bunny hated getting her paws wet and refused to swim across the river. So instead she had to take the long way around hopping almost a mile to the closest bridge. The trip usually took her all day but she liked it because she got to visit all the other animals that lived along the river. Still it was a very long walk and today Bunny wished there was a better way to cross. She stopped to look across the river at the letter box it was so close yet so far away. Maybe she could swim across today… It was a very nice day the sun was shining brightly so it would not take her long to dry out. She inched closer to the river and looked down into its rippling glassy surface. She could see a funny yellow bunny with its face rippling back at her in the river.
“River twin, do you think I should swim across the river to get my mail today?” She asked her reflection, it did not answer except with the gentle sound of the river itself flowing. She thought perhaps her reflection needed more information on the subject to give her a proper answer.
“The sun is very bright today river twin and if I were to swim across I would soon be dry again.” Still no reply, Bunny thought that maybe river twin thought it was a bad idea to swim across and that is why she did not answer. Bunny sighed and looked out across the river, it was not a fast moving river so it would not be dangerous to swim but it was always rather cold and Bunny was not wearing her winter coat. She then noticed something very unusual. There was a round purple rock in the middle of the river where there had not been one before and it seemed to be floating? It bobbed slightly and then began moving closer. Bunny was amazed, she had never in her life heard of a floating purple rock yet there it was moving ever closer at the lazy pace of drift wood. It came almost all the way to the rivers edge then another part of the rock moved up out of the water and Bunny could see that it was not a rock at all but really some sort of large creature.
“Wow! What sort of creature are you?” Bunny asked, sniffing curiously at the purple river creature. It was very large and round, it had small dark eyes and big round nostrils with little covers on them to keep the water out. It was quite strange but also looked friendly so Bunny was not afraid to be so close.
“I’m a manatee, but some call me a sea-cow.” Bunny thought this was all very interesting, she did not meet new creatures very often. The manatee’s voice was slow and soft, very pleasant to hear for Bunny’s big ears.
“I am a Bunny called Bunny. If you are a sea-cow then why are you in the river and not out in the sea?” Asked Bunny after introducing herself, it seemed only logical that a creature with sea in its name belonged out in the ocean.
“Us manatee don’t actually live in the ocean, we are called sea-cow simply because we sort of look like cows that live in water.” Bunny thought this was very odd and did not make much sense.
“But you don’t look like a cow to me. Cows have black and white spots.” The manatee gave a slow soft chuckle Bunny wondered what was so funny.
“If you don’t think I look like a sea-cow then you may call me Clyde that is my name and now that I have answered your questions I would like to ask you one myself. Why were you talking to the river before?” At first Bunny could not remember what
“I was asking if I should swim to the letter box today.”
“Why wouldn’t you want to swim to the letter box? I love to swim in fact I have spent my whole life swimming.”
“The river is too cold and I don’t like to get my feet wet but the nearest bridge across is a mile away, which is a very long way to hop.”
“I will make a deal with you then Bunny. If I carry you across the river on my back will you get my mail out of the letter box? It has been a very long time since I have found someone to do it for me so I must have lots of mail by now.” This was a wonderful idea! Bunny thought that
“I agree with your deal then
It was late in the day when Bunny finally got around to her own mail. She had received letters from her mother and from three of her five sisters saying that they all had little bunny litters of their own on the way. The last letter she got was from Mister Badger who lived a very long way down the river, he was inviting her to a garden party at his large estate tomorrow! There was just one problem.
“
“I have never been to a garden party before Bunny if you were to take me as your guest I could swim us both there in time.”
“But
“Mister Badger lives down river, the current will help me to swim faster and if we travel all night we will certainly get there in time.” Bunny was so pleased,
“Oh
“Then it is settled, jump on my back and let’s get moving!” Bunny did so happily and imagined the looks on the faces of Mister Badger and his other guests when she rode up to his garden on the back of a purple manatee. Together the bunny and the manatee rode all night to get to the badger’s garden party.
It was a very fancy affair Mister Badger had the most magnificent house on the river and his garden was equally nice, he even had his own little pond which led out to the river through a stream with a little arched bridge over top of it. Bunny and
“Oh thank you Mister Badger you are so kind.” They both said.
“Not at all, I could not possibly leave my two friends out in the cold with no place to sleep tonight.” So
“Goodnight
“Goodnight Bunny, sweet dreams.” With that they both went to bed to dream of family members, garden parties and cucumber sandwiches.
The End