A Very Special Bunny
By Abigail Rice
“Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!” said Squidge, the squirrel.
It had been a hard winter. And poor Squidge was hungry, but he couldn’t find his nuts anywhere.
“Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!”
His little feet were scratching at the ground here and there, not finding a single nut. He had woken the whole forest.
Hodge, the hedgehog crept out of his nest of leaves and stretched his tired body in the spring sun. All his spines stood on end and then relaxed onto his back. He had been asleep the whole winter and was still very sleepy. But he rushed, as fast as he could, to help Squidge look for his nuts.
Mapi, the magpie lifted her head to look over the branches of her home-tree. She could see a frantic little Squidge running here and there, digging up the soil. She ruffled her feathers, stood on the edge of her nest and then glided down to the ground to help in the hunt.
Eabun, the bunny rolled over in his burrow. He saw Squidge run past at least five times, before he pulled his ears over his face and sighed himself back to sleep.
Working as a team, Hodge walked around the clearing sniffing at the ground, while Mapi flew overhead. When a little nut made Hodge’s nose quiver, Squidge dug it up.
If the nut had started to turn into a plant, Mapi would grab hold of it in her beak and pull and pull and pull until it came right out of the ground; carrying the nut with it!
By lunch time, the team had managed to find forty nuts and Squidge was much happier. They all sat down for a picnic of the lovely food they had collected.
Just then, two long, grey, fluffy ears poked out of a burrow. Then out came a little, pink, sniffing nose. Eabun was finally awake and could smell lunch.
He smiled, hopped into the clearing and strolled over to join the others.
“Mapi and Hodge helped me find all my nuts!” exclaimed Squidge, nibbling one of his favourites.
“And delicious they are, too!” said Eabun laying down beside them and flicking one, two, three up into the air and into his mouth.
Mapi, Hodge and Squidge all looked at one another.
“Eabun, you shouldn’t really take so many nuts, you didn’t even help to find them!” said Mapi.
“Hey, we’re all friends. And what do friends do?” he said.
“Help each other?” replied Hodge.
“Share!” said Eabun, grabbing another three nuts and popping them into a smiling face.
Then there was a great rustling from above. They all looked up to see Mapi’s nest falling out of the tree and crashing onto to the ground.
“Oh no!” she cried, “my lovely home! I was supposed to make it stronger this morning, but I was looking for nuts. Now I’ll have to build another.”
“Don’t worry Mapi,” said Squidge, “we’ll help you and it’ll be done in no time.”
Squidge ran round and round in circles collecting dry twigs.
Hodge curled up in a ball and rolled round and round in circles collecting plenty of fallen leaves on his spines.
Mapi flew backwards and forwards, taking the twigs and leaves up to her branch.
Eabun, well Eabun was still lying on his back in the sun, watching the commotion.
After a long afternoon’s work, they all stood under her branch and looked up at her lovely new home.
“Thank you, my friends,” she said. “I shall throw a home-warming party tonight and you are invited.”
Eabun’s ears pricked up “What time?” he called.
“Eabun, you didn’t even help to build the nest.” said Hodge.
“Ah, but what are friends for, if not for parties!” he called as he hopped off to get ready.
Just as the sun showered its last mellow rays over the forest, all the forest creatures were arriving at Mapi’s party. She had decorated the whole tree in her favourite collection of shiny things and it looked wonderful.
Squidge arrived with a whole bundle of nuts to share.
Hodge arrived covered in berries he’d found.
Eabun arrived with nothing at all and said “Mmm” as he tucked into all the delicious food.
It was a wonderful evening. All the creatures had a great time and they danced and sang till the stars twinkled ‘time for bed’.
As Eabun was wandering home, he stopped to gaze up at the stars. He laid out under a tree and thought about how famous he was going to be.
His father had told him that he was no ordinary bunny. He was special. So Eabun never had any reason to worry about life. He was special. Everything would work out all by itself. He smiled and closed his eyes.
As this story is under copyright, I’ve only posted a bit so you get the idea. If you’d like more information, please feel free to contact me.