Lop Laps!
Bunny raced into the bedroom and used the low stool to hop onto the bed. His human mom, Kim, had just finished stacking clothes neatly in three piles: one each for her, husband Michael, and son Brock.
Bunny took one look, leaped onto the first pile, rooted under the others, and undid all her work. From under a navy sweatshirt, the white mini-lop peeked out at his favorite person. She gave up trying to pack for their vacation and started playing hide-and-seek with her rabbit. She talked to him, assuring him that something wonderful was going to happen the next day.
The “something wonderful” turned out to be Bunny’s first vacation with his family. Bunny was approximately three months old at the time, and his family still had a lot to learn about rabbits. But Bunny was up to his teaching task—he made sure his humans learned something new each day.
From the first day on the road, he showed them he wasn’t afraid of traveling, as long as the music was soft and melodic and there were plenty of rest stops. He drank water, ate leafy vegetables and hay, and took naps in air-conditioned comfort.
When they stopped for the night, Bunny stayed in the hotel with them. He actually loved the hotel room, though he saved his display of just how much until everyone was nearly asleep! His first lap around the room was rather slow and quiet. He increased speed. Then he began racing—’round the room, under the beds, between the table legs, into the bathroom, back under the bed… He sprinted and scrambled and, of course, brought Michael, Kim, and Brock fully awake. They still were rather unfamiliar with rabbit-world and had never seen such a sight: Bunny was a white blaze in the moonlight.
He heard them laughing. Bunny loved the attention and added bunny binkies to his exhibition. Brock got down on the floor, and Bunny showed his approval of the new obstacle by jumping over Brock’s legs and continuing on his way.
After such exertion, little Bunny soon tired. He jumped onto the bed, received a few gentle strokes, snuggled next to Kim and drifted off to sleep.
Michael hoped the little fellow would sleep the rest of the night, and Bunny did. He was a small white angel slumbering next to Kim, serene in his love for his family. Kim gazed at him for a long while, grateful for his presence in her life.
The next day offered more adventure for the lop-eared rabbit. The family arrived at Kim’s father’s house in California, and Bunny saw a stairway for the first time. It seemed he just couldn’t believe all the possibilities those things provided! He traversed a couple of them, and then added step-leaps to his laps!
That was Bunny’s first trip, but certainly not his last. He was always ready to explore a new place (under the watchful eye of his parents, of course). It was due to Bunny’s careful tutelage—and his family’s astute reading of his signals—that the rabbit and his humans continued to travel together, safely and joyously.
Warm thanks to Kimberly K. Dezelon, director of fundraising for Brambley Hedge Rabbit Rescue in Phoenix, Arizona (www.bhrabbitrescue.org) for providing information for this vignette.