Cuddles the Friendly Rabbit

            by Ishan Mohindroo

 

            In a small cage in the back of a pet store on Elm street, there lived a furry warm rabbit named Cuddles. Cuddles was the youngest of four cute bunnies, but the other three had already been sold. Every night, Cuddles went to sleep hoping that the next morning a sweet young boy or girl would come and take him to a new warm home.

 

 

            Days and days went by, and by winter no one had taken Cuddles home. He was beginning to feel sad, and each night he would cry himself to sleep on his bed of newspaper clippings.

            One cold rainy morning, a family with three child walked into the pet shop, bright smiles on their faces. The first child ran right up to a parakeet and begged his mother to let him take it home.

            “No, our house is much to small for that large cage,” replied the mother. The second child ran right up to a mouse and begged his mother to let her take it home. “No, dear, mice are much too smelly for me!” The youngest one ran right up to Cuddles the furry bunny, and said “Mommy mommy can we take the fuzzy thing home?!”

            “Well, he sure is cute, we can give it a try,” replied the mom. “But if he makes a mess.....its right back to the pet store for him!”

            And with that, Cuddles was picked up and put in a small cardboard box. He was a very happy rabbit.

            The little boy carried the box out of the store, and Cuddles saw a whole new world through the holes in the side. There were people everywhere! More than he had ever seen in the pet store. There were large dogs, birds, and even a zebra or two. Cuddles was placed in the car and the door shut with a thud. He was so excited! He was going to get a new home!

 

 

            The ride home was bumpy and the holes on the box were blocked by something, but Cuddles didn't care. He was going to be a happy fuzz ball for the rest of his life! When they got home, the little boy carefully took Cuddles out of the box and placed him in a brand new cage with fresh mulch and a shiny water bottle.

            “Time for lunch!” yelled the mom, and the boy hurried off to the kitchen, forgetting to close the cage door. Now, with Cuddles being the curious and innocent rabbit that he was, quietly slipped out of the cage and onto the floor. His eyes wide and his imagination wild, he set off on a great adventure to explore his new home. Cuddles found himself in the little boys bedroom He saw many things like a bed, clothes, stuffed animals, a wall clock, and a very cool lava lamp.

 

 

            The door was cracked open a bit, so Cuddles put his hind legs in action and went for it. This time he found himself in a dull hallway, with nothing to see or do. But wait! There was a houseplant in the corner, and Cuddles was a very hungry rabbit. He made his way over to the pot, hopped into it, and began munching happily on the lowest leaves. “Mmmmm Rhododendron, my favorite!” exclaimed Cuddles in a cute soft voice. As he was munching away happily, he heard a noise from behind.

            “Meow!” exclaimed the furry furry cat, “You must be new around here,”

            “Yes I am! I just came from the pet store, I like it much better here!”

            “Why don't you follow me and I will show you something really cool!” said the cat.

            “OK! I love adventures!” exclaimed Cuddles. And with that, Cuddles hopped off of the plant.

 

 

 and followed the furry cat into a new room. This one was all white with only one small window and lots of strange objects.

            “Climb into that big round thing over there and go for a swim,” said the furry cat with a sly smile.

            Cuddles hopped up onto the counter and peered over the edge, he loved swimming!. With that, he dove ears first into the glistening pool of water, refreshed by the cold feeling. Cuddles closed his eyes and floated around the pool on his back, thinking to himself how wonderful for the family to bring him home.

 

 

            Cuddles started to feel a bit weird, the water was moving! He opened his eyes to see the cat waving goodbye above him!

            “HEEELLLLLPPPPP”cried poor Cuddles, but no sound came out of his mouth. He was getting lower and lower, towards the dark hole at the bottom. Cuddles was confused. Curiosity was supposed to kill the cat, not the rabbit!

            Cuddles had to do something fast, he was being sucked down the toilet! Thinking quickly, he spread his legs out and held himself over the hole as the water rushed past. After a few moments, the water started the move back up, and Cuddles let go. He floated to the surface, and gasped for air as his head came out of the water. With one strong push from his hind legs, he launched himself up out of the toilet and landed on the tile floor below, fur dripping.

            Cuddles shook his big floppy ears and water went flying in all directions. “What a mean cat!” he thought. As he left the bathroom, leaving a trail of water behind him, the cat appeared in front of him. “There's only room for one pet in this house!” he said, arching his back. “And guess who that is!”

            “There's room for me too! The family loves you and me, they can cuddle us both! Please don't eat me!”

            And with that, the big furry cat pounced, and Cuddles just barely rolled out of the way and ran down the hall behind him. The cat gave chase, and was close behind until he slipped on the shiny hardwood floors and went sliding across the room, tail in the air.

            Cuddles was relieved, this gave him the chance he needed to escape from this dangerous feline beast. He scrambled up some stairs and into a dark scary room, but at least he was far away from the cat....or so he thought, until he heard a sinister meow from behind him.

            “Now I have you trapped little bunny! You'll be my lunch!”

            “EEEEEK,” squeaked Cuddles, as he ran towards the back of the room. The cat followed, but stepped on a nail!

 

 

            “MEOOOOOWWWWWW,” shrieked the cat, in much pain “Please help me, call the family I promise I wont eat you!”

            And with that, Cuddles forgot all about how mean the cat had been, and rushed off down the stairs to find the family.

            “Hey! How'd you get out of your cage?” asked the mother, as she picked him up and held him tenderly in her arms. “I'm going to have to put you back in your cage, you naughty bunny,”

            Cuddles had a plan to save the cat, and waiter patiently as he was carried to his cage. Just as they passed the door to the attic where the cat was, Cuddles used his powerful hind legs to launch himself out of  the mothers arms, and onto the ground below. He ran up the stairs as fast as he could, before the mother could realize what was going on.

            “Now why did you run up there?” she asked,  following him up the stairs. “Oh my! Look at that poor cat, his paw is bleeding!” She exclaimed, as the kids came running up the stairs from the living room. “If Cuddles hadn't gotten away from me, we'd never have found the cat,” she said.

            The boy picked up Cuddles and petted him lovingly, as the little girl and her mother took the cat downstairs to clean up his wounded paw.

            The next morning, Cuddles was asleep in his cage when he was awoken by a soft meow.  “Good morning,” said the cat, with a bright smile on his furry face.

            “Good morning to you too, cat,” replied Cuddles the bunny.

            “Thank you so much for saving me last night, I guess having more than one pet is a good thing after all.”

            “You're welcome, it's best we learn to get along, we have to live together you know,”

            “Yeah, I'm sorry about yesterday, I guess I was just jealous of you,”

            “I forgive you,” squeaked Cuddles, in the cutest bunny voice ever.

            From that day forward the Cuddles and the cat were best of friends. They did everything together, they walked together, they talked together, and they even cuddled together in front of the radiator on cold days.