A Rabbit's Tale

By Richard Davidson

Bruce was a muscular rabbit. Every day he chewed on tree limbs, rocks or whatever he could find to sharpen his teeth and strengthen his jaw. Bruce was not like the other rabbits. He wanted to be a predator.

“The fox is such a magnificent animal,” he thought, “all the different hues of red and silver and white in his coat, the sleek body, the fast legs, the powerful jaws...”

Bruce pretended he was a fox. He was slowly sauntering through the woods in search of prey, being very careful not to hop, trying to imitate the gait of a fox. Tim, the village elder, called out to him.

“Whatcha doin’ there, Bruce?”

“I’m pretending to be a fox.”

Fear flowed from Tim. “A f-f-fox? Our mortal enemy?”

Tim shook his head and hopped away. Bruce couldn’t understand. How could the other rabbits live such a fearful life? One thing he was sure of, when his time came, he’d be ready. Suddenly he froze, his heart racing. There was a beautiful young fox standing only a few hops away. And he didn’t see Bruce! Bruce was a very fast rabbit, and he decided to take a chance and introduce himself to the animal.

“Hey there! Mr. Fox, my name is Bruce Rabbit. The fox was amazed. Here was his prey, calling out to him, and only a few paces away! He was about to pounce on Bruce and break his neck with his powerful jaws, when Bruce said, “If you don’t kill me, I’ll take you to where there are some wild turkeys. I’ll help you catch them by running at them from the other way.”

The fox couldn’t believe what he was hearing. A rabbit hunting with a fox? He decided to give it a try, and said, “My name is Steve.”

So Steve and Bruce went off in search of a band of wild turkeys, north of the rabbit glen, in one of the thickest parts of the old forest. On the way Steve was sizing Bruce up. He wasn’t like the other rabbits Steve had seen before. As muscular as he was, he probably wouldn’t be very good eating. Of course as big as he was, there was a pretty good-sized meal, but this rabbit didn’t seem to fear him, and who wants to eat something that doesn’t fear you? Suddenly Bruce stopped, and motioned for Steve to do the same.

“The turkeys are right there.” He said, and pointed towards a small clearing at the bottom of the hill, some distance away.

“I’ll circle around from the back, between those bushes, and I’ll run right at one of them, flushing him out. You stay behind the cover of those rocks, and when I shout, come running.”

Steve had never heard a rabbit shout, but he was hungry, and he had always thought of the wild turkey as an especially tasty meal. He slunk slowly towards his hiding place in the rocks, wondering how this could possibly work. Bruce’s heart had never raced like this before. It wasn’t fear, it was excitement. He was going to get to be a predator! He approached the bushes, and as he got to them he saw one hen who was a good distance from the rest.

“The predator always preys on the weakest,” he remembered his father telling him. He decided to run right at this hen, as fast as he could. As soon as she started to bolt, he would call out Steve’s name.

Natasha was a very old hen. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. A rabbit was rushing her! Her first instinct was to flee, but then she thought, “I’m not afraid of any damn rabbit!” and she decided to stand her ground. Bruce couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t running, and when he was upon her she gave him a very nasty peck below his left eye, and blood flowed all over his downy white and brown fur. Bruce let out a little yelp, and Steve ran over to help his new friend. He ran full speed right at Natasha, and to his amazement, she was standing her ground again! He opened his powerful jaws, ready to break her neck, and she pecked him right in his tender nose! He was so surprised he jerked his body to one side and ran smack into a tree, head first. His head was reeling from the impact, and now he and Bruce were laying in the soft grass of the meadow, and they were being surrounded by turkeys.

“There’s something very wrong about all this,” said one of the older males.

“Just ain’t natural.”

“What’s wrong with that rabbit?” All the turkeys were cackling and making a fuss, and for the first time in his life, Bruce was afraid. The sound was too macabre, these turkeys, and suddenly, one turkey spoke up above the rest.

“Mr. Fox, we know it is your natural prediliction to hunt turkeys, so we shouldn’t bear you any ill will. However, using a rabbit to help you confuse us, this doesn’t make sense. The rabbit is every bit as much your natural prey as any of us. Now, we have you surrounded, and we have strength in numbers. We will give you one chance to live, and protect the natural order. You must kill this rabbit, and eat it, in order to leave here alive.”

Bruce turned to Steve and said, “I got you into this, and I will go to my death with dignity. After all, you could have eaten me when we first met, and I am your natural prey.” Steve’s mind was reeling. This was the bravest rabbit he’d ever known. He said, “OK, you win. I’ll eat the rabbit.” And then he put his powerful jaws around Bruce’s neck and said softly, “When I say go, jump on my back.” Then he let go of Bruce, and turned to address the turkeys.

“You are the scourge of this forest. You smell, you walk in your own feces, and you’re the stupidest of all birds. I will never be told what to do by your kind.” And then he yelled, “GO!”

Bruce jumped on Steve’s back as he raced towards the crowd. He went straight for Natasha’s neck, and bit her head clean off. The turkeys were pecking and scratching like mad, and one got Bruce on his powerful hind leg, and one got him in the face, and he actually bit that turkey, and tasted another creature’s blood for the first time in his life. A very large old turkey pecked Steve right above his eye, and blood obscured his vision, and he picked up his speed, running right through the crowd, killing two more turkeys just for good measure, receiving countless injuries as they went. Steve ran full-speed for quite some way, until the cacophony of turkeys was way off in the distance. Bruce climbed off of Steve’s back. The two looked at each other for a moment, and then Steve said, “You are the bravest rabbit I’ve ever met.”

“Not as brave as you, my fine friend,” said Bruce.

“You are as brave as any animal in the forest," Steve said slowly and evenly, "and I will never hurt you, or anyone in your family. The other predators will hear of this, and you rabbits will be safe from foxes, cougars, and all other creatures for a long time, perhaps two generations.”

Steve looked off into the distance. “Those turkeys are another story, however. I will go back with two or three of my brethren, and we will feast on wild turkey, and we will not rest until every last one of them is dead. And if you ever find yourself in danger, if you ever need a friend, just find a bluebird, tell him of your plight, and I will be there soon, for a bluebird never shirks his duty; he will always come find me.”

“Thank you, my friend,” said Bruce, a tear in his eye. And then a hunter came and killed them both.

I, Richard Davidson, the author of this story, grant authority to the owners of this website to publish this story, which is copyright 2000 Bizzarre Publishing.

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