Part 2
Shoo-Fly appeared to be looking in the direction of the clover patch but as she approached the bridge more closely he came to her side.
She knelt down at the base and touched the grass.
Only a few feet from here was the place where she had taken the final pictures of Shoo-Fly that early May evening.
She remembered the cottontail running up to her as she knelt in the grass, much as she did now, holding the camera and trying to convince Shoo-Fly to move back.
"Get back!" she had stated firmly as she tried not to laugh at her camera loving friend.
"Shoo! Shoo!" she had said, waving her hand at him ......
Her thoughts came back to the rainbow.
Cautiously she touched the base.
She drew her hand back in surprise. Though etherial in appearance, it was sturdy to the touch.
She looked at the gentle upward slope of the bridge.
Were they to climb it? Cross it?
She stood to her feet still facing the many colored arc.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Shoo-Fly carefully approach.
Head down and forward, rabbit fashion, he sniffed at the base of the bridge, then sat down again at her side.
"Well, Shoo, what are we supposed to do?" she wondered aloud.
She followed the line of the arc with her eyes high up into the sky and saw that at some point it did come back down, but she had no idea where it would come back down to.
Somehow she had known all along that they were to cross the bridge...yet she didn't
want to leave again this place where she had found such peace.
Shoo-Fly moved beside her and stretched, lying down in the grass.
But what had brought her this beautiful peace she had known?
The brown cottontail sniffed at the small white flowers of the clover patch.
Of course it was Shoo-Fly and the friendship he had given her that had brought such peace and contentment.
She remembered a line from a poem she had written shortly after his death.
"Memories of a time so precious spent. Memories of wonder and knowing content. Memories of days and of nights now gone by. Memories of the cottontail we called Shoo-Fly."
And now here he was once again by her side! No longer a memory. They were together again.
Carefully she placed her right foot onto the bridge, then drew her left up to meet.
Shoo-Fly hopped beside her.
Together they began to cross the rainbow bridge.
Joyful voices and shouts could still be heard in the near distance and grew more audible with each step that they took.
Finally she uttered the question that had been background on her mind since arriving at the house.
"Shoo," she said. "Are we....dead?"
The little rabbit hopped along beside her as they continued their journey.
She had been amazed at how easy the bridge was to climb.
Even though their direction had followed the arc upward, she had found it more an easy walk than a ridgid difficult climb.
For awhile now they had been going straight across and now were beginning their descent.
Of course, she had no idea where they were descending to.
Together they followed the arc downward, much in the same fashion as they had followed it up.
Joyous voices and sounds of animals,
many voices...many animals...
continuously met their ears.
Suddenly they both stopped short.
Just ahead of them the rainbow bridge disappeared into a huge white billowy cloud.
Shoo-Fly approached the cloud in the same way as he had first approached the rainbow bridge. Head down and forward, cotton tail up.
She alomost laughed as the little rabbit's nose disappeared into the billowy softness as he attempted to catch a scent.
Backing up, he sat down next to her.
The exuberant voices and happy shouts seemed to be either within the cloud or directly outside of it on the other side.
Now she approached, extending one hand and arm within to see if she could feel anything solid.
There was nothing that could be felt.
She looked at her forever friend sitting beside her grooming himself once again, as if he waited for her to take the first step.
"Well, Shoo," she said aloud. "Together in life. Now together in death. Together forever?"
And she walked the three steps forward to the cloud's entrance from the bridge and stepped inside with Shoo-Fly hopping beside her.
Together they disappeared into the billowy whiteness.
Soon after, all one would see of them was what could be heard. Exuberant cries and happy shouts.
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