| "The Reunion" |
| The 7th.day of May had proved to be a very busy day.Her daughter was coming in from out of town that day and the house would surely be filled with company coming to visit her. She remembered scurrying around the house getting everything in order... dusting this and sweeeping that! Late that afternoon she had seen Shoo waiting on the back porch step for his treat bringing friend. Her daughter had already arrived and dinner was being served early that day so the evening would be left for friends to visit. Her heart went out to the little rabbit and she had brought his treats out to him in his bowl, having decided that she just didn't have time to hand feed them to him as usual. Finally, with the dishes done and things tidied up, she went out on the porch to get some fresh air and to see if Shoo was still somewhere in the yard. . |
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| At first there was no sign of her cottontail friend, but soon he had come running into the yard and up to the porch step to see her. She went and picked a ripe apple from the tree and sliced it for them to share. Little did she know that this would be the last apple they would eat together. She had apologized to him... saying that she was sorry that she had not been able to sit with him earlier. "But, Shoo", she had said as she handed him another slice of apple,"we have the whole spring and summer ahead of us filled with beautiful days and evenings to sit together." His soft nose had brushed her hand as he carefully took the last piece of sliced apple. "I have to go in the house now, my beloved bunny." (The last words she would ever say to him would be spoken in the next few sentences.) "I will see you tomorrow." (Tears ran down her cheeks as she remembered speaking the words that had become their nightly farewell until morning.) "Until then, be a good bunny, a safe bunny and a smart bunny. Beware of dogs and cats and man. I love you and I will see you in the morning!" The last words spoken. She had turned and gone into the house.. Later that evening, one of her daughter's guests had asked if she could see Shoo. "I have never seen a cottontail up close", she had said. Making their way to the kitchen, she remembered opening the door and the visitor standing in awe as she admired the little rabbit sitting just off the patio in the grass. "Can I give him something to eat?" she had asked. Noticing a small piece of uneaten apple Shoo had left, she had picked it up and handed it to... What was her name? She couldn't remember. But she had handed it to the girl who gently tossed it to Shoo. Shoo-Fly had looked down at the apple piece and then back up at them as they stood in the doorway. She had then closed the door and went back into the house with the others. This was the last time she would see her friend alive... and his face that night would be permanently carved in her heart. Through the many years to come she would see him as he looked that evening. Over and over and over again she would see him look at the two of them, and then look at the little piece of apple that had been tossed to him, and then back up toward them, his eyes meeting hers. Over and over and over again she would see herself turning and going back into the house. "If I had only known", her mind echoed the familiar words now and it had done so many times in the past. "If I had only known." A poem would later be written about this day. A poem written in the anguish of tears, mourning and regret. The poem would be entitled, "Knowing". |
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| Bunny Link Page 7 |
| May 7th. Their last day together. |
| Page 6 |