A Different Rabbit by CornFed (the lemonade war series .TXT) 📖

To all the little rabbits out there that don’t believe everything their little rabbit ears hear.

I remember the day I ate my first carrot in Paradise.

At last.

Chapter 1 – The Garden

It was on the first day of Spring, nearly 8,000 full moons ago the Garden was completed. It was the culmination of the life’s work of nearly 300 Elder rabbits as a place by which to teach selected young rabbits how to become mature rabbits and eventually Elders like themselves.

And only the young rabbits from the most promising members of the Elder’s family were ever selected.

The Garden was controlled in a perfect manner. It's size was constructed against the various barriers that existed at the north, south, east, and west boundaries. The Garden was fixed in size to prevent growth beyond what was perfect for the young rabbits.

The trees were green but never grew nor died. The sun rose but it never seemed to fall during the day. It just disappeared into the night. The nighttime skies were clear and was gently painted with a pastel of purplish clouds framing a glowing round object. The weather never changed; it was always a perfect 65 rabbit degrees. The wind blew gently in the middle of the day, each day, and lasted only long enough for the rabbits to finish their afternoon nap.

The outdoor nurseries within the Garden were seemingly eternal in breadth, ever creating new browse each morning from the previous days feeding. The nurseries presented their wares like a buffet of culinary rabbit delight. Everything grew above ground and within easy reach. From sweet corn, to broccoli, to the strawberries, every vegetable or fruit was housed in a holster of clover and dandelions. While the nurseries replenished themselves each day, they never grew in size, remaining a fixture of consistency for the young rabbits palatable desires.

The ground remained cool and deeply moist and never once required a drop of rain. The birds sounded perfect, a constant choir of whistles in the day and soft cooing at night. Flowers were in constant bloom and the hummingbirds were slow to eat from each one, ensuring everyone present saw their delicate method of sweet extraction.

But there were no carrots in the Garden.

And 3 at a time, every year, the selected little rabbits were placed into the Garden immediately after birth, without being told anything of their previous existence. The little rabbits just assumed the Garden is where they had always been.

And for the first time, in a day and age when the Elder Rabbits didn’t keep track of the day nor the age, one of the little rabbits died. This is her story.


Chapter 2 – The Elders and the Great Rabbit in the Sky

As was customary on the first morning of the their first day in the Garden, 5 Elders paid each little rabbit a visit to explain life to them.

To a little rabbit, The Elders seemed so tall, so robust in their appearance and speech. The Elders seemed so knowledgeable to the little rabbits as they had all the answers to the first questions these little rabbits were given to ask:

- Why they were here?
- How should they act?
- The meaning of life?
- Their purpose in life?

And with a booming voice and delicate whisker shakes, The Elders spoke of the source of their life, of all their questions and answers, what life was like, and what life expected of them.

“All that is in life, all the answers to all of your questions, and all the beauty you see around you is from The Big Rabbit in the Sky.”

The Elders explained to them that they had been placed here by the Big Rabbit in the Sky as one of His children, crafted from the finest of materials. From their puffy cottontail all the way to the moist nose, the Big Rabbit in the Sky had created a place for His perfection to live. The Elders explained life was really very wonderful…

“My dear little rabbits, think of all the fun you can have! You can eat the lucious food, sleep beneath the wonderful moon, play with one another in the finest of weather, and spend your days soaking up the wonderful Garden until you return to the Big Rabbit in the Sky.”

This seemed like such a wonderful existence to each of these 3 little rabbits.

And then The Elders continued.

“The only thing the Big Rabbit in the Sky requires of each of you is to attend the Weekly Vegetable festival dedicated to the the Big Rabbit in the Sky, recite the Big Rabbit Creed once a day, and follow the rules listed on the Great Clover Tablet.”

It was then that these tablets, a luminous green colored 4 leaf clover stone, were held high into the sky by one of The Elders. Each little rabbit was invited to read the rules on the Great Clover Tablet.

And so the tablets read:

1 – Only Desires for food, sleep, enjoyment of the beauty of the Garden, and friendship are allowed.

2 – Food must not be consumed more than 3 times per day and each meal must not exceed 10 minutes of browsing in duration.

3 – Only companionship with good rabbits is allowed. This includes proper conduct with all the Elders and your rabbit mates standing beside you now.

4 – You cannot cuss. If you question the purity of a word, ask the Elders to determine if it’s a proper word to use.

5 – You are not allowed to think bad thoughts. If you question the quality of a thought, ask the Elders to determine if it’s a proper thought to think.

6 – Although all rabbits come with the knowledge of carrots upon birth, there are no carrots in the Garden and you are not allowed to think nor entertain the idea of eating or admiring a carrot.

7 – Do not venture near the South Border of the Garden. Great Evil lives there. His name is the Evil Rabbit and contact with this Evil Rabbit will result in immediate death.

8 – Do not doubt The Elders and the words of wisdom they give to you.

9 – You must start your sleep at night when the moon has reached the middle of the sky

10 – Procreation is not allowed in the Garden in the first year. After that, you are required to start a family, with a selection of mates available for you to choose from. You will then be given access to the Family Garden where the other rabbits before you now reside.

To the little rabbits, only a day into their new found Garden Paradise, none of these rules seemed to give them any inner disturbances. They were too busy thinking of clover for lunch to really consider what they meant.

And then another Great Elder handed each little rabbit a copy of the Big Rabbit Creed to be read once per day at noon, except on the first day, which is when they were allowed to read it during the opening day ritual they were attending.

Each little rabbit in unison, with The Elders, read the creed aloud. The creed said:

“O Great Rabbit in the Sky, we are humbled to be one of your rabbits. We tremble with fear at the name of the Great Rabbit in the Sky. Have mercy on our souls. We ask forgiveness for our sins and ask that you help us to serve you. We honor and praise your Holy Rabbit Name and Your Wonderful Rabbit Garden. Amen.”

The little rabbits didn’t really notice how the creed seemed so distant to the beauty around them, with words like “forgiveness”, “mercy”, and “fear”, but they took the creed to be what it was. Something they would have to recite in order to enjoy the Garden life.

The Elders then described the borders of the garden, explaining to them that while they lived in the Garden, it was not the same in other parts of the world outside the garden, that there were “outsiders” who were made of a different kind of form. Even though these differently formed creatures existed within the love of the Great Rabbit in the Sky and lived on the border of the Garden, these other forms had decided to live contrary to Rabbit Life. The Elders explained that these “outsiders” didn’t even believe in a Great Rabbit, forming for themselves other Gods that worked for them and their “outcast” society.

The southernmost part of the Garden was described as the entrance to the land where the Evil Rabbit lives, a place where the most outcast of all the rabbits ever to grow up in the Garden now lived his lonely life. The Evil Rabbit lived in solitude and would never mingle with any other creature living anywhere in or around the Garden unless someone dared to venture inside his territory. And the price for entering this Evil Land was immediate death from the paws of the Evil Rabbit.

As a result of this Evil, the entrance into this part of the Garden that bordered the Evil Rabbit's land, contained two large wolf figures. These wolf figures served as means to protect the little rabbits and as a reminder of the certain death of any rabbit who would dare venture that far.

The northernmost part of the Garden was described as the entrance into the greater forest, a place where many different types of animals mixed, animals that were of different forms and were of danger to the lives of the little rabbits. Bears, wolves, hawks, owls, and other animals that ate living creatures for food resided there.

The eastern part of the Garden was described as the entrance into the kingdom of the crazy squirrels, a breed of animals that were characterized by their complete disregard for the beauty of the Garden. Guarded by the Great Hawk, squirrels were kept from entering the Garden and attacking the abundant food and peaceful way of life that existed within the Garden.

The western part of the Garden was the entrance to where The Elders lived and also contained the Family Garden where the rabbits would one day reside when it was time to start a family. They told the little rabbits that they would venture into the Garden once a week to ensure that the little rabbits were living the life that they were intended to live, in accordance with the rules and creeds set forth by the Big Rabbit in the Sky.


Chapter 3 – The Three Little Rabbits

The Elders left the next morning before sunrise and so began the second day in the life of the three little rabbits with each adjusting to the Garden and learning about each other.

Sandra was a naturally likeable rabbit, more petite in shape and style than the others. Her voice was squeaky as she conversed with her fellow rabbits, which the other two rabbits loved to laugh about. She earned the nickname Little Sandra and carried that title proudly, often eating one less meal each day than the other rabbits to maintain her stature.

Sam was a laid back rabbit and preferred to take his time walking among the clover. His slowness of speech and his particularly orchestrated jaw movements