The Wolf & The Rabbit

On a chilly, autumn morning, the ground was covered with red, orange, and yellow leaves. The sun was rising. It's getting close to daytime.

No sign of movement anywhere in this beautiful forest. Just leaves and dirt. All of the sudden, poking his head out of a burrow in the ground, is a rabbit. The brown little critter dusts his head off, yawns, twitching his nose, then looks around his surroundings. He comes out of his hole, scratching his head, and then hops around the forest, minding his own business.

The rabbit enjoys living in the forest a lot. As with all the other animals living here, it means home to him. One thing that does worry him a little bit is running into a predator. Dying before he has lived a long, happy life would be last thing he wants.

Soon he hears a noise. He cautiously turns his head. It came from a line of trees not too far behind him. "What could that be?" he wondered. Maybe it was just the wind. The rabbit continues to hop on his merry way.

Then he hears a noise again. This time it was closer and louder. The rabbit freezes, then turns again. But nothing is there. When he turns back, standing right in front of him is a large grey wolf. The rabbit jumps back with fear. The menacing canine stares at him with piercing yellow glowing eyes and a sinister smile. The rabbit, shaking with fear, returns a nervous smile. The wolf then slowly licks the rabbit's face. The rabbit wipes the saliva off his face with a shaky paw, and the wolf snickers.

The rabbit looks behind the wolf and points to a tree. The wolf, confused, turns to where the rabbit had pointed. The rabbit then uses this short distraction for his escape and hops off as fast as he can. The wolf turns back, seeing the rabbit running away, realizing he's been tricked, and angrily chases after the little critter.

The rabbit is desperate to get away from his chaser. The wolf catches up quickly, roaring madly. The rabbit has no choice but to go faster than he's ever gone before. The rabbit, not paying attention to where he is going, eventually winds up trapped at a dead end: The top of a waterfall.

The waterfall is very high and the rabbit feels anxiety just looking down. He then turns to see if the wolf is still on his tail. Instead, he's nowhere in sight. The rabbit looks everywhere, trying to find where the wolf might have gone but all he could see is the trees and bushes behind him.

Then suddenly, he gets tackled and thrown to the ground by the wolf, who had jumped out of a bush he was hiding in. The wolf snarls and snickers at the terrified rabbit, then opens his jaws wide, moving them close to the rabbit's face. The rabbit is absolutely horrified right now. He's gonna get eaten by the wolf. The wolf is about to snap at the rabbit's face, but the rabbit holds onto his jaws, pushing them away as hard as his little paws are able to manage. Drools drip onto the rabbit's face. With every last bit of strength he has left, he keeps on pushing the jaws away, and with one last push, he sends the wolf flying away and landing hard on the ground. The rabbit is now almost out of breath.

The angry wolf gets up and snarls at the rabbit and leaps to attack the little critter. At the last moment, the rabbit dodges to the left, and the wolf flies into the waterfall abyss. The rabbit hops to the edge of the waterfall, searching for the wolf. But the canine is nowhere to be seen. He had disappeared into the raging stream at the bottom of the waterfall. The rabbit feels safe again. His tormenter and would-be killer is finally gone. There is a part of him that feels sorry for the wolf, but then again, he's relieved that he had managed to get away from danger.

The rabbit then turns and hops away, happy to be enjoying the beauty of his home again.

~ THE END ~