Faded Petal

Chapter 8 - Beth - The Bunnies

DAY EIGHT

We are falling into a routine now. Charlie is usually first awake, then the rest of us follow.

By the time we have all awoken and eaten breakfast (if you can call it that), we have grabbed our cases and moved on.

This morning is beautiful, like it always is.

We stroll through the meadow which seems to stretch out as far as the eye can see. Subconsciously, our group has fallen into its usual formation; George leading at the front, Edith floating closely behind him, me and Akiki behind her, and Charlie bringing up the rear.

Something is different about this morning, though. Akiki and Charlie seem to have formed a close friendship overnight, as Akiki keeps falling back to steal conversation with Charlie, sharing secret glances.

I wonder if there's something romantic between them. Good for them if there is, I think.

Akiki is behind me again when she suddenly lets out a small gasp, barely loud enough for me to hear it.

"Bunnies!" she whispers excitedly. She really does have sharp eyes, Akiki.

We all automatically come to a halt, and I rake the grass with my eyes, hoping to see a flash of fur or the swish of a white tail.

Then I see them- small, grey balls of fluff, bounding in a neat little row through the grass which towers above them. All five of them, one after the other. Just like us, I think, laughing inside at my mental joke.

The bunny at the front suddenly stops and the others follow suit. The tiny furball raises its head in the air, nose wriggling curiously. He is the biggest out of the group, slightly overweight. Clearly the leader.

"Oh, they are so adorable!" Akiki whispers. A smile creeps across my face.

Before I can react, the first bunny bounds forward on its strong little legs, right up to me. First Edith with the beavers, now this!

He sits in front of my brown patent shoes, looking up with huge brown eyes, as if waiting for me to do something.

I crouch down to kneel in front of it, inch by inch, so afraid that I'm going to startle it. But it remains still. My friends watch with baited breath as I reach out my hands, cupping them together and trying to make my sweaty palms look as welcoming as possible.

The bunny takes one twitchy look at my quivering hands and hops right in, settling down. Its fur is softer than I could have imagined. It feels like holding my own cloud.

Akiki gasps and hurries forward to look at it, causing the other rabbits to scatter in fright from her feet.

"Oh, no! I'm sorry, bunnies, please come back!" she calls, sounding genuinely upset.

"Here," I offer, and hold out the lonely bunny, who seems perfectly at ease resting in my hands.

She takes it ever so carefully from me, and cradles it to her chest. "Hello, bunny," she whispers in its velvety ear.

Me and the others gather around Akiki, giggling as the bunny rolls over, exposing a plump belly. Akiki tickles it with her forefinger.

Slowly, the rabbit's friends come loping back, eager for their share of attention.

Within ten minutes each of us sit cross legged with a fluffy rabbit in our lap. They munch on grass and occasionally escape a pair of legs to go hop into someone else's lap. It's like they're hopping over to have a chat with their friends.

We spend all morning as a group of ten, and each of our bunnies has a name by the end of it.

Akiki and I named ours Daisy and Dandelion; matching flower names.

Eventually we let them go, bouncing off in an organized line again.

"I want Dandelion back," Akiki moans woefully the second they are out of sight.

***

The cheerful bubble around us is immediately popped as George says, "I think there's something we need to address."

We have stopped just on the outskirts of another patch of trees, after a few more hours of walking. We did not see the rabbits again.

Nobody replies, so he continues, "We're running out of food, guys. And we need to do something about it."

My throat is dry; I don't know how to reply to that.

"We'll be fine. If I'm not mistaken, that's a blackberry bush over there," Charlie says, pointing into the forest.

My eyes follow his finger to a bedraggled-looking bush, dotted with a few purple berries.

"And how long will that last us, Charlie, a day?" George snaps. Charlie shrinks into himself, cheeks red with humiliation.

George pinches the bridge of his nose, other hand on hip, and sighs, "Sorry, I just... I'm worried, okay?"

Akiki rests a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I mean, that's not our only option," Charlie pipes up again, "There's animals we could eat! Squirrels, ducks, maybe some... (he throws a regretful look in Akiki's direction) rabbits..."

"No, that's horrible!" she cries, covering her mouth with both hands.

"Sorry," Charlie's voice wobbles slightly as he apologises.

George sighs once more, "Look, we'll figure it out. Let's just have a break from discussion, okay? Cool off a bit."

I wander off with Akiki, and we discuss the current situation.

"If I'm being honest," she confesses to me, "I was certain this was just a little break from our regular life. I thought we were going back. I mean, it would be absolutely impossible to live out here forever! We have to go back eventually!"

"That's what I've been thinking. But I'm not certain that... others will agree with us."

As I say this, I pointedly throw a glance in Charlie's direction, who is sat on a tree stump ten or so metres away. He is already looking at me, and our eyes meet for a second before he startles and pretends to be looking at something else.

"What are we going to dooo?" Akiki groans, drawing out the last syllable for what feels like forever.

The thought that has been cautiously circling my brain for the past couple of days suddenly presents itself again, looking more tempting now than it ever did before.

"I have an idea," I announce under my breath, "but it's not a nice one..."