Cover-up

The Bunny

The small mammal seemed curious as it hopped near the edge of its cage as if searching for a way out. Shadows regularly entered its pen to foreshadow imminent intrusions. With each shadow came a rush of adrenaline that energized the bunny to rush past its peers and avail itself to groping hands of strangers. The hands searched among the dozen young fur-balls for one to hold, cuddle, and possibly give a home. Every time the hands came, they pushed aside the flawed bunny to seek another, more favorable specimen. The bunny missed part of an ear; that was all. Its ear had been caught in the cage door two weeks earlier and had suffered a nasty cut. The Veterinarian had been concerned about adequate blood supply and considered it best to surgically remove the outer two-thirds of the bunny's ear.

Samuel Witherspoon, an only child, living with loving parents, had difficulty making new friends. Being shy and introverted, he could be awkward in social situations. Although Sam had a strong desire to please and be accepted by others, he lacked the requisite social skills. Sam also lacked empathy, often thinking of himself first without considering the feelings of others. Sam's parents, who falsely believed he would outgrow his selfish behavior, grew more concerned with each passing year. Up until this point, Sam's behavior was well within the normal range of an average child, yet he had incipient issues. Those issues might not have ever been activated had a tipping point not been reached.

Sam's tipping point into madness began with an innocent bunny, which led to an unfortunate incident and concluding with a horrifying cover-up. That initial cover-up became the first link in a long chain of cover-ups that would extend throughout his life. Sam's first cover-up occurred at the age of 5. He was at a young enough age that the incident would be forgotten as an adult, yet it spawned a recurring theme. The episode gave rise to an obsessive-compulsive disorder where, whenever Sam made a mistake, he felt it necessary to conceal the mishap from others. Over time, this behavior became ingrained in Sam's character to the point of being automatic and second nature. Any other response, such as admitting to and apologizing for a mistake, was absent from Sam's cognitive repertoire. It began with his first pet — a pet bunny that Sam loved beyond all others.

Sam first eyed the bunny when shopping with his parents. During their regular Saturday morning outing to the supermarket, Sam spotted unusual activity at the pet store, adjacent to the supermarket. Outside the store, he noticed a display of baby rabbits — a miniature petting zoo for passers-by. With bubbling enthusiasm, Sam ran to the exhibit, his face lighting with desire. The experience engulfed him. Although Sam had seen rabbits in pictures, he had never seen or held one in real life. Still, without hesitation, Sam played with the rabbits: rubbed between their ears, tickled their underside, and made silly noises. Sam picked up an adorable bunny with a funny ear and hugged it against his chest. He was so gentle, so caring, so loving towards the bunny that his parents took notice. Never before had Sam displayed such love and affection.

"Mommy, Daddy, I wanna pet rabbit!" Sam said, holding the bunny next to his face in a demonstration of its cuteness.

Sam's enthusiasm and tenderness towards the rabbit prompted an idea in his parent's minds. A plan soon formed that his parents believed would help Sam with his problem socializing. They decided to give Sam the bunny from the pet store with the hope that he would to love it, feed it, and protect it from danger. His attachment to the bunny, they reasoned, could trigger a more general empathy for others - a genuine concern for people's feelings and needs. By first developing compassion for his pet, that moral quality could be nurtured to grow and spread to others. The idea was a good one. With any other boy or even an older version of Sam, the plan would have worked beautifully. With Sam, however, his parents were dead wrong.

Sam's parents bought him that bunny — the fluffy, velvety bunny with the funny ear that was only a few weeks old. Their plan appeared to be successful at first. Sam loved his pet bunny and played with it regularly; he seemed to care for his pet genuinely. That's when his parents made their fatal mistake that would permanently change their son's behavior. They could not have known of a biological-based personality quirk in their son they were about to trigger and the dark roots that would reach in and grab hold of their son.