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Cloud 9 With Chance of Bunnies

Tipped my head in Ladybug’s direction, talking to my wife. “She said earlier today, ‘when we move to our new house can we pleaaaaase have a compost?'”

The eavesdropping Ladybug jumped forward and launched into her reasons why she wants a compost, which is admittedly fantastic and shows she’s a better environmentalist than I am.

“Should we tell them about the rabbits?” my wife asked. I nodded.

So then Wifey started talking with the kids about what else is good for composts, like, say, rabbit poo. Then we told the kids we’re gonna have to get some rabbits. One apiece.

Their eyes popped out of their heads, and it looked kinda like this:

photo of kids, rabbits, cloudy sky
Kids with rabbits for eyes, how unscary is that?

I shouldn’t have been surprised then when they took off into the sky like a pair of rockets. Luckily I had a lasso handy, and managed to rope them in time. Not so luckily, they took me up into the sky. And me without a pilot’s uniform. What an injustice.

“Slow down!” I shouted. “It’s just rabbits we’re getting you!”

But Cricket chimed in right then, having missed the plural in my earlier description,saying, “You mean we each get one!? I get my OWN rabbit?”

“That’s right,” I replied, holding tightly onto the rope as they picked up speed and we zoomed across the sky, heading east. I saw California fall away quickly, then one state after another. Faster and faster we flew, with the kids madly grinning and pink fluffy cotton-tailed hearts left in our wake.[aesop_quote width=”600″ background=”#282828″ text=”#ffffff” align=”center” size=”2″ parallax=”on” direction=”up” quote=” I get my OWN rabbit?”]

So we soared around the planet as the kids peppered me with countless questions about their future pets.

“Look, can we go home now?” I asked. The kids nodded in unison, satisfied and beginning to calm down enough to reduce speed. They pointed in the direction of home and dragged me across the sky.

Finally we crashed through the roof and I landed here on the couch. My hands are tired. Holding onto a rope while zooming across the sky explaining rabbits requires an abundance of energy.

I’ll let my kids go on dreaming up rabbit names and thinking up rabbit plans while I recuperate. A few months from now, we’ll make that all a reality. Hopefully next time I can stay grounded.

By J. Parrish Lewis

J. Parrish Lewis was born and raised in Maryland. In his youth there, he and his brother had many adventures in the dogwood forests near his home. His nostalgia for these adventures has strongly influenced his characters, their relationships, and their perspective on the world they inhabit. He moved to California’s coast to earn his degree in communications and now lives with his family in the San Joaquin Valley. Lewis is profoundly deaf and uses American Sign Language to communicate. He enjoys hazelnut coffee, captioned movies, and walking his dog.

One reply on “Cloud 9 With Chance of Bunnies”

Awesome. Children may yet save us!
I fondly remember, and regret, my one rabbit, Clover, who I neglected badly after the initial infatuation. I didn’t know, but eventually found out, that rabbits need to eat more than just head lettuce!

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