A New Friend

 

Hey Guys!  Sorry it took me so long to put another update up here- you know, it’s pretty hard to type with such big paws!  It’s been cold here in New York City.  My paws get a little chilly when I go for really long walks, but luckily my humans keep me pretty warm.

Now back to the story: when we left off, it was a warm summer evening and I fell asleep dreaming about that scent that was so intriguing….

When I woke up the next morning, I was determined to figure out what that glorious scent was.  I bonked my brother Freckles a few times with my nose.  ”YAWN…. I’m too sleepy…” was his response.  He flopped over and rested his chin on Lucy’s hind end.  

“Come ON!!! I said,” nudging him again.  ”You know mom won’t let us go off on our own!”  I tried again, but he was already snoring.

I snuck off on my own knowing that I would get in trouble later, but I didn’t care.  I quickly picked up the trail and followed it for a while.  I crossed under big oak trees and I walked around the smaller mesquite trees.  I hated it if I walked too close to the mesquite trees- they had big pointy stickers that hurt my paws if I stepped on them.  I walked so far I even had to cross a road.  My mom had always warned me to look both ways before I crossed, so I did.  No cars in either direction.

 I walked past many bushes that looked like the one I had tracked the scent to the first time but kept my nose to the ground because the scent of the trail was growing stronger.  Then it caught my eye- something darted as fast as lightening in front of me.  I looked up just in time to see it dart right into a bush that was pretty close by.  With the tip of my tail pointed skyward, I flew into the bush behind it.  The scent was so fascinating and I was almost at the source of it.  The bush was prickly, and it was tickling my nose.  I almost backed away but then my nose bonked on something soft and furry.  I peeked an eye open and saw the weirdest dog I had ever seen.

“What do you want?” he asked in a funny-sounding squeak.  My tail was wagging fast as my curiosity peaked.  ”Why do you smell like that?  I know what dogs smell like and you smell different.”  I asked.  I heard a little giggle, and I noticed his ears were just as long as mine, but they stood straight up.  ”Whoa, how do you get your ears to stand up like that?” I asked, moving my nose away from in between his eyes.  I slowly backed out of the bush as he started towards me and came into full view.  He was furry and his ears were definitely long, but his tail was short and fluffy. 

“Silly, I’m not a dog,” he said “I’m a rabbit!”  

“A what?” I asked, not sure I had ever heard the word before.  

“R-A-B-B-I-T  Rabbit.  Jack’s the name.  What’s yours?” he asked.

“I’m Henry- I live just over those hills, on the farm with the mean horse.  I followed your smell over here cause I was curious.”

“Well, Henry it’s nice to meet ya.  I live in this bunch of bushes, but really I have a den underground.  My daddy built it a long time ago.  I was about to go get some cabbage- wanna help?”

“R’okay,” I said, not really sure what cabbage was, either.

I followed his funny looking tail for a little ways. He sure walked weird- kind of hoppy- but I decided I shouldn’t say anything.  Maybe he had a hurt foot or something.  I once got my foot stomped on by Frank the horse and I walked funny for a few days because of it, and I definitely didn’t want to talk about it.  I started to notice that Jack was heading in a direction that I’ve never been before. 

We came upon a huge farm, with a big pond right in the middle of it.  For a minute I thought we were going to stop at the pond, but Jack kept going.  He took me to this big field, with rows and rows of plants.  Then I realized that we had this at our farm, too.  The farmer and his wife taught us to stay away from these plants.

“Jack,” I said.  “I’m not supposed to go near these plants.”

“Why not?  It’s just cabbage.  Cabbage isn’t dangerous.” He said.

“No, but the farmer and his wife said that I can’t go near the cabbage or else I’ll be in trouble.  They’re really nice and I don’t want to get in trouble.” I said.

“Nah, they only said that cause they don’t want you to eat the cabbage.  They eat it themselves- it’s really good.  Try some” he said as he ripped a piece of the green plant and put it in his mouth.

I bit off a little piece of it and started chewing.  It tasted exactly like I thought it would- like a plant. 

“Blech! You like this stuff?” I asked him.

“Sure, you don’t?” he asked.

“Not so much.” Was my reply.

He put down the cabbage and looked at me while tapping his foot.  “Ya know, I think we should go for a swim in that pond we passed by.  It’s kind of warm and I don’t have any chores today.  Whaddya think?” he asked.  Without waiting for an answer, he darted towards the pond and dove in.  I followed him with an excited yelp and started doggy-paddling across. 

The water felt so cool and refreshing.  We swam and splashed and jumped in and out of the pond.  Jack couldn’t swim as well as I could, but he sure could jump really high and then curl into a ball as he came back down into the water, splashing everywhere.  After a while Jack mentioned that his tummy was starting to rumble. 

“I think I’m gonna go and eat some more cabbage- I’m getting hungry.” He said

“Yeah, okay.  I should probably head home soon anyway.” I replied, noticing that my belly felt pretty hungry too.

“Wanna do this again tomorrow?” he asked.

“Yeah!” I said excitedly.

I sniffed my way home, stopping every once in a while to shake from head to tail to get all that pond water out of my coat.  When I got back I told Freckles and my sisters all about Jack and his funny ears and his fluffy tail.  I don’t think they really believed me, so I told them that I was going to meet him at the pond again tomorrow for another swim and that they could just come along and see for themselves that I had a new friend.

I was surprised that I didn’t get in trouble for wandering off on my own.  In fact, I even thought I saw my mom smile and wink at my dad.  Wonder what that was about?

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