Fairy Tale Spotlight: That Time I Ended Up a Rabbit, Part 1

I don't really like talking about this. It's a bit embarrassing and a tad bit creepy. But it was also rather fascinating when looked at on the whole. Half the time I barely believe it ever occurred, but there was a day in the early part of my life where I ended up a rabbit. I can't say for certain exactly how it happened. I had gone to bed, and one might simply assume that I had been dreaming, but I really don't think so. I had simply slipped somewhere underneath the covers of my bed, fallen a few feet, and ended up on a patch of grass with a puffy tail, long ears, and a twitchy sort of nose. Oh my.

Like most of you, I thought I was dreaming too. After all, I had remembered just crawling into bed. I did not know of any grassy field located through a hole somewhere under my covers. Nor could I explain, in any other way, how it was suddenly day time where I was. But then I considered the very real fact that, in thinking that I must have been in a dream, that a person dreaming would not think that. So naturally I came to the conclusion that I was, in verity, awake... and also a bunny somehow.

I was not alone. That is not to say that I was with other bunnies. There was someone there who stood with me. He was a fox and stood there with a cup of tea (probably) in his right paw. He looked down upon me in a smug sort of way and asked, "So you're just going to sit there then?"

"You can talk?" I asked with a small gasp.

He then followed up his question with another one, "You're asking me if I can talk after I clearly just did? Goodness. Bunnies must keep there brains in their arse, cause you seemed to have fallen on it quite hard."

Not knowing how to respond to this sort of rebuke, I sheepishly responded, "I'm sorry."

"Good. I accept your apology," said the fox. "Come with me. You're not to be allowed to hop away after this sort of invasion. Don't doddle. I'm not in the mood."

The fox waited for me to stand up on my strange legs and motioned for me to walk ahead of him... and so I did. He led me to a door that went underground. I was nervous about going in there, for I knew that I was a rabbit and he was a fox. But there was something about this person that worried me. He seemed calm and peaceful with his cup of tea, but there was a bit of authority in the way he spoke to me that made me feel that I should do as he said.

The home I found inside (under the ground) was much like a primitive dwelling like I have seen in fairy tale illustrations. It was tidy, however, without a speck of dust that I could see. There were no windows at all. Everything was lit by a means of which I could not figure out. We were in a kitchen that somewhat doubled as a dining room. A cooking pot that hung from a hook was just nearby, but no fire was burning underneath it.

The fox closed the door behind me and locked the door tightly with a key. This prompted me to ask him why he was locking us both in, to which he replied, "You are my guest until I say otherwise." Once more said calmly. Once more said with an assumed authority. I was clearly not leaving.

"Sit there at the table," he ordered. "Would you like some tea?"

"Hot tea?" I asked nervously as I sat down as instructed.

"Is there any other kind? I should expect even rabbits would not have their tea cold. If so, I shan't serve it to you."

"I wasn't really thirsty," said I.

The fox stared at me for a moment before sitting down across from me. It was here that a conversation began:

Fox: How are you feeling?

Me: Confused.

Fox: Confused about what? [He sipped from his cup.]

Me: I'm confused about... why I am here... why I am a bunny.

Fox: Mhm. I must say... I'm not accustomed to just walking out and seeing your sort just sitting there like an imbecile. [He paused for a short moment as he looked at me.] Are you an imbecile?

Me: What... What do you mean by imbecile?

Fox: [Touching his own head with his paw.] Your mind... rotting away. You make poor decisions because of a damaged head. That sort of thing. An injury can make one stupid. I've seen it before. [Sip.]

Me: No, I-I don't think so. I just went to bed and ended up here somehow. I don't even know where here is.

Fox: This is my home.

Me: I gathered that. I mean... out there. This whole place. I don't know where I am right now.

Fox: Sleep walking?

Me: What?

Fox: Are you prone to walking about in your slumber? Did you go to bed within your warren and end up at my front door with no memory of the travel?

Me: I... Listen...

Fox: Are you under the impression that I haven't been listening?

Me: I'm sorry. I'm just really confused. I've never met a talking fox before.

Fox: I know.

Me: You know?

Fox: Well, you're still clearly alive, aren't you?

The fox took another sip of his tea as he looked at me. I was stunned into silence. The insinuation he made cause me to cease up. A very subtle crack of a smile showed for only a brief moment upon his face... and then it was gone. There is more to this story.

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