Going out into the forest should never have to be as nerve racking as it was. Jack never thought so anyways. The poor bunny had gotten to the point where he never wanted to leave home. “Please don’t make me go!” he would plead to his mother. “You don’t know what it’s like!”
Mother rabbit shook her head. “Now, Jack, you need to spend more time with the other rabbits! Honestly, I don’t know what’s so horrible about it. Is there something you aren’t telling me?”
“N-no. I just don’t like it there. Don’t make me go!”
She nudged him away from the warren. “You’re just shy! Go on! I’ll see you later!”
Jack moped to himself as he hopped into the forest. This area was usually pretty safe and was a good meeting place for the bunny folk of the area. The only problem was that there was someone who would always meet him part of the way.
“Prepare to get eaten!” cried the horrible voice from an unknown location.
Jack stopped and trembled. “Go away! I’m not afraid of you!”
The voice laughed. “I don’t care if you’re afraid or not; I’m still going to eat you!”
“Please, just leave me alone! This is supposed to be a safe place. Just… Just go away!”
The voice bellowed out from right behind him, “Die!”
Jack nearly had a heart attack. He jumped around and stared Bobby Badger right in his big, scary eyes. “Please, don’t eat me! I’m scared! There I said it! I’m scared!”
Bobby laughed and pushed the bunny over. “You should have seen your face! It was priceless!”
The poor bunny was panting out his sorrows; he was thoroughly unable to calm himself down. Bobby growled and asked, “You haven’t told anyone about me, have you?!”
Jack quivered, “No! No one! I promise!”
“If you do, you’ll regret it!”
“I won’t!”
The badger poked him roughly in the chest and jeered, “You’re nothing but a nothing, you little twerp! Someday, when you’re older, I’m gonna eat you for real!”
The poking was pretty bad, and the threatening remarks did not make it feel any better. Jack was completely at the badger’s mercy–which seemed to be the case even when he was at home. He coughed and tried to swat the large badger paws away. “Agh! Stop it! That really hurts, Bobby! Please, stop!”
The badger did anything but stop. In fact, he poked even harder. “Why don’t you make me?! Hey, why don’t you tell me your name again! I love hearing it!”
“No!”
Bobby jabbed into the bunny’s chest even harder. “Tell me your name!”
The bunny screamed out, “Ow! Okay! Okay! It’s Jack!”
“Jack who?!”
The bunny’s eyes filled with tears. “Jack… Rabbit. My name is Jack Rabbit.”
Bobby broke out into a fit of laughter. “I still can’t believe your mother would be that stupid! It’s like you don’t even have a name. She’s just calling you what you are! You really are a nothing! You don’t even have a name!”
Jack silently cried to himself as he lay there. The whole thing was as humiliating as it could be, but unfortunately, it was nothing new. This is what he always had to deal with, and it was all he thought about regardless of where he was. Jack took the chance to run away. He could hear Bobby calling to him from behind, “Remember, Jack Rabbit! You’re a nothing! Nothing but a nothing!”
Jack sat under a tree. His friends were there, but he was too upset to play. The only things on his mind were those final words, “Nothing but a nothing.” He knew that it was a lie. He knew that Bobby was just trying to make him feel terrible. But despite that, he could not help but wonder if it was true.
Of course, he thought about telling someone. There were a lot of bigger or older rabbits that could do something to stop Bobby. Jack was just too scared. Even though it was ridiculous, it always felt like Bobby was always there watching for him to slip up. All the help in the world would be useless if he was already dead.
What was he to do? He was just a little rabbit. Jack felt terrible, and he saw no end in sight. Was this how it was always going to be? The rabbit sat there and cried, for in that moment, he really felt like a nothing.
-Author Notes-
This parable was more of a vent. I never had to deal with bullying in my school; they were way too strict for it to ever happen. Still, I saw what was happening on the TV and heard about it from others, and it made me pretty angry. The cases that especially reached me were the ones involving suicides. I am sure that–at some level–those poor kids believed all the bad things those bullies said. That particular aspect was what this story focused on.
-----
Check out my ebook "Wild" available for free at Barnes and Noble! Just CLICK HERE!
No comments:
Post a Comment