De'Coration Academy for Exceptional Rabbits Part 3: Bunny VS Box

Part 1, Part 2

The field research notes of Sprinkles Prissyfeet, second year student of the De’Coration Academy for Exceptional Rabbits.

Day 42 of human observation. We have learned a great many things about these humans, they are very strange beings. A lot of their behaviour still illudes us as they appear completely unbothered by large sky born threats but move to evade insects. I propose the theory that insects are toxic to humas. Marshmallow is not convinced. This will require further investigation and possible collaboration with the insects. It might be difficult to convince the insects to get involved as humans can be unpredictable and…

“Sprinkles! The humans have a thing!” Sprinkles jumped and dropped her notebook as Marshmallow called out from the upstairs window of the lodge. “Hurry!” Sprinkles dashed over to Marshmallow, skidding to a stop at the white lop’s side. The upstairs window of their lodge was the perfect human watching location. While not quite at human height it gave a far more complete view of the human beyond just the feet.

“What is that?”

“I don’t know, the humans just carried it out here.”

“It’s bigger than our transportation pod!”

“I’ve seen rabbit houses smaller than that!” Marshmallow said in awe. Some of the things that humans did were just baffling.

“Marshmallow, we need to investigate!”

“Yes!” The two bunnies shared a look and nodded. “You distract the human, I’ll go and take a sniff.” Sprinkles sat back on her haunches and carefully fluffed the tufts of her mane, the humans seemed fascinated by all things fluffy and there were very few things fluffier than Sprinkles.

“I’ve got this.” Sprinkles said as she hopped out of the lodge into the garden. She was heading directly for the human. The fluff was working. The human was distracted. Marshmallow made her move. She leapt into action, dashing across the garden and bounding up the cliffs to the plateau at the top, right next to the new thing.

Marshmallow held very still, it would not do to draw attention to herself now. Tentatively she peaked around the new thing to catch a glimpse of the human. They were still distracted. Sprinkles was doing an exceptional job. She was distracting the human by permitting them to clumsily groom her. The poor thing would smell of humans for ages after this, Marshmallow would have to give her a very thorough wash later.

Satisfied that she had not been spotted Marshmallow began her careful examination of the new thing. It smelt interesting. Very interesting. Positively chewable! A little nip couldn’t hurt, not just a little one. It was the next sensible step in the investigation after all. Marshmallow dipped her head, took hold of the edge of the thing with her teeth and,

RRRRRRRRRRRRIP!

It was a trap! The humans had spotted her!

Marshmallow launched herself off the cliff, used her landing to propel her into her dash and fled back to the lodge. Sprinkles took her cue and followed suit, making it to the door at the same time as Marshmallow. They slammed into one another as they dashed in, skidding to a safe stop under the stairs. The humans weren’t following. They made it.

“Well?” Asked Sprinkles as she began to vigorously wash her tufts. “What did you find out?” Marshmallow turned to face Sprinkles and began to help in the removal of the human stink.

“The whole thing is covered in brown paper. Can you believe that they use such a valuable resource to cover things?”

“Brown paper! I haven’t played in brown paper for a long time.”

“I know, neither have I. We should liberate it.” Marshmallow announced, standing tall, forgetting that she had a paw on Sprinkles’ head to aid in washing.

“How will we do that, Marshmallow?” Sprinkles asked, her voice slightly muffled as she was squished into the floor. Marshmallow released Sprinkles and gave her an apologetic boop as she concocted a plan. The little lionhead waited patiently and continued to scrub her fur.

“The humans haven’t moved the thing yet. You’re small, maybe you can sneak up there are learn a bit more. I will distract the humans this time. If you can get some paper, then do so.” Sprinkles nodded and braced herself, “Ready? Let’s go!” Marshmallow dashed out first, throwing herself into a binkie right in front of the human, drawing their attention, allowing Sprinkles the opportunity to dash passed unseen.

Sprinkles took a long, deep sniff. Brown paper. Definitely brown paper. Oh, it smelt so good. She crept closer and sniffed again. The brown paper was the main scent but there was something more underneath. Something that was being covered by the brown paper. It smelt like… it couldn’t be, it smelt like treats!

What were the humans doing this so many treats?!

Sprinkles knew that she had to let Marshmallow know. This was no longer just about brown paper; this could be critical to their research into humans! Grabbing hold of the section of brown paper that Marshmallow had already loosened, Sprinkles bolted away. Ripping the paper as she ran, dragging a long swath of it behind her, flapping and rustling as she moved. Marshmallow followed her back into the lodge to reconvene.

“Well done, Sprinkles! You got so much paper!”

“There’s more than just brown paper up there, Marshmallow! I think the humans are hiding treats in it! I think it’s a box.”

“The humans are hording treats? We must liberate them too!”

“YES and we must inform the academy that the humans have access to large quantities of snacks!”

“Sprinkles look, the human is distracted, they aren’t paying attention to us, lets go now!” Without waiting for a response Marshmallow dashed out of the door, right passed the human’s feet towards the box. Sprinkles took a steadying breath and ran after her.

It was now or never. Who knew when, if ever, they would have another opportunity like this. Marshmallow had already sunk her teeth into the remaining brown paper as Sprinkles arrived by her side. Together they pulled. Just a sharp jerk of the brown paper and the world slowed down. The box tipped, rocked slightly on its edge and began to topple.

Sprinkles broke away dashing most of the way back to the lodge, Marshmallow hot on her tail. The box tipped over landing sideways on the high plateau with a loud thump and continued to fall, rolling over itself. It hit the lower cliff as it fell and burst open. Smaller boxes filled with treats showered the garden.

Never before had any bunny seen such a cornucopia of delicious delicacies. Not only was there a plethora of snacks, there was also a substantial stash of toys. It was truly astounding to see.

The human turned and bumbled clumsily over to the box and began to gather all the spilled contents once again. Marshmallow darted forward and snatched up a box of treats before the human could reach for it. The mission might not have gone entirely to plan but a box of treats would last a long time. Once safely back in the lodge, watching from the upstairs window as the human continued to pick up boxes, Marshmallow tore into the box of treats she had liberated. It had been an exhausting mission and a few snacks would be well deserved.

Part 4

Marshmallow and Sprinkles are both real life rescue rabbits, I'm fostering them while they search for their forever home. I'm only able to do this because of the Support provided by Rabbit Retail who are a small business local to me, so please check them out. Any purchases or donations made on their website will be helping to keep these two bunnies happy and healthy, as will any tips.