De'Coration Academy for Exceptional Rabbits Part 8: Under The Wall

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

The humans had done something terrible! They had made the walls around the garden taller. It was now impossible to get out of the gardens into the wild. Marshmallow and Sprinkles were horrified. They couldn’t fulfil their duties to The Academy or to The Secret Paw if they couldn’t leave the garden! They would have to find some way of getting out and they would have to do it alone as all of their contacts were now on the other side of the wall.

“There must be some way out, Marshmallow, there has to be!”

“I’m sure we’ll find one, Sprinkles. I’m very good at finding small spaces and you are very small indeed so you would be able to squeeze out of even the smallest space that I can find! We shall begin out search tonight after the humans bring us dinner.”

“Good, I don’t want to miss anything because we are trapped in the garden!” Sprinkles said as she looked forlornly out of the upstairs window of the lodge. Their friends seemed so far away now that the wall was impassable. “Can you imagine, we might have to spend the rest of our time here with just humans for company.”

“Don’t say frightening things like that Sprinkles! We will find a way out!”

Marshmallow and Sprinkles waited impatiently for night to fall. They managed to get a little reconnaissance done when the humans came out with afternoon snacks and treats, but with the humans watching and lumbering about it was impossible to do any real investigation. So, they bided their time. As always, a few hours after dark, one of the humans came out with dinner and quickly retreated back into their lair. Marshmallow believed that humans afraid of night time as they tended to only be active in day light. Sprinkles thought that humans might not be able to see in the dark as their movements were much slower at night, either that or they gained their energy from sun light, she wasn’t sure.

Once the human was gone, the two rabbits ate slowly to make sure that the human was well and truly occupied and would not be returning.

“It’s time to go, Sprinkles.” Marshmallow announced taking a final look at the entrance to the human lair. Together they slid like silent shadows out of the lodge and into the garden. Marshmallow had donned her camouflage, concealing her gleaming white fur from prying eyes. This mission was all about stealth. The humans seemed to want to keep them trapped so getting caught escaping would undoubtedly lead to even higher walls containing them. “You check that side, I’ll check over here.” Sprinkles nodded, accepting her instructions she dashed off to the far end of the garden to begin the investigation.

They sniffed here and they sniffed there. They sniffed and they bobbed and they sniffed and bobbed some more. They sniffed down low and up high and they stretched up, making themselves as tall as possible and sniffed again. But all of their attempts proved fruitless.

“Maybe we should swap sides, Marshmallow. You can sniff up higher than me.” Suggested Sprinkles. She refused to give up. There had to be a way out. They had made so many new friends and it would be terrible to never see them again and she had been so looking forward to Buster’s pond party. Marshmallow nodded, nudging Sprinkles as they passed one another. They would find a way out. They had to.

They sniffed here and they sniffed there. They sniffed and they bobbed and they sniffed and bobbed some more. They sniffed down low and up high and they stretched up, making themselves as tall as possible and sniffed again.

“Sprinkles! I think I might have found something!” Marshmallow called excitedly. She truly was an exceptional finder of small spaces. Sprinkles bounded over, delighted that she had missed something in her first sweep of the new wall. “I think, with just a little digging, we will be able to get out from under here.” Marshmallow gestured to a small section where the wall met loose pebble and not grass. Sprinkles looked around, this part of the garden was not one that they visited a lot. It was a small section with no grassy snacks at all. On the other side of the wall stood a tall pear tree, it would be very easy to remember the spot when coming and going and it would be a wonderful landmark to tell their friends about if they ever came to visit.

“Let’s get digging, I’ll go first!” Sprinkles moved forward, shoving Marshmallow to the side and began to dig enthusiastically. Pebbles flew high into the air and scattered all around them, Marshmallow flattened herself to the ground as one flew directly at her head.

“Stop it, Sprinkles! Let me have a go.”

Taking it in turns the bunnies dug down into the pebbles until they had opened up a gap just big enough for a small rabbit to fit through. They had succeeded. They now had a way out of the garden. But there was a problem. The humans would definitely notice it.

“We need to gather up all the messy pebbles and bring them back here. They humans can’t find out that we’ve been digging!” Marshmallow said, sitting back on her haunches and surveying the sea of overturned pebbles around them.

“We should also find something to cover the gap so they humans can’t see it.” Sprinkles added looked at the gap. It wasn’t very big at all but she was sure it could be seen even from as high up as humans were.

“You’re right. You start tidying the pebbles. I’ll find some big leaves from out in the wild to cover the gap.” As she spoke Marshmallow was already wiggling under the wall. Sprinkles watched, just encase any extra digging was needed.

“Marshmallow! You’ve left all you camouflage behind!” Sprinkles cried out as Marshmallows tail and feet disappeared to the other side of the wall, leaving only a pile of twigs and leaves in the pebbles.

“It’ll be fine, I’ll be really quick. Just tidy up the pebbles and keep an eye out for humans.”

And so, they set to work concealing their new way out of the garden. Sprinkles hurriedly pushed all the pebbled back, making sure she didn’t accidently fill the gap back up again and trap Marshmallow outside in the wild. She could here Marshmallow dashing about in the trees and bushes beyond, hunting for suitably large leaves to cover the gap.

Sprinkles froze. There was sound coming from the human lair and it was getting closer. A human was approaching!

“Marshmallow! Hurry! You need to get back here, now!” Sprinkles called as she franticly shoved the last remaining pebbles back into place. Marshmallow had gone silent on the other side of the wall and the human was almost at the entrance to their lair. They would be out in the garden any second! Sprinkles stared up in horror as the door the human lair opened and one of the humans stomped out. Marshmallow still wasn’t back. The gap was still exposed.

“Sprinkles, I can’t find the way back in!” Marshmallow called softly from the other side of the wall, a little way to the left of Sprinkles who was herself a little to the left of the gap.

“It’s under the pear tree, silly bunny!” Sprinkles responded before launching into action. She sprang forward, directly towards the human’s feet. She leapt and bounced from side to side as she dashed forward drawing all of the human’s attention to her. She didn’t stop even as she drew level with the human’s huge feet. She charged onwards, nudging the human in the ankles and darting around them forcing the human to pay attention to her. “Look and me silly human! Look and me! Aren’t I fluffy? Don’t you want to touch me with your big human paws? Just keep looking at me, there’s nothing else to see anywhere in the garden.” Sprinkles sang as she bounced around the human, although it had been proven long ago that the big humans couldn’t hear or understand bunnies at all.

The human hand taken the bait and was crouching down to stroke Sprinkles’ fluffy tufts. Marshmallow had better appreciate this. As the human began their clumsy petting Sprinkles took a moment to look towards the gap. She breathed a sigh of relief. The gap was covered by a pile of leaves and Marshmallow to nibbling at some grass a little way away trying to control her breathing. They had done it!

The human stood up and walked over to the lodge, holding the door open for them and waving both bunnies inside. It was not quite time for breakfast yet. Something must have woken the human early and made they come outside. That was worrying. They would need to look into that at some point. But not immediately.

Safely back in the lodge, happy in the knowledge that they were once again able to venture into the wild, go on missions and see their friends, Marshmallow and Sprinkles settled down to get some well-deserved sleep.

“Marshmallow?”

“Yes, Sprinkles?”

“I think I know that I’m going to focus my studies on at The Academy when we get back.”

“Oh?”

“I’m going to specialise in human distraction techniques!”

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, and will help pay for their spays as will any tips.