A Tale of Early Promise: Little A is a Hero.

Rabbit get Hydration Treatment

On a warm and sunny afternoon the boy went back to the valley to see his friend Rabbit. School was out for the summer, and he missed his friend and their walks and story sharing. He looked and looked and called his name but could not find Rabbit anywhere. He was just about to leave when he heard a soft trembling voice. “Boy? Are you Little A?” Little A looked around but didn’t’ see anyone so said that he was. Then the voice said “If I come out you won’t step on me will you?” “Of course not. But where are you?” And with that, a small mouse crept from behind a pine cone and said “Here. Rabbit has gone away. His mother sent him to take care of his Grandmother in the next valley. He never came back and we are all afraid to go look for him. Would you?”

Little A said “Or course I will. Which way did he go?” Mouse showed Little A the path that lead to Grandma Rabbit and Little A ran off as fast as he could. On the way over the hill into the next valley, Little A noticed a bit of fur on the ground and cried out “Oh No!! That looks like rabbit fur. Oh I hope it isn’t Rabbit’s.” On he went until he found Grandma Rabbit’s burrow and called in “Grandma Rabbit? Grandma Rabbit? Is Rabbit home?” Well, Grandma was a bit surprised when she limped to the entrance and saw a human, but being old and wise in the ways of the world she knew that this boy was not a danger. “Who are you? You mean my Grandson Rabbit? Why should he be here?” “His mother sent him here several days ago to help you. Didn’t he get here?” “No” said Grandma. “I haven’t seen him since the last time I had dinner at his burrow. Oh dear! Something must have happened to him. I will go out looking right now!” “Please Grandma Rabbit. Let me. I will call him and ask other animals. He must be somewhere between here and his burrow.”

And so Little A backtracked and asked some birds, a few mice, and a frog, but no one had seen Rabbit. The sun was going down, and Little A had to be home before dark, so he headed off towards his house, which was not the direction of Rabbit's burrow. And a good thing he did too. Not far from the path he found a snare, and there was Rabbit, caught by his hind legs, hanging upside down, and almost dead. Little A gently released the loop and held Rabbit tight to his chest. He said “Rabbit? Rabbit? Can you hear me? I am going to take you home and get you some help. Please don’t die. Please?”

Rabbit opened his eyes a bit and said “I am very weak and thirsty. I don’t think I will die, but please hurry.” A week later, Little A took Rabbit, much stronger now and rested, back to his burrow and his mother. He had seen a mouse on the way to his house and asked the mouse to tell Rabbits mother that Rabbit was hurt and he, Little A, would take care of him. It was a fine reunion when Rabbit hugged his mother at the entrance to the burrow. Little A was the hero of the Valley and for many years after he graduated from Vet school Little A continued to treat wild animals, and was known far and wide. He always had a special place in his heart for rabbits, though, and never forgot his friend Rabbit.

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A Tale of Grandpa Possum or, "Just for Fun"

Early one morning a young squirrel was sitting in a tall oak tree enjoying the sunrise when something exploded near him. He ran around the tree trunk in panic, and peeked out to see what had happened. Then he saw a human. The human had crept up  near the tree and pointed something at him that exploded with a loud noise. Another explosion! And this time a big piece of bark was torn from the tree. Suddenly his parent’s warnings echoed in his head: “HUNTER – KILLER!! HUMAN!!”

Grandpa Possum was shot "Just for Fun"

He was very frightened and clung to the tree, shaking. Another explosion and the tip of his tail was torn off. He ran as fast as he could, jumping from branch to branch and tree to tree until he was completely out of breath. “I hope I am safe now” he thought. And then “Oh no! What about all my friends? What if the Hunter sees them? They might be killed!” Squirrel ran quickly to Rabbit's burrow and called out “RABBIT!! RABBIT!! Don’t come out. There is a HUNTER in the Valley.” Well, of course Rabbit did come out to see what the ruckus was all about and Squirrel told him what had happened. They decided to run to their other friends and warn them of the danger, so Squirrel went one way and Rabbit went another. They warned as many friends as they could and then went to Rabbit's burrow to hide. But they missed Grandpa Possum because he was sleeping and didn’t hear them. When he woke up from his nap, he wandered outside to stretch his legs and felt a sharp pain in his head, and then felt no more.

Two boys walked up to the possum, kicked it and one asked “Why’d you kill that nasty thing? I’m not going to carry it home. You want it?” “Naw,” the other said. “I just wanted to see if I could hit it. And I did. Dead center in the head. Never even knew what hit it. Stupid possum.”

Later that day the animals crept from their hiding places and found Grandpa Possum, cold and bloody. The Possum Family gathered around his body and cried and cried. A very young possum asked his mother “Why did our Grandpa die?” His mother just held him close and said “Humans are sometimes cruel and heartless. They kill and destroy for no reason, and they make no sense at all. You must learn from this to always be wary and afraid of Humans. Never trust them. And if you see one, run away and warn others.”

There was sadness in the Valley for several days after Grandpa Possum died, but gradually life returned to normal. Grandpa Possum was loved by all, and remembered by most. Tales of his life were always included when the animals gathered in a “story circle”. The story of his death too. As a lesson not to be forgotten. And later that year, two more animals were killed by the Humans. Just for fun.

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