After school Allison came over to play. The playing became wild, and so pretty soon I decided that the girls should take their energy outside. Thankfully, they decided that this sounded like fun and headed off to explore the back yard with their pails and shovels.
Pretty soon, they came back in the house carrying a rock. It was a smooth, round river rock. To them, it was a truly mysterious find, because on the rock were words carefully written in permanent marker. They brought the rock to me so that I could interpret its markings and unlock its secrets.
"Here lies Sniffles. Faithful bunny."
Poor Sniffles. I wondered how Sniffles had come to such a fate, and how long he or she had been buried in the back yard. I found myself mourning the poor little bunny, imagining the alligator tears that must have been shed at the funeral, and wondering what exactly Sniffles had done to earn the eternal title of "Faithful bunny." Certainly, it must have been something very grand.
I explained that this rock was a headstone, and that they should return it to where they had found it out of respect for Sniffles.
Well, upon hearing that there was a bunny buried in the back yard, Sydney immediately wanted to go and dig it up. I think that she imagined that after she removed a few shovels full of dirt, a fluffy little white bunny would hop out of the earth and she would have a new best friend. I told her that we were not going to be digging up any bunnies because all that is left of Sniffles is bunny bones. Well, that made her sad.
She asked if Sniffles was in Heaven, and if Sniffles would ever live again. So we talked about that.
Most importantly, for all of the girls, the backyard became a place of newfound wonder. It might be small, but it has its secrets, its history. Sniffles once had a life back there, and now Sniffles rests there eternally. Who knows what other secrets are waiting to be discovered?
I hope they spend lots and lots of time out there exploring. I, for one, will enjoy the quiet. Thank you, Sniffles. Faithful Bunny.
Heather - thoroughly enjoy your writing and especially loved all the facets of this post. Will never think of a back yard the same way again! :)
ReplyDelete- heather k.
I'm with Sydney. Let's dig up Sniffles and do an autopsy and learn why Sniffles died, if he died of natural causes and if there was foul play. And we need to know if Sniffles was a he or a she. Oh, I just had a thought. Maybe there is no body. Maybe someone stole Sniffles and left the rock to throw us off the track. Heather, you need to call 911.
ReplyDeleteI will admit that I did have to drive a minivan as a loaner for week or so and just between you and me I really (secretly) liked it. Not so much the minivan style (it was an older one) but the features rock!
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