*thump*!
Cola almost fell over backwards.
“Curtains … yikes, curtains ...” Cola tore out of the closet and back into the living room, heading straight for Duster.
Duster looked up from his flop. “What’s up, Bear?”
“What’s up? There is a big hole in the wall in the bedroom – and I didn’t do it – and I ran around and then I looked up and there were all these curtains … all different colours … curtains just hanging there …”
Duster sat up. “So you are telling me there are curtains living in a big hole in the wall in Mom and Dad’s bedroom?”
“YES!” Cola said.
“And Mom and Dad haven’t noticed this big hole in the wall OR the curtains?”
“Obviously not,” Cola said.
Duster smiled and flopped back over,. Bear, you have the best stories.”
“Duster! This is not a story. Those curtains are taking over that hole in the wall and pretty soon the whole apartment!”
Cola was frustrated and ran back in to the bedroom . The closet and the pants and shirts on the hangers were still there.
“I gotta tell Mom and Dad,” Cola decided.
Just as she was hopping out of the bedroom, Mom and Dad walked in.
“There’s the Bear,” Mom said.
“Uh-oh we left the closet open,” Dad said and closed the closet door … thus sealing the giant hole in the wall, trapping the curtains inside. “Good girl for not going in the closet.”
All Cola could do was sit there and watch the hole and curtains disappear …. Whew, that was another close one!
COACH COLA
“PSSST, Ruby!” Cola called from her cage.
Ruby’s ear perked up. “Hi, Cola!!”
“Ruby, as the alpha bunny, I feel it is my duty to teach you certain things,” Cola said.
Duster looked at Cola.
“OK!” Ruby said, all excited.
“One of the most important things you have to learn … is how to make our parents appear upon command, even when they are trying to sleep,” Cola stated. “When we want treats, they need to bring them to us right away and this will probably work more with Dad than with Mom, she can sleep through anything.”
“What do I do?” Ruby asked, hopping back and forth in her cage.
Cola smiled. “Cool, first thing, make as much noise as you can. Start with chewing on the cage.”
Ruby started to nibble on the bars.
“Put some feeling in to it! You want romaine lettuce don’t you?” Cola asked.
Ruby nodded and launched a full scale assault on the bars. It sounded like she was pulling the door off the cage!
“Impressive for a little bunny,” Cola said.
Duster rolled his eyes. “You’re having her make the noise so you don’t get in trouble.”
“I would never do that,” Cola said, trying to look offended.
The bunnies heard Daddy mumble something.
“Now try digging at the cage,” Cola suggested.
“Alright!” Ruby threw her little paws into tunneling out of the cage.
“Bunnies! Shhhh …” Daddy called out, half asleep.
“He still sounds pretty tired. We need to be noisier,” Cola state. “Take your toss toy and bounce it off the bottom of your cage!”
“Here goes,” Ruby threw her toy three or four times.
“Duster! Shhh, Mom and Dad need to sleep!” Daddy called out.
Duster looked at Cola.
Cola shrugged. “Oops, it’s not my fault you are known for banging your toss toy.”
Ruby kept throwing her toy. Cola was giving her two-ears up and Duster just flopped over.
“Ohhh, here comes Daddy!” Cola said.
Daddy came out of the bedroom and looked at the three bunnies.
Ruby had the toss toy in her mouth and dropped it. “Hi, Daddy! Lettuce please.”
Daddy shook his head and started towards the bedroom.
Cola panicked. “Ruby, quick – chew the bars!”
“OK!” and away Ruby went.
“Ruby, you can’t be out of your cage every time we are awake,” Dad said.
Ruby kept on chewing and now Mom was up too!
“Good work!” Cola cheered.
Then Daddy opened Ruby’s cage.
“YAY!” Ruby binkied out of her cage.
“Quick - do the bunny dance in front of the fridge!” Cola said.
Ruby bee-lined for the kitchen and periscoped in front of the fridge.
“Lettuce, please!”
Dad sighed and got Ruby and Duster lettuce and Cola her carrot (since she isn’t a fan of lettuce right now).
Mom laughed. “Boy, they have you well trained.”
Mom went back to bed and Dad stayed up till Ruby had finished her lettuce.
“Time to go back to your cage.”
Cola shook her head. “Run, Ruby!! Dad loves to chase us!”
“Whee!” and off Ruby went … poor Daddy.
Ruby ran laps for a few minutes, much to Daddy’s dismay … he gave up and sat down until she decided to go back in her cage.
“Bunnies,” Dad said. “Now it’s time for Mom and Dad to get some more sleep.”
The bunnies heard Mom snoring from the bedroom.
“Maybe it’s time for Daddy to get more sleep. Good night, bunnies,” Dad said and went back to bed.
“How’d I do?” Ruby asked Cola.
“Very impressive! That was a good response time,” Cola nodded.
And three bunnies with full bellies flopped and let their parents get some more sleep … till the next treat attack …
LESSONS LEARNED
Ruby was hopping around the living room when Cola motioned for her to approach Cola’s cage.
“Not too close, “ Cola said. “ We have to maintain the image that we do not like each other.”
Ruby hopped back a few steps.
“I found out some more things I can teach you about!”
Ruby binkied excitedly. “That is super, Cola! Thanks!”
Duster shook his head and flopped – he was sitting this one out.
“Mom and Dad love to do housework! The messier it is, the better – more for them to clean up,” Cola said.
“Really?”Ruby asked. “But they both make some weird grumbling sounds when they clean up.”
“That’s just some special language only Mom and Dad understand – it means they are very happy,” Cola assured Ruby.
“Really?!” Ruby said happily. “Where do I start?”
“Shred the phonebook,” Cola suggested, then paused. “Wait - pee beside my cage like you usually do … one of Mom’s favourites.”
Ruby shrugged, up went the white puff ball tail as Mom came around the corner.
“Arrgghhhh,” Mom muttered.
Ruby was pretty sure she had done a great job and hopped over to the phone book as Mom started to clean up in front of Cola’s cage.
Ruby did a pretty thorough job of obliterating what was left of the phone book … shredded paper everywhere.
This time Dad noticed the paper pile. “Ahhhhh ….”
Ruby hopped away as Daddy started to gather up the near-confetti.
“Wow, Cola … you are right … and all that grumbling must mean I am doing a really good job!”
Cola nodded. “You are doing amazing. Hmmm … now you need to leave them little presents all over the place … a trail of poop that can follow and find you at the end.”
“Oh like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?”
“Exactly!” Cola agreed.
Ruby hopped ALL over the apartment … right into the bedroom and up on the bed and there she discovered Mom’s magazine.
“Like a phone book ….” Ruby thought … and RRRRIIPPPP ….
Mom ran into the bedroom. “Ohhhhh … ahhhhh ….”
“She followed my trail, Mommy sure is smart!”
Ruby hopped out of the bedroom as Mom gathered up
the pages of her magazine.
Ruby surveyed the living room and kitchen area. Daddy had the vacuum cleaner out and was working on cleaning up the remaining paper and the trail Ruby had left for them.
“I don’t like where that piece of carpet is,” Ruby hopped over to the where the living room and kitchen connect and started to work on tearing up the carpet corner … there comes Mom!
“I have to make sure she sees how much effort I am putting into this … all for my parents because I love them,” Ruby planted her little feet and up came some of the carpet fibres.
“Uggghhhh, Ruby!” Mom sighed.
“Hi, Mom,” and Ruby hopped on to her next project.
“That was good, very well planned,” Cola congratulated the white bunny.
Mom was then onto doing the dishes.
“Not sure how I can help her with that,” Ruby said.
Cola whispered something and away Ruby hopped … right over to where Mom was and sat on Mom’s feet for a moment and then hopped all around Mom’s feet. Mom was too distracted to do the dishes and ended up dropping soapy dishwater all over the place!
“Oh she is going to scrub the floor too,” Ruby thought. “I need to get off the wet floors … no traction for bunnies.”
Then Ruby saw Daddy putting on his shoes, she had to help him tie the laces!
Ruby chomped down on one of the laces and started to pull …
“Shoo, Ruby,” Dad said, trying to get the lace away from her.
“Yes, I know we are trying to tie your shoe!” Ruby thumped. “I can’t help you when you won’t let me have the laces!”
Ruby gave up and went over and flopped in front of her cage … doing all this housework sure was tiring.
CURTAINS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
Cola and Duster were relaxing in the living room. Mom had the TV on and a commercial came on – it was a catchy jingle and Cola started to hop in tune to the music.
“Fabric Forever,
Let’s sew something together,
Run out of fabric?
Never, never!
We have Fabric Forever!
We are certain,
We can help you with curtains!
We’ll make you the perfect blinds,
Just in the nick of time!”
The music stopped and a life-sizes pair of scissors appeared on the screen … so Cola stopped to listen to what the shears had to say – if their jingle was that good – this might be a very important commercial!
“Hi, everyone! I am Sid the Scissors.”
“Hi, Sid!” Cola periscoped and then binkied around the room.
“Come on down to Fabric Forever’s Grand Opening Sale! We can assist you with all your fabric needs. We can even mass produce curtains or blinds in our state of the art facility. Whether you need two blinds or 20,000 curtains, Fabric Forever has got you covered!” Sid said cheerfully.
Cola stopped mid-hop and stared at the TV.
Duster hopped up alongside of her. “What’s wrong?
“That giant pair of scissors was talking about curtains of mass destruction!” Cola yelled.
Duster shook his head. “Pretty sure they said mass production of curtains …”
“No! You heard what they wanted you to hear! Curtains are going to take over the world!” Cola started to hop in circles.
Mom came back in the room.
“MOM!” Cola thumped over to where Mom was.
“Hi, Cola,” Mom said.
Cola started to hop back and forth between the living room curtains and the TV.
“What’s wrong?” Mom asked.
Cola was hopping and trying to explain. “The TV … curtains … take over the world … giant scissors!”
By now the Fabric Forever commercial was over and Mom was totally lost as to what Cola was trying to tell her. Mom looked at Duster.
Duster hopped over to Mom and out his head down – time for noserubs.
Cola quickly nudged Mom’s hand away from Duster - didn’t they know how important this was?
“Curtains are going to take over the world. They said so on TV and we know everything on TV is true.”
Cola then hopped back over to the living room curtains and started to chew on them. “I will stop this before it happens!”
Duster attempted for noserubs again, explaining to Mom about the commercial.
Mom tried not to laugh. “Cola, it’s OK … I tell you what, we have a really good pair of scissors here .. and if the curtains try to take over the world, I’ll cut big holes in them.”
Cola hopped over to Mom. “Promise??”
“Cross my heart,” Mom promised.
“And can I chew on them after you cut big holes in them?” Cola asked, hopefully.
“Sure,” Mom agreed.
Cola cuddled up beside Duster, feeling much better now that she knew the curtains of mass destruction could be dealt with and even better that she had Mom’s permission to chew on the curtains!
THE DRAWER THAT ATE DUSTER
Cola cautiously peeked around the wall into the bedroom doorway. Coast was clear – no Mom in sight!
“Duster, come on - quick!” Cola called.
Duster rolled up from his flop, shook his ears and stretched as he got to his feet. He followed Cola to the bedroom.
“Mom’s moving stuff around in here … I wanna see what she is doing,” Cola declared.
Duster bunny shrugged and hopped onto the bed and stretched out.
Cola was from one end of the room to the other.
Disappointed, she hopped up beside Duster. “Everything looks the same!”
Duster started to lick his paws and noticed something out of the corner of his eye – Mom’s bottom dresser drawer was open!
“Cola – look!”
“Yay!” Cola hopped off the bed and sat in front of the opened dresser drawer.
She stretched, placing her front paws on the “dip” in the front of the drawer that was used to open it. She couldn’t see anything, so she hopped closer, stretched again and ….
“Duster, it’s empty!”
Duster hopped off the bed and towards the drawer. Then he hopped right on in.
“Yep, it’s empty …”
“It’s not empty anymore, you’re in it!” Cola said and nudged the drawer.
It rolled back a little bit.
“What was that?” Duster asked.
Cola nudged he drawer again and this time it rolled closed taking Duster with it!
“Oh no!” Cola thumped.
Duster was peering out of the “dip” opening.
“Cola …” he sighed.
“Eeeeppp… the drawer ate Duster!”
Duster stuck his nose out the opening.
“Go get Mommy.”
Cola did the bunny super sprints on the way out of the bedroom to find Mom in the living room. She ran circles around Mom’s legs and then nosebonked her ankles.
“Hi, Bear,” Mom said and bent down to pet Cola.
Cola ran away from Mom’s hand and towards the bedroom. Knowing the adventures (or misadventures) Cola often got in to, Mom wisely followed.
Mom sighed. “What is different and what is missing?”
Cola hopped over to the drawer and thumped.
“It ate my bunny!” Cola accused the drawer and stared at Mom.
“Hmmm … no sign of your partner in crime and I bet you had nothing to do with this?”
“Of course I had nothing to do with this!” Cola agreed.
Mom walked towards the drawer and slowly pulled it open.
Duster stuck his head out and licked Mom’s hands. “I love you, Mommy.”
And then he hopped out of the drawer.
He and Cola cuddled down beside the evil drawer after Mom made sure it was closed.
“I’m sorry, Duster,” Cola said.
Duster flopped. “That’s OK. I wasn’t in there long and Mom needed something to do anyways.”
SECRET PETS
“Cola, I have some very upsetting news to tell you,” Duster said.
Cola stared at the grey bunny … nothing bothered Duster … this must be something major.
“Mommy has …” he started. “Mommy has secret pets!”
Cola shook her head, she had to be sure she heard that right.
“How is that possible?”
Duster nodded towards the bathroom.
“She keeps them in there … I don’t know much about them other than she referred to penguins and asked Daddy to vacuum them if he was vacuuming the apartment today.”
Cola was stunned. “They like to be vacuumed?”
Cola hates the vacuum cleaner and puts it on the same level as the curtains.
Duster sighed and laid down … he couldn’t even bring himself to flop!
“Well, we aren’t going to take this laying down!” Cola declared and looked at Duster.
Duster continued to mope.
“Uh, Duster, I need you to stand up if we aren’t going to take this laying down.”
Duster nodded and stood up.
“We are going to get in to that room and find out what Mom was talking about. And I can’t believe Dad was in on these secret pets with her!” Cola stated.
“But the door is always closed,” Duster argued.
“Yes, but they go in and out of it all day. We just have to be smart and get in there.” Cola said confidently.
Daddy went from the kitchen to the living room and noticed the two rabbits staring at the bathroom door.
“No bunnies in the bathroom,” Daddy said. “You have the whole rest of the apartment to play in.”
“See, they like us better,” Cola said. “These secret pets only get one room!”
And then they started their stake out, knowing Daddy would eventually have to open that door then they just had to sneak in!
The bunnies waited patiently till Daddy had to go in to the room where the secret pets live.
“When he opens the door, you cause a distraction!” Duster said to Cola and Ruby.
The door opened and the bunnies hopped in to action.
Cola was sitting in front of Ruby’s cage. “I’m gonna jump on top of your cage. Make as much noise as you can.“
“Will do,” Ruby said and as Cola attempted to jump onto the top of Ruby’s cage (without much luck, her little legs wouldn’t quite get her up that high), Ruby started to chew on the cage.
“What are you two doing?” Daddy asked Cola and Ruby and Duster made the mad dash for the bathroom.
Daddy ended up leaving the door open as he went to see what Cola and Ruby were doing. Duster hopped in to the bathroom and looked around for the secret pets.
“Alright, penguins. I know you are in here!” And he thumped.
Cola stopped her attempts to get on Ruby’s cage and hopped by Daddy quickly on her way to find the penguins.
“Did you find them, Duster?” Cola asked. “They can’t have our parents – they are our Mommy and Daddy!”
Duster and Cola continued to look around the bathroom, so concerned with finding the secret pets they didn’t notice Daddy in the doorway.
“What are you two doing? What are you looking for?”
Cola stared at Daddy. “We know about the secret pets! We’re not leaving till we meet these penguins!”
“Yeah,” Duster agreed. “No one asked us bunnies anything about penguins!”
Daddy started to laugh. “Penguins?”
“Mommy’s secret pets! She has penguins and she is hiding them in this room!” Duster said.
“And they like to be vacuumed!” Cola shook her head in disbelief.
Daddy was laughing now.
“Do you two know what penguins are?”
“Of course we do,” Duster rolled his eyes. “They’re mommy’s secret pets!”
“You two need to look at the bath mat you are standing on,” Daddy instructed.
The bunnies looked at the bathmat covered with black and white animals of some sort.
“Those are the penguins your Mom was talking about, the ones on the bath mat that she wanted me to vacuum,” Daddy chuckled.
Duster and Cola looked sheepishly at each other and hopped out of the bathroom.
“Huh … go figure …” Duster muttered.
Cola hopped over and told Ruby what was going on, making sure to poop on the carpet so Daddy would think they are still enemies.
“A mat …” Ruby shook her head. “At least the penguins are cute but not as cute as me!”
SO CLOSE!
“Drat!” Cola thumped and retreated to the corner of her cage. “There’s that crazy vacuum cleaner!”
For Cola, the vacuum cleaner was pretty much on the same level as the curtains.
Duster peeked into her cage,. “I will protect you!”
“Uh, how?” Cola asked.
Duster sat up, assuming his “cute” pose as Mom calls it. “I will stare at the vacuum cleaner … it’ll know not to mess with you!”
“Yeah cause your cute pose sure is scary,” Cola rolled her eyes and cuddled back in her corner.
“Hey! Mommy loves my cute pose!” Duster said and continued to glare at the vacuum cleaner.
Daddy was vacuuming the living room. Ruby was out of her cage and had settled onto the shelf she liked to nap on. She watched as Daddy cleaned up the poop she had worked so hard to strategically place on the carpet.
“Now I have to do all that again,” she shook her head, and stretched.
Daddy was vacuuming near the curtains now. Ruby decided to leave her shelf and start re-decorating the floor with her poop. She hopped close to the vacuum cleaner.
“Hi, Ruby, need you to move so Daddy can clean there!” Daddy said.
Ruby hopped a little to the left.
When Daddy turned around, the vacuum cleaner attacked the curtains!
From that moment on, all bunny eyes were glued on the vacuum and curtain conflict.
“Wow!” Cola came out of her corner. “My two worst enemies are fighting!”
“Maybe they’ll destroy each other!” Duster cheered.
Ruby hopped closer to get a better look. “I think Daddy is the referee!”
Daddy was trying to pull the curtains free from the vacuum cleaner.
“Be careful, Daddy!” Ruby yelled and hopped even closer. “Cola, it looks like the vacuum is eating the curtains!”
Cola binkied in her cage. “Maybe the vacuum will choke on the curtains and they’ll both have to go in the garbage!”
Daddy was not impressed.
“Uh oh … Daddy is getting mad!” Ruby called out to Duster and Cola.
“Maybe he’ll help the vacuum pull the curtains off the wall!” Cola said hopefully.
The bunnies watched as the vacuum continued to try to devour the curtains, the curtains struggled to stay attached to the wall and Daddy’s face got redder. A few seconds later, it was all over.
Daddy shut the vacuum off. It released its’ grip on the curtains and the curtains returned to lurking against the balcony door.
You could almost hear the bunnies’ sighs of disappointment when they saw the outcome.
“So close …” Cola muttered and sulked in her cage.
Duster resumed his cute pose and Ruby went about redistributing her poop on the carpet.
Daddy put the vacuum cleaner away and the curtains, well, they’re still taunting Cola … for now …
HOPPY THANKSGIVING
Ruby hopped over to where Duster and Cola’s cages were.
“Bunnies, I have a question!” Ruby declared.
Cola perked up. Ruby was still a baby bunny and came up with some interesting questions.
“What is Thanksgiving?” Ruby asked.
Duster scratched his head with his back foot. “Hmmm … a day where Mom and Dad are paid to stay home and sleep in.”
“Oh,” Ruby said. “That sounds like a pretty nice thing for Mom and Dad,”
Cola laughed. “Um, it’s th
e day where humans eat way too much food and then watch the TV, particularly something called football.”
Ruby had then another question. “What’s football?”
Duster and Cola both shrugged, they had no clue.
“I go ask Mom and Dad!” Ruby hopped off to find join her parents in the kitchen.
“Hi, Ruby!” Mom said.
“Mom and Dad, why do people eat a lot of food and throw balls with their feet at the TV on Tanksgiving?” Ruby asked.
Mom and Dad both stared at Ruby, confused by what she had asked.
So Ruby repeated her question.
“Do you mean Thanksgiving?” Dad asked.
Ruby hopped up and down and nodded yes.
Mom and Dad then briefly explained Thanksgiving to Ruby, making sure Duster and Cola heard too.
“I think I like this Thanksgiving!” Ruby said as she followed Mom and Dad into the living room.
Then she asked her fellow bunnies what they were thankful for.
Duster answered right away. “Noserubs!”
Then it was Cola’s turn.
“I’m thankful for my bunny,” Cola said, meaning Duster.
Ruby was so excited to spend her first Thanksgiving in her forever home. “I am thankful for Mommy and Daddy and Duster, and even Cola!” she paused. “And I am thankful for being so cute!”
(and their Mommy and Daddy are very thankful to have such wonderful bunnies in their lives)
FOODS THAT CHANGE THE COLOUR OF FUR RULE
“STOP!”
Hearing the yell from Cola’s cage, Ruby dropped the carrot she was about to start munching on and hopped over to check on the dwarf bunny.
“What’s wrong?” Ruby asked.
“Whew! I stopped you just in time,” Cola said.
“Huh?” Ruby was confused.
“You just about ate that carrot!”
Ruby was even more confused.
“That was THE carrot … if you eat one more carrot, your pretty white fur will turn orange!” Cola exclaimed.
Ruby looked at her fur, it was so nice and white.
“But what if I eat lettuce?”
Cola sighed. “Fur’ll be green.”
“What about raisins” Ruby asked.
Cola’s eyes got big. “Well … raisins are the colour of poop … so your fur will be the same colour as poop.”
Ruby gasped. “What about bananas?”
Cola was kind of stuck with that since bananas weren’t all that much of a different colour than Ruby’s fur.
“No, bananas are fine,” Cola muttered.
“Whew that was close! Thanks, Cola!” Ruby said and hopped back towards her cage.
Then Ruby paused, thinking.
“Cola! How come I can eat hay that is green and my fur doesn’t turn green?”
Cola was almost speechless. “Ummm … hay is really good for us so it has immunity from food that changes the colour of fur.”
Rudy was getting suspicious. “How about my pellets? They don’t change my fur colour!”
Cola was starting to sweat. “Ummm , well, the foods that change the colour of fur rule only applies to white bunnies.”
“But that doesn’t answer my question about why don’t pellets change the colour of my fur?”
Cola was stuck and she needed a way out … so she flopped and pretended to be asleep.
Ruby was pretty sure Cola was trying to trick her. Ruby hopped over to Mom and Dad and asked them about the food that changes the colour of her fur.
“Been talking to Cola again?” Mom asked.
Ruby nodded.
Mom and Dad assured Ruby her fur wasn’t going to change colour and then they went over to Cola’s cage to chat with the Bear.
Cola sighed. “Ruby told you about the food that changes the colour of her fur?”
Mom and Dad nodded.
“Um … there was a memo … “ Cola said smiling.
“Good try, Cola,” Dad said. “We know you just wanted her treats for yourself.”
Cola tried to look shocked at the accusation. “Me? What? Please … never… I’d never do that …maybe … speaking of treats, you two are being awfully stingy with them lately …”
Mom and Dad couldn’t do anything but laugh and gave the three bunnies each a carrot, safe to say, no one’s fur turned orange!
THE RETURN OF COLA'S FUR
Nosebonk! Nosebonk!
Mom looked down to see Duster nosebonking her ankle. He stopped and looked up.
“What’s wrong, Duster dude? You look sad,” Mom observed.
Duster nodded and his floppy ears drooped. “Cola doesn’t want to cuddle with me.”
“How come?”
“She found her fur,” Duster replied.
Mom was confused. “She found her fur? What fur did she lose?”
Duster sighed. “The fur the vet stole.”
“Uh huh … why don’t you show me where Cola is …” Mom said.
Duster slowly hopped into the living room.“See, she is curled up on the chair with her fur.”
Mom looked over to where Cola was laying … sure enough …. she was curled up with the furry black throw pillow and she was grooming it.
“Hi, Bear,” Mom said and wandered over.
Cola looked up and gave Mom a cold look, after all it was Mom that had signed the paperwork giving the vet permission to steal Cola’s fur during her spay.
“What have you got there?” Mom asked.
“As if you don’t know!” Cola accused. “You had a pillow made out of my fur the vet stole! You’ve been hiding it for all these years and now you decide to bring it out? Did you really think I would forget MY FUR?”
Duster hopped up beside Mom. “She loves her fur more than me.”
“Cola, that’s not your fur. It’s synthetic fabric made to look like fur,” Mom explained.
“Oh no you don’t! “ Cola thumped. “This pillow is made from black fur … just like my fur. This is my fur! You were in cahoots with the vet!”
Mom went to pick up the pillow so she could show Cola the difference and Cola growled at her.
“MY FUR!” and then she sat on the pillow.
Mom rolled her eyes. “Cola Bear…”
“Fur thief …” Cola said back.
“Keep the pillow … think whatever you want to think … I’m telling you that is fabric NOT fur … but look at Duster – he misses you. You still have to cuddle with him,” Mom said.
Cola eyed Mom suspiciously. “I’ll cuddle with Duster … if you put my fur on the floor with us …”
“Sure, no problem,” Mom put the pillow on the floor so Cola could keep an eye on it while she cuddled with Duster.
“Every bunny happy?” Mom asked.
Cola and Duster nodded.
“I missed you, Cola,” Duster said.
“I missed my fur,” Cola replied.
COSTUME CHAOS
“What are we going to be for Halloween?” Mom asked.
Cola grinned. “I’m a bear … a big black bear and I weigh four hundred pounds. And I am really fierce!”
Mom tried not to laugh. Cola weighed more like 2, maybe 3 pounds.
“That will be easy. Duster, what do you want to be?”
Duster assumed his cute pose. “A ladies bunny … because I love ladies!”
Dad petted Duster. “That’s pretty easy too.”
“And Ruby?” Mom asked.
“I’m cute,” Ruby said.
“Uh huh … but what do you want to be for Halloween? What kind of costume do you want to wear?”
Ruby wrinkled her nose. “I don’t need a costume! I am already CUTE!”
Mom and Dad looked at each other.
“But the fun part of Halloween is dressing up and being something different,” Daddy said.
Ruby actually pouted. “I don’t want to be anything but cute.”
Mom sighed. “What if you can pick a cute costume?”
Ruby thumped. “NO. No costume
… I am cute already.”
“Ruby, you can’t go trick-or-treating without a costume,” Dad said.
Her ears perked u. “Did you say treat?”
Jackpot! That was the magic word.
“Yep, trick or treat,” Mom said.
“I don’t care about any tricks … I want the treats! How do we do this?” Ruby hopped into negotiator mode.
Mom and Dad explained again, wear a costume and then the bunnies can hop around the different rooms in the apartment and get some treats.
Ruby furrowed her brow. “Hmmm … costume is a must?”
Mom and Dad both nodded.
“FINE!” Ruby stated. “I think about it … my people will get back to your people … or back to you cause you are peoples.”
Ruby turned her back to Mom and Dad … thinking … thinking …
“Alright, I wear costume,” Ruby said.
“What do you want to be?” Dad asked for the millionth time.
Ruby shrugged. “Whatever will get me the most treats!!”
Mom and Dad stared at Ruby … and she stared right back.
“Fine, I will be the Nanner-nator.”
“The who or what?” Mom asked.
“The Nanner-nator,” Ruby repeated. “I stalk the unsuspecting bananas and eat them.”
“Oh … sort of like the Terminator,” Dad said.
Ruby was confused. “The what?”
Dropping the topic, Mom and Dad set to work on gathering what they would need for the bunny’s costumes for the room-to-room apartment trick-or treating.
On Halloween ~
Cola was wearing a teddy bear costume that included a t-shirt that said “FIERCE” … Duster wore a little top hat, cape and bow tie … and Ruby wore a black mask that went across her eyes … that should be enough to keep the bananas from realizing she was a hungry bunny!
HOPPY HALLOWEEN!!
DADDY'S DAYS OFF
"Welcome home!" Mom gave Dad a big hug as he walked through the door.
Dad had been at Mom's parents visiting for a few days.
"Hi, bunnies!" Dad said cheerfully. "I missed Mommy and you bunnies SO much!"
"Daddy!" Duster and Ruby were up on their back legs in their cages.
Cola on the other hand, grumbled and turned her back to Dad.
Mom and Dad looked at each other.
"Hi, Cola!" Dad said.
Cola gave him a quick look. "Hello ... stranger."
"Stranger?" Dad was confused.
Cola gave him the fiercest "bear" glare she could manage.
"Cola, what's going on? Dad asked.
Cola turned to face Dad. "You abandoned us for three days!"
"Cola, I did not abandon you ..."
"Were you here in the apartment with us?"
"Well ... no .." Dad said.
"Then you abandoned us."
"Cola, Mommy was here with you the whole time I was gone," Dad argued.
"Good for her. She's a responsible bunny parent," Cola grr'd.
Dad sighed. "I called everyday to say hello and see how you bunnies and Mom were doing."
"So we get a call everyday from that pre-recorded message saying you and Mom won a cruise! Are they good bunny parents too?" Cola asked.
Dad tried a new approach. "Um I brought you back some treats from Grandma and Grandpa."
"YAY!" Ruby and Duster cheered.
Cola appeared to be trying to raise an eyebrow ... if bunnies have eyebrows. "Oh and who are the treats from? Did you say the treats are from Grandma and Grandpa?"
"Yes ..."
"Just checking ... " Cola stared at Dad.
Dad knew he wasn't winning this on. "Cola, how can I make it up to you? Ruby and Duster are fine. But how can I make Cola Bear happy?"
Cola thought for a moment, then it was like a light bulb went off.
"I want a nanner."
"That's it? That's all? Did Mom not give you any nanners while I was gone?" Dad looked at Mom.
Mom rolled her eyes, bunnies always got their nanners.
"Sure Mom gave me nanners ... but they aren't as good as nanner treats from Daddy ..." Cola was back in Daddy-diva mode.
A piece of banana from Daddy and all was right with Cola's world again.
(And of course, Duster and Ruby got their little pieces of nanner too.)
MENU MADNESS
“I have to be suspicious of them,” Cola said to Duster. “I have to supervise what they do! It’s for their own good really. Someone in this family has to be responsible.”
Duster sighed and flopped.
Mom had come home from work, clutching a paper in her hand and was excitedly showing it to Dad – who was apparently as excited as Mom was.
Cola hopped over to where Mom and Dad were standing and periscoped.
“Hi, Bear, what’s up?” Dad asked.
“Oh … nothing …” Cola was straining to see the paper.
Mom noticed how Bear was teetering back and forth on her cute little legs, it was so obvious she was trying to see the paper. “Are you being nosy, Bear?”
Cola tried to act offended. “ME? Nosy? What are you reading anyways?”
“Nothing to worry about, Cola,” Dad said. “Go back and cuddle with Duster.”
Cola’s little eyes got big … they were dismissing her from the conversation.
“Better keep that paper off the floor or I’ll chew it!” Cola muttered and went back to where Duster was snoozing.
Duster stretched. “They caught on, huh?”
Cola growled a “yes.”
Then it was Ruby’s turn to come out and run around the apartment so Duster and Cola hopped back in their cages. And then Mom and Dad were at the computer, still excitedly discussing whatever was on the paper.
“Wow this is a great website!” Dad said.
“Much more detailed than the flyer,” Mom agreed.
Cola was staring at them … she had to know what they were talking about.
“Pssst, Ruby, come here.!”
Ruby hopped over and Cola have Ruby her mission.
“Ohhh … fun … OK, I find out!” and off Ruby hopped.
She plopped herself down beside Mom and Dad’s chairs at the computer desk.
“Hi, Ruby,” Mom said.
“Did Cola send you over here to find out what we are looking at?” Dad asked.
Ruby’s expression went blank – how did they know that?
“Um … I’m cute!” Ruby exclaimed and hopped away.
Cola sighed and settled into the corner of her cage.
Mom and Dad were still checking out the website.
Ruby regrouped and hopped back to where Mom and Dad were, she quietly made her way under Mom’s chair.
“They have dine-in!” Dad said.
“They have take-out!” Mom stated.
Then together they said. “And they have delivery!”
Ruby didn’t know what any of those words meant but she’d report it to Cola. Ruby made her way from under the chair back to Cola’s cage.
“Good work, Ruby,” Cola said.
“Oh look, Mom is on the phone …” Ruby said.
Cola shook her head. “Oh my … what are they up to now?”
Even Duster was curious now.
“It’ll be here in 15 minutes,” Mom tells Dad.
“That doesn’t give us much time to prepare,” Cola says.
“And what are we preparing for exactly?” Duster asks.
Cola sighs. “I don’t know … but we’ll figure something out.”
Mom and Dad go about their normal lives, when the phone rings … 15 minutes later.
“It’s here!” Mom says.
Dad buzzes the door open … the bunnies ready themselves … there is a knock on the door …
“Oh no! It’s the out-dine, take-in delivery!” Ruby throws the words together and hops back to her cage.
Dad closes the door … and comes back with the pizza.
Cola’s eyes grow wide an
d then she rolls them. “All of that excitement over PIZZA?”
Duster shakes his head. “Not like it’s Romaine lettuce or something like that!”
Ruby flops. “These humans are so silly! Wake me up when it’s time for bunny breakfast!”
NAP NEGOTIATIONS
Mom came out of the bedroom carrying her favourite blanket and a pillow. “Time for Mommy to take a Sunday afternoon nap.”
“Oh yay, Mommy sleepover!” Ruby cheered.
“Hi, Mom!” Duster called from his cage.
“Hello, Duster dude,” Mom said as she put her pillow on the couch.
“Hi, second favourite parent!” Cola greeted (she is still a total Daddy’s diva).
Mom laughed. “Hello, Cola Bear.”
Mom dropped onto the couch and pulled the blanket up around her.
“Good flop!” Duster said.
“I give it a 4.75,” Cola rated the Mom-flop out of 10.
“I’ll show you how it’s done,” and Ruby flopped.
“Thanks for the input, words of encouragement and mediocre rating … time for sleepies, every bun needs to be as quiet as they can,” Mom said.
“Are you going to be a growler?” Cola asked, referring to their nickname for Mom when she snores.
“I’ll try not to,” Mom grumbled.
“Good, cause it stresses out my fur,” Cola said.
Mom sat up and looked at Cola. “My snoring stresses out your fur?”
“Yes,” Cola said.
“How …” Mom started to ask then decided to just drop the topic and get back to her nap.
Mom was just dozing off when she heard … “mew, mew, mew …”
Duster was “talking” to his water as he drank … and drank .. and drank … and drank …
“Good water, Duster?” Mom asked.
He nodded happily.
Back to the nap.
“Mom …” Ruby called her name quietly.
Mom put the pillow over her head, pretending not to hear.
“MOM!” and *thump* made the pillow quickly move.
Mom peeked over the arm of the couch at Ruby. “Yes?’
Ruby was smiling. “Am I cute?”
Mom sighed. “Yep, you’re cute.”
“Thanks! You’re cute too … but when your hair is all over the place like that, it subtracts from your cute content and you should work on that,” Ruby stated.
“I’ll get right on that after my nap,” Mom promised.
Blanket and pillow in place, Mom tried again to doze off …
Bang! Bang!
Mom sat straight up and looked around.
Cola was throwing her toss toy on the floor of her cage.
“Cola! Do you have to do that right now?” Mom asked.
“Um, yes, it’s 1:55 pm … that is my scheduled toss toy activity time,” Cola replied and threw her toy down.
“It is,” Duster and Ruby confirmed.
“I give up!” Mom exclaimed. “I give up on this nap!”
Ruby shook her head. “Don’t give up … you were so close!”
“What is it going to take for me be able to take a nap?” Mom asked the three bunnies.
“Say good night to us,” Cola said.
Mom looked at Bear with a blank expression. “Excuse me?”
“You didn’t say good night … any bun knows naps or night time sleeps aren’t official until you say good night,” Cola explained.
“She’s right,” Duster and Ruby agreed.
Mom took a deep breath. “Good night, Cola, Duster and Ruby.”
The three bunnies chorused a “good night” back to Mom and they settled in for a nap too.
“Yay, a happy ending,” Ruby whispered.
“FIR”IOUS COLA
Cola was doing laps around the living room, making Duster kind of dizzy.
The grey bunny was happy when a commercial caught Cola’s attention and she stood still.
“Come on down, folks, to Ned’s Nursery! We have lots of sales on trees, special prices on selected fir trees…” and the commercial droned on.
“Fur trees?” Cola asked Duster. “Is that what they guy said?”
Duster was afraid to reply, seeing Cola’s eyes almost glaze over at the mention of the fir trees, knowing Cola was thinking of her long-lost fur.
“Um, yeah,” Duster mumbled.
“I KNEW IT!” Cola thumped.
“What do you know?” Mom asked coming in to the room.
“This is all your fault!” Cola accused.
Duster hopped back in to his cage.
“What did I do now?” Mom asked.
The little black bunny was up on her back legs. “You let the vet take my fur and the vet gave it to a tree breeder!”
“Huh?” Mom asked.
Cola was on a tear. “And now there are a whole bunch of trees that have my fur!”
“I am cutting back on your daily banana slice,” Mom said, thinking maybe the nanner was making Cola hyper.
Cola was now hopping around Mom. “You are taking me to Ned’s Nursery, they are selling fur trees and I want my fur back!”
“Fir trees?” Mom asked.
“Yes, fur trees!” Cola was nosebonking Mom to get her moving towards the door.
“No, Cola, they mean F-I-R not F-U-R,” Mom said.
“It’s not my fault you can’t spell,” Cola was now yanking on Mom’s pants leg.
“Cola, the little Christmas tree is a fir tree…” Mom tried to explain.
“No, it is not!” Cola thumped. “It’s a fake tree! It’s plastic, not fur!”
Cola was hopping in place she was so mad.
Dad came into the room and saw Cola glaring at Mom and Mom shaking her head.
“Now what did you do?” Dad asked Mom.
“See! Even Daddy knows it’s all your fault,” Cola hopped to Daddy and explained her version of everything.
Daddy was trying not to laugh but he showed Cola pictures of fir trees on the internet and then found an online flyer for Ned’s Nursery just to reassure Cola that no fur trees were being sold anywhere.
Cola relaxed. “Daddy, you are wonderful. I knew you’d understand.”
Mom rolled her eyes.
“Oh yeah, Mom said she was going to cut back on my daily nanner slice … for no reason at all!” Cola said.
“Here we go again …” Mom muttered and walked out of the room.
Cola winked at Daddy, Duster and Ruby. “I love Mommy, but she can’t interfere with bunny breakfast!”
JUST DESSERTS
Cola and Duster were huddled under their usual chair in the living room. Cola decided it was time for a treat and headed for the designated treat dispensing area – AKA the line where the living room carpet meets the kitchen tile.
It never took Mom and Dad long to see the bunnies sitting at the line, so Cola was confident she’d have her treat momentarily.
But today, the parents were just not with the program.
“What is more interesting or important than our treats?” Cola wondered.
The black dwarf bunny could hear Mom and Dad talking so she listened in.
“I think the banana bread would be great,” Mom said.
“Or raisin bread,” Dad replied.
Cola’s ears perked up.
Bananas and raisins were being discussed and she hadn’t heard her or Duster’s name being mentioned.
“Even better, some of those haystack cookies,” Mom suggested.
Cola’s ears twitched. Since when did Mom and Dad eat hay?
“Oh, carrot cake! I love carrot cake!” Mom exclaimed.
Cola was having a hard time sitting still – she and Duster loved carrots, without the cake!
“And there’s Romaine lettuce, perfect for a salad,” Dad added.
Cola made a choking noise and hopped full speed back to where Duster was snoozing.
“Wake up!” Cola thumped.
Duster lazily opened his eyes and looked at Cola.
r /> “The parents have crossed the line!” Cola exclaimed.
Duster looked at the treat line, didn’t see Mom or Dad. “Huh?”
Cola ran around the grey bunny. “Mom and Dad are plotting to eat all our treats!”
Duster sprang to his feet. “They’d never do that.”
Cola rhymed off all the foods Mom and Dad had named.
Duster was devastated. “Why would they do this to us?”
“I don’t know but we have to put a stop to it!” Cola stated.
The two bunnies tore to the line. Duster and Cola were thumping, making as much noise as they could to distract their parents from the food.
“Bunnies, what’s wrong” Dad asked.
“As if you don’t know!” Duster glared at them.
“Duster, what are you so mad about?” Mom asked.
“How would you feel if we ate all your food?” Duster asked.
“Not like we’d ever do that- your food isn’t as good as ours,” Cola said.
“Paws off our groceries!” Duster commanded.
The bunnies were now in the kitchen, hopping around their parent’s feet.
Mom and Dad looked at each other, still no idea what the issue was.
“Bunnies, time to tell us what’s going on,” Dad said.
“I heard you plotting to eat all our treats!” Cola exclaimed.
“Buy yourself treats when you go shopping!” Duster said.
The bunny parents smiled at each other.
“We were looking through a magazine,” Mom said and showed the bunnies the glossy pictures of the desserts and salads.
“You weren’t actually going to eat our food?” Duster questioned.
“No,” Dad assured the bunnies.
“Whew,” Cola sighed. “Can we have treats now?”
Mom and Dad laughed and gave the bunnies their well-deserved treats.
CURTAIN CATCHER
Cola was on patrol.
As soon as the cage door opened, she surveyed the living room. Everything was present and accounted for, including Mom and Dad.
She glared at the darned curtains hanging by the balcony window.
Duster hopped out of his cage and went to the usual flop and cuddle area.
Cola sat at the “treat line” and peered into the kitchen – all was good there too.
A quick glance at the entrance way to the apartment and the bathroom – no complaints.
One more room to go, the bedroom.
Cola hopped on in and did a quick tour around the bed. No furniture had been moved, everything was as it should be.
The black bunny started to make her way out of the bedroom when it caught her attention out of the corner of her eye.
Cola stopped, mid hop.
“What? No … it can’t be …” she spun around and stared at the bed.
She shook her head, her eyes were in focus.
Cola stretched and started to creep towards the bed, eyeing the piece of fabric hanging off the edge of the bed.
“It’s the same colour …” Cola muttered to herself.
She needed to be certain. Cola quickly went to the living room … it was the same colour!
“Duster! Come on!” Cola called for her bunny buddy.
Duster rolled up from his flop. “This must be good …” and he followed Cola back to the bedroom.
“Shh, don’t startle it,” Cola almost scolded Duster.
Duster flipped his ears from side to side. “What are you talking about?”
Cola stared at him. “Uh, on the bed.”
Duster looked in the direction Cola was motioning at.
Cola sighed. “Good help is hard to find. The fabric, look at it.”
“It’s a pretty beige colour,” Duster said.
“And?”
“And it matches the décor of the room?”
“What does it remind you of?”
“A blankie!” Duster said, he loved blankies. “Let’s cuddle with it!”
Cola hopped in front of him. “It’s a curtain! It’s beige like the curtains in the living room!”
Duster stopped. “How’d it get in here?”
“I don’t know. The curtains are still in the living room. This is obviously a rogue curtain that somehow infiltrated out apartment. It must have sneaked in here and is waiting till Mom and Dad go to bed and then it will attack them!” Cola was being overly dramatic.
Duster was looking from Cola to the suspected-curtain. “Um, maybe we should tell Mom and Dad about the curtain.”
“Are you kidding me? We’d be putting them in danger!” Cola exclaimed. “We have to handle this on our own.”
Duster gulped. “But it’s a big curtain…”
Cola was already putting her plan into action. “I’m going to the other side of the bed, you distract it.”
Duster kept a safe distance from the curtain. “Uh, hi! So you’re just hanging around, I mean, laying around .. oh boy …”
Cola hopped onto the bed and quickly jumped on the curtain.
“Ah-ha, gotcha!” and she started to dig at the fabric and pull it from the left to the right and back again.
In the meantime, Mom and Dad had noticed the bunnies were absent from their cuddle area and went to find them.
“Duster, what is Cola doing?” Dad asked, watching Cola flip a corner of the fabric.
“Protecting you from the curtain that was going to ambush you and Mom when you went to bed,” Duster made it sound so simple.
“Oh,” Dad said.
“Cola,” Mom called out. “You can stop now – that’s a bed sheet, not a curtain.”
“But it looks just like the curtains in the living room,” Cola was ripping at the fabric with her teeth now.
“No, Bear, it’s a bed sheet that matches the curtains - same as the ones hanging over the bedroom window,” Mom said. “You can stop trying to destroy it now. Please.”
Cola released the bed sheet and hopped to the floor. “Well when a rogue curtain does break into our apartment and tries to ambush you while you’re sleeping, you know who to call.”
And Cola hopped out of the bedroom, Duster close on her heels.
Mom and Dad had to laugh.
“Good to know she has our back,” Dad said.
BUNNY BOULEVARD
THUD.
The bowl bounced off Mom’s head.
“Ow,” Mom muttered, half asleep, rubbing her head.
Cola was nose to nose with Mom.
“Sorry, Duster has bad aim.”
Mom looked to see what had landed beside her on the bed.
“Um, why did you hit me with your treat bowl?” Mom asked.
“It’s your hard hat,” Duster corrected. “It protects you from falling objects … except when it is the falling object…”
Mom, still trying to focus her eyes. “What falling objects?”
“Rocks,” Cola said and hopped on top of the pillow.
Mom was trying to figure out why rocks would be falling in her bedroom when a piece of scrunched up paper landed next to her head.
“Put your hard hat on!” Cola demanded and threw another piece of paper. “These rocks don’t know if you are protected or not!”
Mom put the bowl on her head just in time to avoid being hit with the scrunched up paper “rock.”
Mom propped herself up on her elbow. “Time out. What’s going on?”
“No time out in the construction business – time is money,” Cola declared, throwing another “rock”.
“Huh?”
Duster hopped up beside Mom. “We are building Bunny Boulevard.”
“At midnight? On my bed?” Mom asked.
“Mom, you’re sleeping in the way of progress,” Cola said. “You need to get up.”
“No, I need to sleep. I have to work tomorrow,” Mom said and flopped face down on the bed, making sure her “hard hat” was still in place.
Cola thumped.
Mom peeked one eye open.
&nbs
p; “You’re lucky - it’s break time,” Cola said.
Mom gave her a thumbs up and tried to get back to sleep.
Instead Cola nudged Mom. “Duster is in the break room.”
Mom looked to see Duster sitting in the laundry basket and glanced at Cola. “The break room?”
“Yes and he gets noserubs on break. Come on, I need him back to work soon!”
Mom gave Duster noserubs and he hopped out of the bedroom.
Hoping for rest, Mom pulled the blankets over her head.
Cola scratched at the blankets, then Mom’s hair.
“I need you to move. You’re in the way.”
“Cola, you’re in my way of a good night’s sleep,” Mom whined. “Dad is awake, go see if he can help you with your construction project.”
Cola thumped and hopped out of the bedroom.
“Finally …” Mom sighed, hoping to get back to sleep.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Mom sat straight up.
“Shhhh,” she heard Dad say to the bunnies.
“But it’s lunch time, we have to ring the dinner bell,” Cola said and dropped her salt wheel against the cage again.
Mom slowly made her way to the living room.
“It’s about time! Come on, Duster!” Cola called. “We have work to do!”
The bunnies scampered back into the bedroom.
Dad motioned for Mom to follow him. She sighed and they stood in the doorway.
Cola and Duster were moving the blankets around and the pillows. Roughly five minutes later, they hopped off the bed.
“We want to present the grand opening of Bunny Boulevard!” Cola declared.
“Watch!” Duster exclaimed.
The bunnies ran straight across the middle of the bed, the blankets on one side of them and the pillows on the other. They stopped and then ran right back to where Mom and Dad were standing.
“That was fun!” Cola said.
Dad clapped.
“Can I go back to bed now?” Mom whined.
Cola nodded. “Sure, our work is done.”
“Good night, Mom!” Duster called as the bunnies and Dad left the bedroom so Mom could finally get back to sleep.
“That could only happen in our apartment … “ Mom thought as she drifted off to sleep, unaware that Cola had more construction projects in mind …
THE DAY THE CURTAINS TOOK THE TREAT
Duster and Cola had sat at the treat line and tried to wait patiently while Mom and Dad dug through the cupboards for treats.
Cola sighed. “They need to go grocery shopping.”
Duster agreed. “Actually having to wait for a treat is stressful.”
Mom and Dad finally appeared with raisins in hand.
The bunnies gobbled up two raisins each and then Cola noticed a stray raisin.
“Duster, look! We share …” Cola nodded towards the raisin that had fallen from Dad’s hand.
The grey lop was so excited he binkied and his paw hit the raisin and it rolled across the carpet … right to the window … where the curtains were waiting for this opportunity.
Duster and Cola had scurried after the raisin but they weren’t fast enough.
It came to a stop under the curtains.
“Oh come on …” Cola muttered.
“What are the chances of that?” Duster wondered and sat down, assessing the situation.
Cola sighed. “Come on, let’s go to the condo, we need to make plans to save the raisin.”
“I don’t want to save it, I want to eat it,” Duster complained.
“Shhh,” Cola scolded him. “We don’t want the whole world to know what we are planning to do.”
The bunnies hopped into their new red plastic condo, cuddled up and plotted how to free the raisin and then devour it.
“We have to make the curtains think the raisin is yucky,” Cola said.
“How do we do that?”
Cola scratched her head. “We have to distract it with something more interesting – like a bunny.”
Cola smiled at Duster.
He smiled back.
“You don’t understand my plan, do you?” Cola asked.
“Yes I do. We are going to get the raisin and eat it.”
Cola sighed. “And you are going to be the bunny distraction.”
Duster’s smiled disappeared. “Huh?”
“One of us has to distract them. I am smaller and can sneak under the curtains, grab the raisin and hop out of there.”
“But I can do the same thing!” Duster protested.
“You aren’t exactly graceful,” Cola argued. “Who hit the raisin and made it roll to the curtains in the first place?”
“That was an accident …” Duster muttered.
But since Cola was right, looked like he was going to be curtain-bait.
The bunnies nosebonked each other for good luck and exited the condo.
Duster positioned himself in front of the curtains while Cola approached from the side, keeping a low profile.
“Um, hi, evil … I mean, curtains. I’m Duster and I want to welcome you to the neighbourhood …” Duster rambled on.
Cola was within striking distance.
Cola hopped.
Duster saw the flash of black fur.
Cola was under the curtain.
Cola pushed the raisin.
The curtains billowed out towards Duster.
Duster jumped back.
The raisin rolled to freedom.
Cola made her safe getaway.
Duster ran to the raisin.
Cola joined Duster at the raisin.
The bunnies cuddled together, staring at the rescued raisin.
“Wow, that was dangerous!” Cola said.
“Did you see the way the curtains came after me?” Duster asked.
Cola gobbled her half of the treat. “But it was worth it for a raisin.”
“Yes, it definitely was,” Duster agreed, as he ate his share.
TREAT IMPOSTERS
“Oh, Duster,” Cola exclaimed hopping into the living room. “I am worried about Mommy.”
Duster jumped up. “Mommy? What’s wrong with Mommy? I love Mommy!”
“She told me she’s doing Spring cleaning and it’s still winter,” Cola whispered.
Duster scrunched up his nose. “I think she is trying to fast-forward to Spring. She is not happy that there is so much snow.”
“But I also heard her talking to Daddy and she said a cold front was moving in this week!” Cola said. “Who or what is a cold front? Where is this cold front going to stay? I am not sharing my cage.”
The lop looked at Cola. “Poor Mommy, I think the cold is getting to her. Let’s go see if we can help her.”
Cola nodded.
The bunnies joined Mom in the bedroom where she was sorting through some of her storage bins.
“Hi, bunnies!”
Duster sat next to Mom’s feet and nosebonked her ankle. “Hi, Mom. We are here to help you with your cleaning.”
“It’s kind of boring,” Mom admitted.
“Then we’ll just watch!” Cola said and flopped on the bed.
Mom continued going through bins while the bunnies supervised.
“Oh my gosh, I forgot all about these!” Mom said, pulling a plastic bag out of one of the bins. “Come on, Cola and Duster, these are for you.”
Mom walked out to the living room and sat on the floor, her bunnies excitedly hopped around her.
“What is it?” Duster asked.
“Can we eat it?” Cola questioned.
Mom sat the plastic bag on the coffee table, out of bunny reach and laid the new-found treasures on the floor.
Duster and Cola sat down and stared, not sure what they were looking at.
Mom picked up the toy. “Look it’s a banana! I know you bunnies love nanners.”
Duster sniffed the stuffed toy.
Cola rolled her eyes. “It’s not a real nanner.”
“It’s real,
Cola, you just can’t eat it,” Mom said.
Cola was horrified.
A nanner they couldn’t eat?
What was the point?
Mom gave the nanner to Cola, who proceeded to toss it out of the way.
“Perfect! That’s what you’re supposed to do with it!” Mom exclaimed.
Cola rolled her eyes. “What else did you find?”
Mom sighed and put a carrot toss toy in front of the rabbits.
Duster nosed it and then picked it up.
“It’s a fake carrot!” and he thumped.
Cola stared at Mom. “Why did you buy fake treats?”
“They’re toys! You play with them when you aren’t eating treats!” Mom said.
The rabbits were not convinced the imposter treats were as wonderful as Mom made them out to be.
“What’s next? People putting plastic fruit in bowls on their tables?” Cola asked Mom.
“Well, people do that …” Mom started.
“I don’t want any plastic treats in my bowl,” Duster said.
“Argh, I give up,” Mom stood up and went to the fridge.
“Yay! Real carrots!” Cola and Duster cheered, happily munching on their treats.
COUNTING COLAS
Cola was fascinated by the TV show.
“What are you watching?” Duster asked.
Cola shushed him till the commercial break.
“According to this show, if people can’t sleep, they should count sheep!” Cola exclaimed.
Duster was confused. “What does that have to do with us?”
“Well, if Mommy or Daddy can’t sleep, they could count bunnies! All we have to do is jump over their heads,” Cola explained.
“Um …” Duster was afraid what Cola was going to suggest next.
“Mom’s sleeping! Let’s go give this a try!”
“But if she’s sleeping, then she doesn’t need to count anything to get to sleep,” Duster argued.
“No, trust me, she needs our help,” and Cola bounded into the bedroom where their unsuspecting Mom was snoozing.
Duster sighed and followed Cola. “I’ll watch from the doorway.”
Cola shrugged and hopped onto the bed. She nudged Mom. Mom replied with a snore and rolled over.
“See, she’s awake,” Cola said.
Cola hopped around Mom, trying to find the perfect location to launch herself from.
“I need the pillow out of the way,” Cola said. “It’s too high for me to clear her head.”
“Well, maybe that’s a sign this is a bad idea,” Duster replied.
Cola scrunched up her nose and approached Mom. She got close enough so her whiskers tickled Mom’s nose. When Mom raised her head to rub her nose, Cola yanked the pillow away.
Mom’s head flopped against the mattress.
“Aww … my pillow …” Mom mumbled and rolled over again.
Cola circled again and then leapt.
She landed right on top of Mom’s head.
“AH!” Mom exclaimed and sat straight up.
Cola had scurried to hide behind the pile of blankets, she didn’t want Mom to see her and have the experiment ruined.
Mom looked around, saw nothing and assumed she was dreaming. And went back to sleep.
Cola peeked from behind the blankets. And then seized the moment and launched herself again. She did better this time and only her foot hit Mom’s nose.
Mom’s eyes popped open, Cola didn’t have time to hide.
Cola smiled at her.
“Cola, did you jump on my head?”
“No,” Cola replied. “I jumped over your head but your nose got in my way.”
Mom let the words sink in and propped herself up on one elbow. “OK, why were you trying to jump over my head?”
Cola went on to explain the TV show she had seen.
“But I was already asleep. I didn’t need any help,” Mom sighed.
“That’s what I told her!” Duster called out from the doorway.
Cola glared at Duster. “I was trying to help you.”
Mom couldn’t be mad at such a cute little bunny. “Well maybe next time ask me before you try to help me.”
“But it would have ruined the surprise of how counting us bunnies can help you sleep,” Cola said.
Mom sighed. “Good point, don’t want to ruin any surprises. Now I am going to go back to sleep and please don’t jump on or over my head. “
“Are you sure?” Cola asked.
“I am positive. No worries, I’ll get back to sleep just as long as nothing targets my head,” Mom assured the bunnies.
“Do we get bunny breakfast when you wake up?” Cola asked.
“Of course you do,” Mom said.
“Yay!” the bunnies cheered, leaving Mom to get some more sleep.
WHEN BUNNIES DREAM …
Mom and Dad looked in on Cola and Duster before going to bed.
“They’re so cute!” Mom said.
“I wonder what they dream about?” Dad wondered.
Mom laughed. “Probably treats, knowing these two.”
Mom and Dad turned in for the night while Cola and Duster enjoyed sweet dreams …
Cola was surrounded by other bunnies, tired from her battle.
“That crazy curtain put up quite a fight!”
Cola looked at the tattered piece of cloth trapped beneath her little paws.
Her bunny friends cheered.
“I slayed the last curtain in the world!” Cola sighed happily. “Cheers to a curtain free world!”
All of the bunnies cheered again and enjoyed a buffet of salads that would make any bunny binky.
In Duster’s dream world there was also a celebration going on …
“Thank you, bunny friends, for being here as we celebrate Bun-trepreneur of the Year,” the host of the awards greeted all of the bunnies in attendance. “This year’s honouree is Duster for his amazing creation Everything Nanners. Congratulations, Duster, come on up!”
Dressed in a little top hat and bow tie, Duster hopped to the stage.
Bunnies were cheering wildly for the grey lop and his banana inspired product line.
“Thank you so much. And thank you nanners for being so wonderful,” Duster said.
“Duster, tell us a bit about your award winning Everything Nanners,” the host invited.
Duster proceeded to explain how his obsession with bananas gave him the idea for banana flavoured and scented bunny friendly products – bedding, water, toys, clothes, you name it and it could be made to smell or taste like a nanner.
To celebrate, Duster made sure every bunny in attendance at the awards show that evening got a free sample of his Everything Nanners – there were a lot of happy bunnies!
COLA-COPY
Cola hopped into the living room and saw Mom and Dad looking in a box.
“Just the bunny we were hoping to see!” Mom exclaimed.
“Do you have treats for me?” Cola asked.
“Not exactly,” Dad said. “But we do have a surprise for you.”
Cola binkied over to where Mom and Dad were sitting.
“Quick! Show me! Show me! What is it?” Cola was so excited.
Dad reached into the box and brought out a stuffed toy bunny. This toy bunny looked just like Cola.
Cola stopped hopping. “What is it? Where’s my surprise?”
“This is your surprise,” Mom said.
“I don’t want that to be my surprise …” Cola said.
She sniffed it.
“What it is anyways?”
Mom and Dad sighed.
“Cola, doesn’t it look familiar?” Dad asked.
Cola took another look at the toy bunny and froze. Then she hopped back in horror.
“What’s wrong?” Mom wondered.
“That toy has black fur!” Cola said.
“Yes …” Dad agreed.
“Black fur like my black fur!” Cola thumped her foot. “The vet that stole my fur clowned me!??
?
Mom and Dad were confused.
“He clowned you?”
Cola thumped again. “He photocopied my fur and made that toy!”
Mom and Dad looked at each other.
“Oh you mean cloned … you think the vet made a copy of you?” Mom said.
“Well, obviously!” Cola glared at the toy.
Duster heard all of the ruckus and came out of the cardboard condo. He hopped to where his parents and Cola were.
He looked at Cola, at toy Cola, then back to Cola.
“Two Cola ladies! Yay! Two Cola’s to cuddle with,” Duster was so excited.
Cola scrunched her nose. “We are not cuddling with the fake me.”
Dad put the toy bunny on the coffee table. “We thought you’d be happy to see that we found a toy that looked like you and brought it home.”
“Why would I be happy about that? Now I have to share my cage and my treats and my food and my Duster!”
“What if we promise to keep the toy Cola on a shelf and you don’t have to share anything with her?” Mom asked.
Cola turned her back to her parents, thought for a few seconds and then hopped back to face them.
“This has caused me great stress. I need to be compensated for this stress if you want to keep the Cola-copy.”
Mom and Dad grinned at each other.
“What are your demands?” Mom asked.
Cola rhymed off her usual breakfast on time, treats on command, stuff Mom and Dad could agree too.
“Fine, she can stay,” Cola mumbled.
Cola-copy happily took her place on the shelf in the living room, where she could keep a watchful on the real bunnies and the adventures they have.
THE CURTAIN CROP
Cola headed into the kitchen. She knew Mom was in there and even though she was on the phone with Grandma, Cola was pretty sure she could score some treats for her and Duster.
As she rounded the corner, she heard Mom say …
“That’s wonderful! You know they’ll appreciate any curtains you are able to sew for them!”
Cola stopped.
Cola thumped.
“AHHHHH!” was all Mom heard and then she saw a flash of black fur fleeing the room.
“Oh no,” Mom sighed. “Yes, that was Cola. I have to let you go before she does something we’ll all possibly regret. Bye, Mom.”
Mom hung up the phone and headed to the living room.
It was too late – Cola was breaking the news to Duster.
“I heard her say it! Grandma sows curtains and she supplies them to people - people that are happy to have curtains!” Cola was hopping around Duster.
The grey lop nodded, he was pretty sure Cola was over-exaggerating.
“Hi, bunnies. Cola, let’s have a talk,” Mom said.
“No! Your Mom is in cahoots with curtains! She sows them and sells the ones she harvests to people!” Cola hopped away from Mom.
“Cola, she doesn’t harvest curtains,” Mom tried to explain.
“Grandma is a curtain farmer!” Cola accused.
Mom rolled her eyes. “Cola, she sews them with a machine, not in the ground.”
“Like that’s any better!” Cola was in a frenzy now.
Duster hopped up to his black bunny and nosebonked her. “Give Mom a chance to explain.”
“Oh great, take the curtain’s side.” Cola muttered.
Mom sat down on the floor and told Cola the whole curtain sewing process, but she knew she wasn’t making any progress.
“Cola, it’s OK to have curtains in houses where there aren’t bunnies,” Mom said.
“Um, no, it really isn’t,” Cola argued.
“Some people like curtains,” Mom said.
Cola shook her head sadly. “Then we need to get those people help …”
“How about a treat?” Mom offered.
“Does it have anything to do with curtains?” Cola mumbled.
“No, pretty sure these carrots are curtain-free,” Mom said and went to get the bunnies carrots.
“Duster, I’m telling you, next time Grandma visits we have to do an intervention to help her with this curtain issue,” Cola insisted.
Mom was coming back into the living room and heard Cola’s suggestion.
“You know, that’s a great idea – we’ll do an intervention with Grandma, she’ll love it.”
“Really?” Cola was hopeful.
“Sure, I’ll make all the arrangements,” Mom promised.
“Great!” Cola binkied and happily accepted the carrot.
Mom and Duster smiled at each other, if Cola was happy, everything was right with the world.
THE CURTAIN FARMER INTERVENTION
Cola and Duster paced back and forth in the living room, waiting for Grandma to arrive.
“Oh I hear them!” Cola said excitedly. “Quick – put your party hat on!”
Duster was confused. “But this isn’t a party …”
“Just do it! We need Grandma to think we are really happy to see her,” Cola said.
“I am happy to see her,” Duster mumbled, putting the brightly decorated pointed hat on his head.
Out in the hallway, Mom paused before opening the door.
“Just remember, Cola is really concerned about you and what she thinks is curtain farming,” Mom said to Grandma, trying not to chuckle. “This is supposed to be a serious event but with Cola in charge, you never know …”
“I’m prepared for anything,” Grandma said.
Mom and Grandma walked in the door and Cola hopped in a box, sending confetti flying all over the place.
“Hi, Grandma!” Cola bounced up and down, spewing confetti all over the place.
Cola exited the box and motioned for Grandma to follow her to the living room. “Mom will clean that mess up! Come on, Grandma!”
Grandma laughed and followed the black bunny into the living room.
“Have a seat in the special chair we have for you.”
Grandma looked at the banner draped across the chair. “Guest of Horror?”
Cola nodded. “Yes, the curtains cause us quite the horror ...” and then she realized she had almost revealed the true reason for Grandma’s visit. “I mean, that should say Guest of Honour. Duster can’t spell very well before his afternoon snack.”
Duster scrunched up his nose, and hopped over to see his Grandma.
“I love you, Grandma, no matter what,” Duster said as Grandma gave him noserubs.
“Well, that’s good to know!” Grandma agreed.
Mom came into the living room then. Cola motioned for Mom to sit next to Grandma. The bunnies removed their party hats.
“Grandma, we didn’t bring you here for a party,” Cola confessed.
“Really?” Grandma tried to keep up the act that she didn’t know what was going on.
“No, I am sorry we lied. But we are worried about you,” Cola sighed. “I can’t believe you are a curtain farmer. Don’t you know what the curtains did to me?”
Before Grandma could reply, Cola announced they were going to do a play for Grandma. Duster was going to be Cola and a towel would be the curtains. Cola was going to direct.
“One day I was hopping along, minding my own business. Then the curtain got in my way. I asked it to move, nicely. It ignored me. I asked again. It ignored me so I nosebonked it. “
Duster was sitting in the same spot, and then Cola threw the towel on top of him.
“Don’t move, Duster. Grandma, this is very stressful, so you can close your eyes if you need to,” Cola said. “I was trapped by the curtains. They surrounded me on the left and the right – there was no way for me to escape and if Mom and Dad hadn’t been there to save me, the curtains would have won!”
Cola pulled the towel off Duster to demonstrate how she had been rescued when Mom and Dad had pulled the curtain aside so she could hop by it.
“Wow, that would have been terrible and traumatic,” Grandma agreed.
“So you have to s
top sowing them,” Cola insisted. “You can’t be a curtain sympathizer anymore. You have grandbunnies to think about.”
Grandma then tried to explain to Cola – just like their bunny Mom had done – that she didn’t actually plant and harvest curtains that she sewed them with a machine. And it was only when people asked her to sew them.
Cola thumped. “Then we should have brought all the people you supplied curtains to with you. We could have helped a whole bunch of people.”
Duster hopped up to Grandma and whispered. “Cola was hopping along and got in between the balcony window and the curtains. The curtains kind of draped around her and she thought she was trapped. She bit the curtains and scratched them when all she had to do was put her nose underneath and push the fabric up and she would have been free. She won’t drop this till you agree to never make them again.”
Grandma looked at her daughter and at the grandbunnies. “Alright, Cola, I promise I’ll never make curtains again.”
Cola happily hopped up and down. She had saved Grandma!
With the intervention over, Mom turned the TV on. A moment later a commercial came on announcing a warehouse sale on, you guessed it – curtains!
Cola turned to glare at the TV. “You have got to be kidding me!”
Grandma leaned over and petted Bear. “But just think, Cola, because of you and this intervention, there is one less curtain farmer in the world today.”
Cola sighed. “Yes, I have done my part to make the world a better place.”
COLA’S CURIOSITY
“Where did Mommy go?” Cola asked Duster.
The grey lop stretched. “Not sure. Let’s go find her!”
The two bunnies hopped from the living room and went right to the bedroom.
No Mommy.
Leaving the bedroom, they looked in the kitchen.
Still no Mommy.
That left the bathroom.
The bunnies were not fond of the bathroom at all.
That room was often the location for “bunny spa day” which meant nail trimmings.
But if they wanted to find Mommy, they knew they had to venture to that doorway.
“We can stand outside the door and see if she is in there!” Cola declared as they hopped towards the open bathroom door.
Cola and Duster stopped at the door and looked inside … Mommy!
“What’s she doing?” Cola whispered.
Duster shook his head, he wasn’t sure.
The bunnies watched as Mom took the nail clippers and a pair of scissors and placed them on the vanity.
Then Mommy took the scissors in one hand and grabbed a handful of her bangs in the other hand and snip, hair fell to the floor.
Cola just about fainted. Why would Mom cut her own fur, er, hair?
The bunnies exchanged horrified looks then continued to watch as Mom finished cutting her bangs.
Mommy put the scissors down and picked up the nail clippers.
“Now what is she going to do?” Duster asked Cola.
Cola couldn’t speak.
She watched in horror as Mom clipped her finger nails.
“She’s trimming her own nails …” the words squeaked out of Cola’s mouth.
The bunnies stared as Mom cut all 10 nails and then filed them down.
Duster looked at Cola,. What’s wrong with Mommy?”
“I don’t know but this is bad …” Cola said.
Mom put the scissors and nail clippers back.
She then started to brush her teeth.
Cola and Duster decided they had to make a quick dash to the living room so they could regroup and figure out what was happening with Mommy.
The rabbits both tried to hop in the same spot at the same time and made quite a noise.
Mom turned around to see what the commotion was.
“Ahhhh …” Cola and Duster hopped back and fled to the living room.
“She’s frothing at the mouth!” Cola gasped when she and Duster were safely under their favourite chair.
Duster’s ears were all over the place. “We have to tell Dad so he can take her to the human vet!”
Then the bunnies heard Mom coming into the living room. They stayed perfectly still, hoping she wouldn’t see them.
“Duster and Cola, what is going on?” she asked.
“I think you need to tell us that!” Cola piped up.
Mom leaned down to look at the bunnies.
“You’re not foaming at the mouth anymore …” Duster said.
“Why did you cut your own nails and fur, er, hair?” Cola demanded to know. “We would never do that to ourselves!”
“Well, you bunnies have bunny spa day and that was kind of a mini spa day for me,” Mom explained.
“But we don’t enjoy nail trimming bunny spa day!” Cola thumped.
Mommy sighed. “Would a carrot make this all better?”
Cola scrunched up her nose. “That was pretty traumatic. Make it two carrots and we’ll be fine.”
Mom tried not to laugh as she gave the bunnies their carrots, happy to see they were back to being the Cola and Duster she loved.
WEATHER WOES
“Ah! That’s it. I am done with this weather!” Mom grumbled, looking out the window.
Duster and Cola stirred from their cuddling and looked at Mom.
“Bunnies, I’m going to hibernate!” Mom declared, gave the bunnies a noserub and went to the bedroom.
“Poor Mommy, I think she has the winter blues, Bear,” Duster sighed.
Cola hopped over to the balcony window, sure enough, snow was falling again.
“We need to find out how long this hibernation phase will last,” Cola said.
The black bunny hopped to the kitchen where Dad was.
“Oh, Mom looked outside did she?” Dad asked Cola. “ Well, if Mommy is determined to really hibernate, we won’t see her till Spring.”
Cola’s eyes got big and she hopped back to Duster, telling him what Dad had explained.
“Um, that means no bunny breakfast tomorrow!” Duster panicked.
“Or noserubs!”Cola thumped. “We can’t let that happen!”
Duster started to look up at the ceiling. “Mom has said Spring is in the air, but I don’t see it.”
Cola hopped around the apartment, checking any and all corners. “And I’ve heard her say Spring is right around the corner, but it’s not there either!”
“We could call the police and have them put a missing season’s report out on Spring …” Duster was getting desperate.
Exhausting all other ideas, the bunnies put their adorable heads together and came up with a plan.
Cola nosed the bedroom door open, she could see Mom bundled under the blankets.
Cola dropped a mouth full of hay next to the bed and left the room.
A few minutes later, Cola returned, Duster was with her.
“Mommy, look! It’s springtime!” Cola said.
Mom grumbled something and rolled away from the bunnies.
“Um, hello, I don’t do well being ignored!” Cola jumped over Mom’s head and was nose to nose with Mommy. “You need to look at Duster.”
“Fine,” Mom said and turned to face Duster.
She couldn’t help herself and laughed. “Why are you wearing a yellow towel?”
“I’m the sun and I am going to melt all the snow!” Duster peeked out from underneath the towel.
Cola pointed out the hay next to the bed. “Green grass is here too thanks to the sun!”
“Please don’t hibernate, we’ll miss you and bunny breakfast,” Duster said.
“Me and bunny breakfast?” Mom asked.
“And noserubs but we’ll miss you the most,” Cola added quickly.
Mom sighed. “I guess I can deal with the snow until Spring arrives as long as you bunnies don’t mind listening to me grumble about the weather.”
“Oh, we have to listen to you …” Cola’s voice trailed off when she saw the look Mom was giving her. “Y
eah, sure, no problem … just make sure you have our breakfast to us on time!”
The bunnies hopped out of the bedroom and Dad peeked in. “They chase away your winter blues?”
Mom smiled. “I think so and as long as they get their breakfast on time, we’ll all be happy!”
THE MAYHEM OF MOVING
Cola and Duster recently moved to a new apartment with their Mom and Dad. They spent the first few days roaming the bedroom while Mom and Dad unpacked and bunny-proofed the rest of the apartment. Then the bunnies were free to explore …
“Wow!” Duster exclaimed. “Look at this place.”
The bunnies were very excited, although the apartment was pretty much the same as the one they had moved from, just on the other side of the building.
Cola was already nosing around the few remaining boxes that had to be unpacked and checking to see if the furniture had to be rearranged to meet bunny-standards.
“I see we are going to have to move a few things,” she said.
Duster was checking out the distance of their cages to the kitchen, where the best treats were kept.
“Bunny super sprints!” Cola said and started to run around the living room.
All was going well till she came to where the patio door should have been. Instead there were long strips of fabric hanging from the wall.
“Um … Duster! Come here!” the black bunny yelled.
Duster quickly hopped over.
“Do you see what I see?” Cola asked.
“No because there are curtains blocking the window,” Duster said.
Cola thumped. “Exactly! There are curtains in this apartment too!”
Duster shook his head and took a second look … sure enough … curtains.
“But, why would Mom and Dad put up curtains when they know how evil they are?” Duster asked.
“I’m going to find out right now!” Cola declared and hopped to the kitchen where Mom and Dad were.
“You have some explaining to do! There is no excuse for this,” Cola thumped at her parents.
“Cola, what’s wrong?” Dad asked.
“You put up curtains!” Cola accused, Duster had hopped up to join her now.
“No, those are blinds and they came with the apartment,” Mom replied.
“Blinds? Any fabric or anything that covers a window is a curtain! Nice try, Mom!” Cola was not impressed.
Duster shook his head. “You moved in here knowing that there were already curtains here? What kind of bunny parents are you?”
“The irresponsible kind!” Cola stated.
Mom thought for a moment and then said. “We were hoping that maybe you and the curtains could have a fresh start. New apartment, new curtains … maybe you could be friends.”
Cola’s jaw dropped. “Friends … with … curtains? This is so disappointing!”
“Come on, Bear, let’s go get rid of these curtains,” Duster said.
The two rabbits hopped to the patio door, each took a hold of a fabric panel and started to pull. The rabbits spent the next while moving in between the vertical blinds, tugging on them, hiding behind them, running around them.
“Wow, that was a lot of work,” Cola said as she and Duster flopped in their cardboard condo.
Duster nodded. “I think they are afraid of us.”
“They know we won’t tolerate any funny curtain business,” Cola said. “There won’t be any world curtain domination coming from this apartment.”
Mom and Dad just smiled at each other, happy to see the bunnies and curtains playing together, er … the bunnies showing the curtains they wouldn’t put up with any evil plots …
THE CURTAIN CAPER
“Cola, can you come here, please?” Mom asked.
Cola left her blanket rearranging in the bedroom and hopped out to the living room.
Mom was shaking her head. “I just, wow, I just don’t know how you actually did it.”
Cola wasn’t sure what Mom was talking about but took the credit for whatever it was anyway. “Oh, you know, it’s all in a day’s work of being Cola Bear.”
“No, really, how did you do it?” Mom questioned.
“Um, well, it was pretty easy,” Cola said, playing along.
“It was easy to do that? All by yourself?” Mom pointed to the patio door.
Cola looked, she saw the blinds and the door. “Sure. I mean, really, what was involved …?”
Mom sighed. “Well a fair bit of fabric and some pulling, maybe some tools and how you got in into the trash I’ll never guess so you have to explain that too.”
“Yes, tools. And determination. I was just doing my part to make the world a better place,” that answer sounded good to the little black bunny.
“There’s just something not right about this,” Mom was still trying to figure out how Cola got the curtains down from behind the vertical blinds and into the trash can all by herself!
“I think you are over-thinking this,” Cola said.
Mom sat down and motioned for Cola to join her.
Cola hopped over.
“OK, let’s start from the beginning,” Mom said.
Cola was thoughtful. “Alright, you and Dad came to the Humane Society and I adopted you. Since then I have been running your lives as best I can although you don’t always co-operate …”
Mom smiled. “How about we start with the beginning of today?”
“Sure,” Cola sighed. “You got up and gave us bunny breakfast, you went to work and now we are talking.”
“Anything happen in between?”
“Um, Duster flopped a lot, even more than usual!” Cola revealed.
Poor Mom, she finally just asked. “Cola, how did you get the curtains off the wall and into the trash all by yourself?”
“What are you talking about?” Cola was way past being confused now.
Mom pointed to the fabric that was hanging out of the trash can.
“Wow,” Cola was in awe. “The curtains are really gone!”
Cola hopped over and periscoped, looking at the too good to be true trashed curtains.
Mom sighed with relief, knowing Cola hadn’t somehow managed the impossible with the curtains.
Then Mom and Cola both heard Dad laughing. He had overheard the whole conversation between Mom and Bear.
“I’m the one that took the curtains down,” Dad said.
Cola hopped victoriously. “Finally a parent that understands how evil those curtains were!”
“Um, no, turns out I’m allergic to that fabric, “ Dad said. “I got itchy every time I opened them.”
“Sheesh,” Cola said. “Even Daddy’s allergic to the evilness of those curtains!”
Cola hopped off to tell Duster the wonderful news about the curtains being taken down while Mom and Dad tried to figure out how to tell her they would be getting new curtains … eventually.
THE CURTAIN WHISPERER
Mom walked into the living room, looked around, something just didn’t feel right.
All of the furniture was in the same place, nothing was missing. Duster was stretched out under Mom’s chair and Cola was cuddled up beside the curtains, talking to them.
Mom shrugged and went back to the kitchen.
“Wait …” she mumbled and quickly returned to the living room.
Duster under the chair and Cola cuddling with the curtains.
“OK, Bear, what are you doing?” Mom asked.
“What?” Cola was rather defensive.
“Cola, please, you, the curtains, way too close for comfort - what’s up?” Mom questioned.
Cola yawned. “I am pursuing a career.”
“Really?” Mom folded her arms across her chest. “A career? What sort of career?”
But Cola was talking to the curtains again.
Mom walked over to where the bunny was.
“Did you just tell the curtains they have worn out their welcome here?” Mom was staring at Cola.
Cola gave Mom a “mind your own b
usiness look” and nudged the curtains.
“That time I know I heard you tell the curtains they are out of style and need to get out of here,” Mom sighed.
Cola shook her head and motioned for Mom to follow her to the other side of the room, which she did. Duster was curious and joined his two favourite ladies to see what was going on.
“Mom, I told you, I am pursuing a career. You should support me, not hinder my success,” Cola said.
“You really need to explain that,” Mom said.
“Isn’t it obvious? I am a Curtain Whisperer,” Cola periscoped, checking to see if the curtains had taken her advice yet and hit the road.
“That’s why you were talking to the curtains?” Mom asked.
“I was whispering to them,” Cola stated. “And I think I was making progress before you interrupted me!”
Mom smiled. “Cola, that’s a great idea! I think you need to spend as much time with those curtains as you need to so you can convince them they need to go.”
Cola was a bit surprised, Mom and Dad usually told her to leave the curtains alone. “Um, great, I’m going to get back to work now.”
Cola hopped back to the other side of the room.
Mom sat on the floor with Duster.
“That was pretty smart, Mom,” the grey lop said.
“Duster, I don’t know what you mean,” Mom gave the bunny a noserub.
“If you keep Cola busy with the curtain whispering, she can’t get into any other trouble,” Duster said.
“You catch on pretty quick,” Mom smiled.
“I deserve a treat,” Duster said.
Mom agreed and gave him a carrot and set one aside for Cola for when she took a break from her new career.
COLA’S CALAMITY
Mom walked through the door after work and let Duster and Cola out of their cages.
Duster went straight to the cardboard condo and flopped. It was Cola who noticed that something just wasn’t right.
Cola hopped to the condo and went from there to the treat line. Mom was in the kitchen. Cola looked at the door. And waited. Cola became impatient and hopped into the bedroom. She looked around. Not finding what she was looking for, she hopped back out to the living room. Mom was now sitting at the computer. Cola stopped in front of Mom’s feet and periscoped.
“Did you forget something at work?” she asked.
Mom shook her head. “Nope.”
“Are you sure?” Cola persisted.
Mom nodded.
Cola thumped. “How did you get home?”
“In a car,” Mom smiled.
The fur on Cola’s back was starting to rise. “Who brought you home?”
“My boss gave me a ride tonight,” Mom replied.
Cola was now confused. “That’s not possible.”
“Sure it is. She doesn’t live that far from here,” Mom was busy typing.
“No, I can’t drive …” Cola said.
“Oh, right. Well, I meant my boss at work, not my bunny boss,” Mom was trying to get Cola to the point of her line of questions.
“Do you not notice that there is something missing from the apartment?” Cola questioned.
Mom surveyed their home, everything seemed to be present and accounted for. Mom shook her head “no” and Cola became a whirlwind of black fur around her feet.
“Daddy! Daddy is missing! He left to pick you up from work and you came home without him! What did you do with my Daddy?” Cola panicked.
“Cola, Daddy didn’t pick me up tonight …” Mom started.
Cola cut her off. “Yes, he did! He left at the same time he always leaves to bring you home!”
“Cola, relax,” Mom said.
Duster was observing all this from the condo, Cola was such a Daddy’s girl.
“No, how can I relax when Daddy is lost outside? He is wandering and can’t find his way home! That is Daddy abandonment!” Cola was in overdrive now.
The phone rang and Mom answered. “OK, see you then. Bye.”
She hung up the phone and started to tell Cola it was Daddy but didn’t get very far …
“And you hung up on him? He called home for help and you hung up on him?” Cola’s back fur was a Mohawk by now.
Cola hopped to where Mom’s shoes were and started to try to drag them towards Mom.
“Go find him and bring him home!”
Mom sighed, stood up and was on her way to try to calm Cola down when the door opened and in walked Daddy.
Cola dropped the shoelace she was tugging on. “It’s a miracle!”
“What miracle? Mom cooked supper?” Dad joked and picked Cola up.
“Daddy, thank goodness you found your way home. I can’t believe she left you out there all by yourself!” Cola exclaimed.
Dad smiled and looked at Mom. Knowing Cola, there was a good story behind this.
“Cola thought I deserted you somewhere,” Mom said.
Dad sat down and explained to Cola that he had an appointment and he really hadn’t picked Mom up from work, nor had Mom abandoned him anywhere.
Cola calmed down and Duster appeared, time for treats!
DADDY’S DOUBLE LIFE
“There he goes again!” Cola exclaimed, hopping to her feet.
Cola and Duster were curled up under their favourite chair. Duster opened one eye, saw Daddy push
the curtain out of the way, open the patio door and then heard it close.
“What’s out there that is so much more interesting than us?” Cola wondered.
The grey lop stretched and looked at his partner in crime. “Cola, there is nothing more interesting than us! Daddy spends lots of time with us, maybe he has other things to do.”
Cola scrunched up her nose. “Well, he really should clear that with me.”
“Then go investigate,” Duster suggested.
“Sure leave it all up to me,” Cola frowned.
Duster bunny shrugged. “It’s one o’clock, time for my nap. If it can wait till after my nap, I will be more than happy to assist.”
Seeing as this involved her Daddy, Cola couldn’t wait and hopped into action, while Duster resumed snoozing.
The little black bunny hopped towards the curtains. She shook her head, warning them not to get in her way (but of course, they were always in her way). Cola took a deep breath and made a mad dash for the curtains. She put her nose underneath the fabric, lifted and in a few seconds, she was between the curtains and the patio door.
“Whew, that was close. Daddy better appreciate what I am doing,” Cola thought.
Cola squatted down and crept along the bottom of the door. Seizing the moment, she popped her head up and could not believe what she saw.
Daddy was sitting in a chair, surrounded by animals and birds AND he was feeding them treats!
Cola dropped back down behind the door. She shook her head and peeked up again. Sure enough, Daddy was still feeding the other animals and birds. Forgetting the curtains, Cola bounded back to where Duster was napping. She flew into the grey bunny, waking him up.
“Duster! Daddy is out there feeding other animals! Daddy has outdoor pets! Daddy has been leading a double life!” Cola exclaimed.
“Uh huh,” Duster muttered and turned his back to Cola, ticked off that she had woke him up.
Cola hopped back in front of Duster. “Take a look! He has other pets!”
Knowing he couldn’t get back to sleep until Cola had calmed down, he hopped over, braved the curtains and peeked outside. For once, Cola wasn’t exaggerating. There was Daddy, with ducks and squirrels and chipmunks and they were eating treats.
Duster rushed back to Cola.
“See? Wasn’t I right?” Cola asked.
Duster nodded. “Yes, yes, you were so right! I wonder if Mommy knows?”
Cola hadn’t thought of the Mommy factor. “Oh no, how do we tell Mom that Daddy is leading a double life?”
“We can’t let her find out!” Duster said.
“We just have t
o keep her away from the curtains! She can never look out that patio door again,” Cola decided.
As if on cue, Mom entered the room, heading for the patio door. The bunnies sprang into action, hopping in front of Mom, dancing for treats.
“OK, OK, treats it is,” Mom said, distracted for the moment.
The bunnies gobbled up the treats and then managed to nosebonk Mom into the kitchen when she tried to go to the patio door.
“We need fresh water,” Cola insisted and Mom set about getting the two water.
Cola and Duster hopped along behind Mom as she went back to their cages with the water. They had to keep her inside.
“Can you see if we have any e-mail?” Duster asked Mom.
“Um, you don’t have an e-mail account …” Mom started to say and was interrupted by a thump from Cola.
Cola’s eyes were the size of strawberries and she was started to try to nosebonk Mom back into the kitchen.
“You two are acting really strange,” Mom said.
“It’s something in the water!” Cola gasped, happy the idea came to her mind. “We need fresher water.”
“But you haven’t even drank the fresh water I just put in there,” Mom argued.
“Do you want to have strange bunnies? If not, get us fresher water,” Cola was insisting.
Mom sighed and took the bowls back to the kitchen.
“What was that about?” Duster asked. “I was distracting her with the e-mail we don’t have.”
Cola motioned to the computer where the screen was showing pictures of Dad with his outdoor pets.
Duster’s jaw dropped. “He has pictures of them? And he put them on the computer! How will we keep this from Mom now?”
Cola didn’t have time to respond. Mom was on her way back into the living room and Dad was coming through the patio door.
“You have got to see the ducks,” Dad said to Mom.
“Oh did she bring her babies back?” Mom asked.
Before Dad could reply, Duster and Cola cut in.
“You know about the outdoor pets?” Cola demanded.
“And you didn’t tell us?” Duster was stunned.
Then it was Mom and Dad’s turn to explain to the bunnies about the outdoor pets.
“Well, as long as they aren’t eating our treats, I guess it’s OK,” Cola said.
Mom and Dad assured the bunnies that none of their treats were going to the outdoor pets. Cola and Duster happily cuddled back under their chair.
When the bunnies are happy, the world is happy :)
MOURNING MORNINGS
Bunny breakfast was interrupted by a muttere. “Mornings should be illegal!”
Cola and Duster slowed down on eating the nanner slices to look at each other.
The bunnies watched Dad robotically make his way to the kettle and plug it in.
“Good morning!” Mom said cheerfully.
“Yeah, for you – you’re still in your jammies!” Dad grumbled and went to get ready for work while waiting for the kettle to boil.
“Mom, you need to get ready for work too!” Cola exclaimed.
“Not today, Bear, Mom is staying home,” Mom said.
“No, you can’t stay home. You need to leave so Daddy and us can go nap,” Cola said.
“Nope, today Daddy gets to go out in the sunshine,” Mom replied.
Cola was horrified. “But Daddy said he is allergic to mornings! He’ll melt!”
Dad reappeared to unplug the kettle.
“Daddy, Mom told us you are working days today and she is staying home!” Cola was pacing back and forth in her cage.
Dad sighed. “Yes, it’s true.”
“Is it the end of the world?” Cola was in her over-the-top mode.
Both parents assured the bunnies the world was not ending just because Daddy was on day shift for one day.
Cola was determined though that Mom should have to go to work if Dad was. “You cannot stay home! You need to go and earn money to buy us treats!”
“It’s a paid day off,” Mom smiled.
“You are so bad at your job that they pay you to stay away from where you work?” Cola was shocked.
Mom had to explain the whole vacation idea to Cola, who thought it was a great idea, if it meant Daddy stayed at home! Duster sighed and flopped, he’d let Cola handle this.
Mom let the bunnies out of their cages. Duster headed for the usual chair to sleep under and Cola headed straight for Mom’s ankle. She started to nosebonk Mom towards the bedroom.
“Get changed. You are going to make Daddy late for work,” Cola insisted.
“Cola, we have been over this …” Mom sighed.
Cola was adamant. “No, you’re wrong. You work days and Daddy works nights. Daddy, get ready for your nap and, Mommy, get ready for work!”
By this time Daddy was ready to leave. He gave Mom a kiss and said goodbye to her and the bunnies and was out the door.
Cola hopped as fast as she could but the door had already closed. “Daddy! You forgot Mommy!”
Cola made a mad dash for the patio door as fast as her little legs would carry her. She pressed her little paws to the window just in time to see the car drive away.
Cola sighed and turned to see Duster getting noserubs from Mommy.
“Come here, Bear,” Mom said.
Cola hopped over and cuddled beside Duster, getting noserubs too.
“If I give you a carrot, do you think it would be okay with you that I am home today?” Mom asked.
“If we can have a carrot and Romaine lettuce, then it’s OK,” Cola answered.
“Deal,” Mom agreed and got the bunnies their negotiated treats.
HOPPING TO CONCLUSIONS
Cola was doing bunny super sprints around the living room. She came to a sudden halt when the phone rang. Mom answered it.
“Perfect!” Cola thought. “Mom’s distracted when she is on the phone. Time to score some treats for me and Duster.”
And Cola binkied towards the kitchen. The dwarf bunny stopped at the infamous treat line, only to overhear Mom’s conversation.
“Yes, you’re right, Mom. It’s the perfect time to make some changes. I’m going to get rid of the black and grey and add some colour. Oh, the ones you gave me are perfect! Yes, you can definitely take the black and grey home with you…”
Cola looked at her fur, her black fur. Then she hopped around to look at the grey lop eared rabbit sleeping in the cardboard condo.
“Hmm, nah …” Cola thought, trying to overhear more of the phone call.
“Definitely lower maintenance than the two I have now!” Mom exclaimed.
Cola decided she didn’t need that treat right away and hopped to Duster to tell her what she had overheard. Cola nosebonked Duster awake and gave him a quick report.
Duster’s ears went out to the side, for once, maybe Cola wasn’t exaggerating.
“We need to figure this out and come up with a plan,” Duster said.
The bunnies left the living room and went to their second favourite place, behind the laundry baskets in the bedroom.
“What did Grandma recently give Mom that could replace us?” Cola wondered.
Duster gasped. “Grandma gave Mom those bunny lawn ornaments for her birthday! Their fur is light brown.”
Cola’s jaw dropped. “And they don’t eat anything or poop or chew on the carpet …”
“And she doesn’t have to share her banana for breakfast with them every day!” Duster exclaimed.
“I guess we are high maintenance compared to them,” Cola said.
The bunnies were trying to put together a strategy when they heard a noise from the other side of the bedroom wall.
“That sounds like our cages,” Cola said.
“Yeah, but why is Mom making so much noise cleaning them?” Duster asked.
And off they hopped to investigate. Coming around the corner, both bunnies skidded to a halt. Mom had their cages disassembled on the living room floor.
&nb
sp; “What? We don’t even get a chance to work this out?” Cola questioned.
Duster hopped to Mom and sat on her feet. “I don’t want to live with Grandma!”
Mom was confused but didn’t have a chance to speak.
“You can’t just evict us! What does Daddy think of all this? You’re going to keep the curtains and make us move?” Cola was hopping in circles around the cages.
“Cola! Duster!” Mom was waving her arms to get their attention. “I am not evicting you to go live with Grandma! Where do you get these ideas?”
Duster looked at Cola.
Cola looked at Mom. “I heard you talking to Grandma!”
“What exactly did you hear?” Mom questioned. Cola gave her the rundown.
Mom tried not to laugh. “I’m giving Grandma my grey and black shirts. She bought me some new ones for my birthday that are different colours. And the new shirts are made of material that is easier to care for than the grey and black shirts.”
“Oh, well that makes sense,” Duster said.
“Then why are you taking our cages apart?” Cola thought there was still more to the story.
“So I can wash them out really well,” Mom explained.
“Oh, um, good idea …” Cola mumbled.
“Cola Bear, you need to make sure you ask questions before you assume the worst,” Mom said.
“OK, I have a question then!” Cola exclaimed.
“Alright, what is it?” Mom asked.
“Can we have a treat?” Cola was hopeful.
“Sure, you can,” Mom said and went to get the bunnies a carrot.
LITTERBOX LURKER
It was that time of day again – the daily litter box cleaning.
Cola was in her condo and Duster was outside the condo, feet straight out behind him so it looked like he was flying.
Duster sat up when he saw Mom heading to the bedding pail.
“My second favourite time of day,” he thought. It of course, came in second to bunny breakfast.
Mom picked up his litter box and swept the bottom of his cage. Then she had to scoop up Cola’s litter area (the Bear refused to use a litter box so her bedding was spread along the back wall of her cage). The litter box was rinsed out and new bedding put in.
Duster stretched and moved closer to the cages, but not too close, not yet …
“Hi, Dude,” Mom greeted the grey lop as she topped up their pellets.
“Hi, Mom!” Duster hopped closer.
Mom went to the bucket where the hay was kept and then put two big handfuls in either cage.
“Just have to get you fresh water and cages are all done for today,” Mom announced, walking away from the cages.
Cola peeked out the condo door, not really over-excited about litter box cleansing ritual.
Duster was now sitting in between the cages, trying to decide which cage to hop into.
Mom came around the corner and there was Duster - in Cola’s cage, spreading out the bedding with his front paws.
“Duster, what are you doing?” Mom asked, putting the water bowls in the cages.
Duster’s ears went out. “I’m being a good boy and using the litter box.”
“Why don’t you use your own litter box?” Mom asked, it was right next to Cola’s.
Duster shook his hea. “It’s so nice and clean.”
“Maybe Cola wants hers to stay nice and clean,” Mom pointed out.
“Don’t really care!” Cola called from inside the condo.
“Cola, not helping,” Mom replied.
Duster was busy rearranging the bedding.
From there, he hopped over and munched on Cola’s hay and then drank her water.
“Just make yourself at home,” Mom sighed.
“Okay,” Duster said and flopped over, continuing to munch on Cola’s hay.
Then Mom saw Cola leave the condo and beeline for Duster’s cage. She hopped in and began to feast on his hay. From there she backed herself into the corner next to his litter box and relieved herself. Then she hopped on out of the cage.
“Seriously?” Mom asked as she took some of the bedding and put it in the corner to soak up Cola’s efforts.
“Mom, I don’t do litter boxes … even in other bunnies’ cages,” Cola stated and cuddled down on the carpet.
She was joined a few minutes later by Duster.
And the game of musical cages was over for now.
THE IGLOO IDEA
“Mom!” Cola exclaimed. “I have found the perfect place to live.”
“You did? And where would that be?” Mom asked.
“I can show you! There is a documentary on TV about curtain free environments and how great it is to live without curtains and you just have to see it for yourself,” Cola binkied.
“I’m starting to think you two watch too much TV,” Mom said, knowing when the bunnies “watched” something it was usually a few seconds of a commercial or TV show and it often resulted in the fur on Cola’s back growing into a mohawk. The fact that Cola was binkying was a good sign.
“It’s not like regular TV, it’s a documentary,” Cola corrected.
Mom followed the black bunny into the living room. Duster was stretched out in the condo, snoozing.
“Are you comfy? Are you ready? It’ll soon be back from commercial break!” Cola was so excited.
A minute later, the show appeared. Mom had to cover her mouth with her hand to stop Cola from seeing her smile. The “documentary” was a cartoon – Penelope and Percy Penguin. Mom watched the animated penguins waddle around the igloo they apparently lived in.
“See, they don’t have any windows so they don’t have curtains either!” Cola was ecstatic.
“Yes, you are right about that,” Mom agreed.
“It’s perfect, isn’t it!” Cola said.
“Well, Bear, their house is made of snow. And that means it would be cold,” Mom pointed out.
“Duster and I have fur. You and Dad can get some more blankies or coats! Can we change it to the Real Estate channel? I want to see if there are any places available in that neighbourhood,” Cola was practically packing their belongings.
“I don’t like to drive in the snow either, Cola, and look outside their house, it’s all snow,” Mom was trying to calm Cola down.
“So you can walk to work!” Cola exclaimed.
The TV show continued and the penguins had a visitor – it was a Polar bear.
“Look! Their neighbour is a Polar bear and I am Cola Bear! It’s destiny!” Cola was dancing round the living room.
Dad was in the living room now, watching as Cola woke Duster up and started to tell him they were moving to a Winter wonderland where there were no curtains.
“Cola, it’s cold there and nanners and lettuce and all the other good greens you like won’t grow there,” Dad was trying to help.
“Um, you don’t grow those things anyways - pretty sure they have grocery stores there. Penguins have to shop too!” Cola argued.
Mom and Dad looked at each other. Dad motioned for Mom to join him in the kitchen for a minute.
“Take your time. I’ll see if I can find a page in the phone book that we haven’t shredded that has
moving trucks listed!” Cola hopped around.
Mom and Dad returned to the living room. Cola was still telling Duster what a great idea she had. Duster just wanted to go back and snooze.
“OK, Cola, Mom and I are going to go out for a few minutes. When we get back, well, you’ll have a surprise,” Dad promised.
“Alright! Have fun!” Cola was sure her surprise would be moving supplies.
A short time later …
“Where are the boxes? We need to pack!” Cola said, when she saw all that Mom and Dad had brought home was a bag containing something.
“Cola, you liked the penguins house so much we went out and bought you one!” Mom revealed.
“Really? Wow, are Penelope and Percy my neighbours?” Cola asked.
“Not exa
ctly,” Dad placed the plastic pet igloo-shaped house on the floor next to the cardboard condo.
“What’s this?’ Cola questioned.
“Your very own replica penguin house,” Mom said. “Minus the snow and cold and no windows so no curtains either.”
“But …” Cola started.
“Isn’t a curtain free environment like the penguins what you wanted?” Dad asked.
Cola nodded.
“Ta-da!” her parents pointed to the plastic igloo.
“Oh … OK … thanks,” Cola hopped inside the plastic house. “It’s great. Maybe someday Percy and Penelope will come visit.”
“Well until then, we got you these two,” Dad said and put two plastic penguins outside the doorway of the new bunny house.
“Wow, you thought of everything!’ Duster was impressed.
“Yeah we did pretty good,” Mom agreed.
Cola couldn’t argue, she did get (almost) everything she had wanted.
Mom and Dad even gave the bunnies a few treats to help them celebrate the new bunny abode.
THE MORNING MIX UP
Mom made her way out of the bedroom, still half asleep and mumbled "good morning" to Dad.
Cola and Duster exchanged looks and then did an in-sync 180 degree hop, pointing their backs to Mom, who was approaching their cages with bunny breakfast. Seeing the two older bunnies point their backs at Mom, Zoomer did the same thing.
Mom stopped, looked at the rabbits and looked at Dad, who was trying not to laugh.
"Wow, triple ignore, you must have done something really bad!" Dad couldn't help but laugh now.
Mom paused, shaking the sleep from her brain. "OK, Duster and Cola, what's the meaning of this?"
"Wow, you are still asleep - bunny butt before breakfast is never a good thing!" Cola said.
"I thought it means we aren't talking to her?" Duster said.
"Well it does," Cola agreed.
"But you just talked to her," Zoomer pointed out.
Cola rolled her eyes. "Duster and Zoomer, shhh, just follow my lead."
"Where are we going?" Zoomer was looking forward to an adventure.
"Nowhere," Cola sighed. "Just keep doing what I'm doing."
"Oh OK," Zoomer and Duster chorused.
"So you don't want bunny breakfast?" Mom asked, holding the banana so Duster and Cola could smell it. Zoomer was unfazed as he did not like bananas but preferred carrots for breakfast.
"We didn't say anything about not wanting breakfast," Cola said.
"Shhh, you're talking to her again," Zoomer whispered.
Cola scrunched up her nos. "It's alright. I am into the negotiating phase now."
"Oh, sounds important!" Zoomer agreed.
“Well Daddy says good morning to us before he says it to you,” Cola said. "And you mistakenly said good morning to him before you said good morning to us."
“That’s because I am sleeping when he gets home!” Mom exclaimed.
“But it’s the thought that counts,” Cola said.
“Yeah you should count your thoughts,” Zoomer agreed.
Mom rolled her eyes and sadly knew the only way resolve this was to ...
"Alright, alright, Dad I take back your good morning," Mom said.
"I completely understand," Dad winked at Mom.
"Good morning, Cola, Duster and Zoomer," Mom greeted.
All of a sudden three adorable bunny faces were smiling at Mom.
"Good morning!" the three rabbits chorused.
"And I guess you want breakfast now?" Mom asked.
"As if you have to ask that!" Cola sighed.
Mom and Dad gave Cola and Duster their nanner slice and Zoomer got the carrot.
What a perfect way to start the day!
THE FLEEING FABRIC
Cola was doing her bunny super sprints around the living room when she came to the patio door. She hopped on by and then back tracked.
Her eyes got wide and her jaw dropped. “No, it’s not possible.”
Cola crept closer to the patio door.
Oh but it was possible – one of Cola’s worse nightmares had come true – the curtains were escaping!
Cola stared at the piece of curtain caught in the patio door. She didn’t know how it happened but the curtains got through one of the patio doors and was working its way towards the second patio door and beyond that –the outside world and curtain freedom!
THUMP!
Cola was off like a rocket, she had to tell her parents.
Zoomer sat up in his cage as Cola raced by. Duster half rolled up to see what the chaos was.
Cola ran into the kitchen, thumped and flew back out to the living room.
“What’s taking Mom and Dad so long?” Cola wondered and started back towards the kitchen.
Zoomer noticed the fur on Cola’s back was forming into a defined mohawk.
“What’s wrong with your fur?” Zoomer asked.
Duster’s eye got big and he tried to shush Zoomer, but it was too late.
Cola stopped, mid-panic and looked at the baby bunny. “My fur? What’s wrong with my fur?”
Duster hopped in. “No, your fur is fine. Quick, keep panicking!”
Cola nodded, resumed panic mode and bee-lined it for the kitchen where her parents were.
Duster hopped over to Zoomer. “I gotta tell you a few things. One, Cola has a tendency to over-react, particularly to curtains. Two, her fur is basically her reason for living. “
Zoomer nooded. “OK, but why was her fur standing up on end like that?”
“It’s kind of like a sharks fin,” Duster said.
Zoomer looked at him blankly.
“Oh you don’t know what a shark is,” and Duster explained sharks to Zoomer. “Cola’s fur mohawk is like a sharks fin – the fin scares people sometimes and when Cola panics and gets scared or mad, her fur forms a mohawk, so I guess when we see a fur mohawk we’re supposed to be scared.”
“But because she over-reacts, the fur mohawk is actually more funny than scary?” Zoomer asked.
“Yep, you got it!” Duster said, and they watched a streak of black fur flying by again.
Cola checked to make sure the curtains were still attached to the wall and made her third attempt to get her parents to handle the emergency.
“Yes, Cola, we can save the world from the curtains,” Dad sighed, he was so used to the complaints about curtains.
Mom and Dad followed Cola into the living room. She stood back and pointed to the fabric stuck between the doors.
“See, I told you! Imagine if I hadn’t caught them trying to escape!”
“Good work, Bear,” Mom said as Dad took a hold of the curtains with one hand (so Cola knew he was making an effort to keep the curtains contained) and opened the patio door. Dad pulled the fabric free and closed the door, making sure Cola saw that all the curtains were inside the apartment.
“That was so close!” Cola shuddered.
“Yes, yes it was,” Dad smiled, remembering the curtains getting stuck in the patio door last time he and Mom had BBQ’d. They’d have to remember to check to make sure it didn’t happen again or Cola’s fur could be in a permanent mohawk.
“I guess I’ll have to increase my curtain patrols,” Cola sighed.
“Well it’ll keep you busy,” Mom said.
Cola nodded and hopped over to cuddle with Duster. Zoomer was stretched out in his cage. All the bunnies were happy that the “curtain crisis” had been averted.
THE BEAR FACTS
Cola and Duster were roaming around the living room when Cola stopped to watch what was on TV.
“I feel sorry for those wild bunnies,” Cola sighed.
Zoomer was flopped in his cage but got up at the mention of wild bunnies. He craned his little neck to see what Cola was watching.
“Cola, those aren’t bunnies,” Zoomer whispered.
Cola stared at the baby bunny. “Yes, they are. They look just like you and Duster, just a much bigger version.?
??
“So do you!” Zoomer was confused.
“No, no, I look like a black bear because, well, I am a bear. You know, my name is Cola BEAR,” Cola stated.
Duster hopped over to Zoomer’s cage. “This is one of those Cola moments I have to explain to you.”
Zoomer nodded.
“Cola, pretty sure I saw a curtain heading for the front door!” Duster exclaimed.
“Not again!” Cola sighed and hopped off in pursuit of the “escaping curtain.”
“Whew that was close,” Duster said.
“Those are bears on the TV!” Zoomer said.
“Yes, yes they are. But to Cola, real bears are bunnies and she is a black bear and it’s a long story,” Duster said.
Zoomer sat down. “I have time.”
“When Cola came to live with Mom and Dad she hated having her cage cleaned. She would grunt and growl at the little broom and try to destroy it. Mom and Dad thought her growling sounded like a bear, so they added Bear to her name. But Cola took it to a whole other level though,” Duster started.
Zoomer listened intently.
“When I came to live with our family, my former owner gave Mom and Dad a whole bunch of toys and treats for me, including a log house that I could lay in, run through or climb on. Hopper, Dusty and I had no interest in it. But Cola loved it! It became her bear cave!”
“Oh, she had bear accessories!” Zoomer said.
“Exactly! Mom and Dad put the log house in her cage and Cola hardly ever left it! She was obsessed with it! They would bring it out when she was out of her cage and she still just hung out in her cave!” Duster continued.
Cola hopped back to the Lop and Dutch bunnies. “Are you sure it went to the front door? I didn’t see it!”
“Try the bedroom, it could be trying to get out the window,” Duster suggested.
Cola’s eyes got big. “AH! Good point.” and off she went.
“Anyways, Mom and Dad had to get rid of the log house because Cola had no interest in anything but being a bear in her bear cave, she really needed to have other interests,” Duster finished.
“What did they say happened to the cave?” Zoomer wondered.
“Cave thief,” Duster said.
Cola was coming around the corner when and caught the tail end of the story.
“Can you believe someone would steal a bear’s cave?” Cola questioned. “Imagine if I had been hibernating in it?”
“That would have been terrible,” Zoomer agreed.
“Still can’t believe Mom and Dad didn’t have cave insurance,” Cola muttered. “What responsible adult doesn’t have cave insurance?”
“Did you find the curtain?” Duster asked.
“No and I am a bit concerned,“ Cola admitted.
“I bet it was Mom walking by carrying a towel - yeah that’s what it was,” Duster said.
“Whew thank goodness, too many close calls with those rogue curtains,” Cola sighed with relief.
“Cola, who brings the wild bunnies their breakfast?” Zoomer asked, playing along with the bears are wild bunnies and Cola is a black bear theme.
“Forest rangers,” Cola answered.
Duster winked at Zoomer. “You’re catching on.”
And then Duster and Zoomer listened while Cola told them all about the life of wild bears, er, bunnies.
TWO WEEKS NOTICE
“Cola Bear, I am giving you my two week’s notice,” Mom said when she finished cleaning the bunny cages.
Cola had been cuddled up with Duster under the computer desk. She sat up and hopped to where Mom
was standing. “What does that mean?”
“When people quit their jobs, they give two week’s notice …” Mom started to say.
Duster hopped u. “Are you quitting being our Mommy?”
“No, no,” Mom assured her good boy lop. “But I am quitting the litter area technicians job.”
Cola scrunched up her nose. “What does that mean?”
“It means you are going to use a litter box,” Mom said.
“HA! Been there, tried that, I didn’t, you gave up and I won!” Cola thumped back to where Duster was.
“Sorry, Bear, this is non-negotiable,” Dad was backing Mom up on this one.
Cola started to groom her fur. “You keep thinking that.”
Zoomer was giggling, Cola could have such an attitude at times.
The next day, the litter box went in Cola’s cage.
“Wow, they were serious,” Duster marveled.
“So was I,” Cola grumbled. “I don’t do litter boxes.”
Cola hopped into her cage and glared at the litter box – then she pooped next to it.
That went on for the next 13 days, with Mom or Dad putting the litter box in Cola’s cage and she pooped all around it.
On the 14th day, the litter box went back in the Bear’s cage after it was cleaned.
Mom and Dad stood back and watched as Cola hopped in her cage.
Cola looked around and hopped into the litter box!
“Good girl, Cola Bear!” Dad cheered and Mom clapped her hands.
Duster and Zoomer even congratulated the black dwarf bunny.
Cola smiled and hopped out of the litter box.
Mom and Dad looked - the box hadn’t been used! What was the Bear up to?
Cola hopped around her cage. Then she nosebonked the litter box to the middle of her cage and hopped back in it. From there she started to dig and sent the wood shavings flying every which way.
Once finished, she hopped out and pushed the litter box to the front of the cage. She spent the next few minutes pushing the wood shavings around. When she was happy with the results, she pooped in the wood shavings and hopped out of her cage.
Mom and Dad were shocked.
“You weren’t making my litter area anymore so I made it myself!” Cola said proudly.
And sure enough, when Mom and Dad looked at her cage, that was exactly what she had done.
“You can put the litter box back in there every day and I’ll just make my litter area,” Cola stated.
Duster and Zoomer couldn’t help but laugh at the looks on Mom and Dad’s faces.
Mom took the litter box out of Cola’s cage and went to clean it out before retiring it for yet another time.
Cola binkied. “Yay, I win … again!”
REVERSE PSY “COLA”GY
It was like a light bulb went on over Cola’s head.
She hopped over to Zoomer’s cage and sat there, staring at him through the bars.
But he didn’t notice her.
Cola decided to groom her feet, the way Zoomer did in front of her cage.
Again, the brown and white Dutch bunny was too preoccupied with his hay to notice Cola.
“Oh for goodness sakes …” Cola muttered, and then she called out. “Hi, Zoomer!”
Zoomer looked up and saw Cola. “Hi, Cola Bear” and went back to his hay.
Zoomer paused and looked up from the hay. He shook his head. Yes, Cola was sitting outside his cage. Cola was staring at him!
Zoomer binkied over. “Hi, Cola!”
“Oh, hi,” Cola said, nonchalantly.
Zoomer was beyond happy – Cola was visiting him!
“So, I just stopped by to tell you I can’t hang around anymore,” Cola said.
“But this is the first time you have hung around my cage,” Zoomer replied.
“Oh, well, um, yes, but I can’t ever do it again,” Cola stated.
“Why not?” Zoomer asked.
“Well it’s for the best if we keep our distance, you know how it is,” Cola sighed. “I just wanted to hop by and let you know that.”
And then Cola hopped to the other side of the room, starting her curtain patrol.
Poor Zoomer was so confused.
But then he remembered “absence makes the heart grow fonder.”
He did a huge binky. “Cola, I understand!”
Cola turned her attention from th
e curtains to Zoomer. “You do?”
“Yes! I will miss you but because I miss you I will love you even more!” Zoomer said.
Duster had been listening in on the whole conversation and burst out laughing.
Cola glared at the grey bunny and then sighed. “That’s great, Zoomer. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome, Cola,” and he went back to munching on his hay.
Cola resumed curtain patrol, Zoomer still her #1 fan and Duster flopped.
It’s nice when something’s don’t change …
FUR FOLLIES
Mom stopped in her tracks, spun around and stared at Cola.
Cola, in turn, stared back at Mom.
Mom had to get a closer look so she knelt down beside Cola’s cage.
“Well I’ll be,” Mom said.
“Getting us a treat?” Cola asked.
“Maybe later,” Mom said. “Cola, you have a little streak of white fur on your nose!”
“No, I don’t,” Cola replied.
“Trust me, you do,” Mom said.
“Trust the person that took me to the vet so my fur could be stolen? Not happening,” Cola said and turned to face the opposite way.
That didn’t deter Mom any. Mom moved so she could see Cola’s nose.
“Don’t you have something else to do other than harass my fur?” Cola sighed.
“Not right now,” Mom admitted, she reached through the bars and gently moved the little bit of white fur around. “So cute.”
Cola scrunched up her nose. “It’s not cute. I’m a bear so this alleged white fur would be fierce, like me.”
Mom laughed. “OK, whatever works.”
Cola looked at her reflection in her water bowl. “Mom, it’s not white.”
Mom waited for the next part.
“That fur in question is grey. My fur is black and grey is an off-shade of black. So it can’t be white fur. I’m a black bear not a polar bear, they have white fur,” Cola said matter-of-factly.
“Cola, it’s your fur so you can believe whatever you want to,” Mom assured the bunny.
Cola’s ears twitched. “Duster is a grey bunny and Zoomer has white fur. Who does my rogue GREY fur most look like?”
Mom smiled. “In this case, Zoomer’s white fur!”
Zoomer binkied. “Cola has fur like mine! We are so meant to be.”
Cola shook her head. “Mom is wrong, my fur is grey. A black bear cannot have white fur.”
“Why not?” Zoomer asked.
“Because I said so,” Cola replied.
“Oh OK,” Zoomer said, that made sense to him, even though he knew Cola was a bunny and not a bear. He didn’t want to burst the bubble of the girl-bun he loves so much.
Dad was listening to Cola’s rationalization of her fur and came into the living room. He winked at Mom.
“Hey, Cola, that’s a really pretty streak of white fur on your nose,” Dad said. “Very fierce looking.”
Mom (as usual) was trying not to smirk as Cola is a total Daddy’s diva.
“Thank you! Yes, I do have white fur on my nose, Daddy! I think it’s almost my new favourite fur!” Cola periscoped to show off her newly found fur features.
“Mommy, I have grey fur and I know it!” Duster exclaimed.
Now Mom had to laugh. “Yes, you definitely do,” and gave him noserubs.
Zoomer binkied. “I have fur that needs a treat!”
Mom and Dad noticed how somehow treats always get added into the conversation. But knowing they had such wonderful bunnies, they were OK with that.
Zoomer, Cola, Duster (and their fur) all got a treat.
THE COLA COMPLEX
Cola stared at Zoomer. “He has to be doing this on purpose.”
The baby Dutch bunny had been out of his cage and binkying around for nearly two hours and not hopped by her cage at all.
“He’s doing it on purpose, right?” Cola asked Duster.
The grey lop flopped in his cage. “I thought you preferred when Zoomer didn’t loiter outside your cage.”
Cola scrunched up her nose. “Well he could at least say hello.”
Duster couldn’t help but laugh, Cola sometimes needed to be the centre of attention, even when she didn’t want the attention.
Zoomer was doing bunny super sprints around the couch when Cola went “pssst” at him. The baby bunny stopped and looked at Cola, but didn’t say anything.
“Well?” Cola broke the silence.
Zoomer continued to look at her.
“You can at least say hello!” Cola grumbled.
“Hi, Cola,” Zoomer said.
“The usual spot where you sit outside my cage is cold,” Cola said,
“Maybe Mom and Dad can turn up the heat,” Zoomer suggested.
“No, I mean you haven’t sat there today like you always do,” Cola replied.
Zoomer looked confused.
“You know, you sit there, on the carpet and stare at me, for a long time, everyday,” Cola said.
“I do?” Zoomer questioned.
Cola scrunched up her nose. “Yeah, I ignore you, remember?”
“Um, OK, I think I could find something more productive to do with my time than sit there and stare at you,” Zoomer said. “Especially if you ignore me. That’s pretty rude if I hop by to say hello and you ignore me.”
“Zoomer, you wore out the carpet where you sit!” Cola exclaimed.
“OK, Cola,” Zoomer sighed. “I have some more binkies to do.”
And off hopped Zoomer.
Cola stared at Duster. “He doesn’t believe me? I don’t get it.”
Cola thumped as Zoomer sped by. He stopped and looked at her.
“Do you have amnesia?” Cola asked.
“I don’t know what that is,” Zoomer confessed.
“Did you forget everything you know? How can you forget me – Cola Bear? You’re basically my number one fan,” Cola’s fur was getting bent out of shape.
“Cola Bear?” Zoomer repeated.
“Yes!” Cola hopped closer to where Zoomer sat near her cage.
“But you’re a bunny, not a bear,” Zoomer said.
Cola’s fur was pretty much standing on end now. “We’ve had that talk before. I’ll let it slide this time. Come on, you have to remember me!”
“What’s wrong with your fur? It’s all spikey,” Zoomer was backing away from Cola’s cage, afraid to get jabbed by her fur.
“Yes, my fur! I love my fur, you sang a song about my fur, the vet stole my fur!” Cola hopped in circles in her cage.
Duster had sat up and was now staring at Cola too.
“Wow, never seen her fur do that before,” Duster commented.
Zoomer was backing away from Cola’s cage. “Um, I have to go talk to Mom and Dad. I’ll be right back.”
And Zoomer quickly went to find his parents.
“And she thinks I loiter outside her cage and stare at her and she thinks she’s a bear and that a vet stole her fur - that poor bunny has a complex,” Zoomer said to his parents.
Mom and Dad nodded. “Yeah we call it The Cola Complex.”
“Oh … “ Zoomer said.
“Just go along with whatever she says,” Mom said.
“Yeah, she eventually calms down and everyone is happy again. Sometimes she just needs to be the centre of attention,” Dad said.
“I heard that!” Cola thumped.
. . .
Cola’s thumping woke Zoomer up. "You're a growler just like Mom!"
Zoomer looked around. “A growler? What's that?"
"You were snoring!" Cola exclaimed. "Really, really loud."
"Whew, that was a dream!" Zoomer sighed with relief.
He hopped over to Cola’s cage, sat on his favourite well-worn area of the carpet and proceeded to tell Cola all about his dream.
“Yeah and I forgot you! Can you imagine that? I’d never forget Cola Bear or not hop by to say hello and spend time with you.” Zoomer assured Cola he was still her number one f
an.
Cola sighed. “Yeah, that’s quite a dream …”
“More like a nightmare!” Zoomer exclaimed. “Good thing we never have to worry about that actually happening!!”
And Zoomer was off to binky around the apartment, stopping by Cola’s cage every few minutes to make up for the time he lost in his dream.
TREAT TALK
“Shameful,” Cola's voice floated from her cage.
Mom looked around, she was the only one in the room with the buns.
“How do you live with yourself?” Cola asked.
“What?” Mom was baffled.
“Well, look at what you're doing!” Cola accused.
Mom was standing in the middle of the room. She had been walking towards the couch when Cola's voice stopped her in her tracks.
“Are you not conscious?” Cola shook her head.
“Uh, I think I'm awake ...” Mom said.
Dad entered the room.
“What's up?” Dad asked.
“Cola asked me if I am conscious?” Mom said.
Now Dad was confused too.
“Well look at what she's done!” Cola said. “Taking the food out of the mouth of a baby bunny.”
“Oh I think you mean does she not have a conscience,” Dad said.
“Hmph, she obviously doesn't,” Cola replied.
Mom looked at the plate of carrots in her hand.
“I took them from the fridge not from Zoomer's mouth,” she stated.
Zoomer opened his mouth,. See? All empty- no food for the baby bunny now.”
“Aw, that's sad,” Duster sniffled.
“OK three on one is not fair,” Mom muttered.
Cola looked at Dad. “Has she ever taken your food?”
Mom looked at Dad.
“Well there was that time you ate the last piece of cake,” Dad whispered.
“I asked you if you wanted some and you said no,” Mom defended herself.
“Well, you know, you could have just left me a little bit. It was the last piece after all ...” Dad said.
A chorus of “tsk, tsk” came from where the rabbits were.
“I'm sure that breaks some law somewhere,” Cola said.
Zoomer yawned, making sure everyone saw his empty mouth. “See, still no food for the baby bunny.”
“You have hay and pellets,” Mom said.
“Yeah, but we want other food,” Zoomer said, now giving Mom a “I am the cutest baby bunny ever” look.
Mom looked at her carrots. “OK, so all of this drama was because you wanted some of my carrots?”
Three bunnies nodded.
“Then why not just ask?” Mom was exasperated.
Cola rolled her eyes. “It wouldn't have been much of a blog if we just asked for the treats! There had to be something leading up to the treats ... there always is!”
Mom sighed and shared her carrots. “And in the end you always do get your treats.”
CAN COLA FORGET THE VET?
Cola sniffed the air.
“I know that smell,” the black bunny said.
Duster looked at Cola. “What smell? I don’t smell anything.”
Cola frowned. “How can you not smell that? It’s the smell of pure evil.”
Duster’s eyes grew big.
Cola periscoped. She had to find out where the smell was coming from.
She looked over at Zoomer’s cage. The baby bunny was stretched out, resting.
“Oh no! It’s coming from Zoomer’s cage …” Cola sighed.
Duster was skeptical. “You’re saying that a baby bunny is pure evil?”
Zoomer raised his head, looking at Cola, no idea what they were talking about.
“No, baby bunny isn’t evil. But he has been where there is pure evil,” Cola sounded ominous.
Duster sighed. “Let’s get over this pure evil topic, what are you talking about, Cola?”
Cola was past frustrated with the grey lop. “He was at the VET! The VET! The taker of fur.”
Duster looked at Zoomer.
Zoomer sat up. “Do you mean the bunny sitter?”
Cola rolled her eyes. “Is that what they told you?”
“Mom and Dad said I had to go to the bunny sitter for the day. You know, they did say he was a vet,” Zoomer added. “Is that a bad thing?”
“Vets are always on the lookout for new bunny fur,” Cola said.
“But they were so nice. I got to take nap and when I woke up, the lady that works there gave me some lettuce from her salad!” Zoomer exclaimed.
“Wow, that was nice,” Duster agreed.
“And they said I am a really cute bunny!” Zoomer said enthusiastically.
“Of course they did! Anything to get your fur!” Cola was hopping back and forth in her cage now.
“But I still have fur …” Zoomer was confused.
“When I went to the vet, I took a nap too and when I woke up, my belly fur was gone! They had to knock me out because they knew I wouldn’t let them just take my fur,” Cola stated.
Zoomer and Duster sighed. They knew there was no talking to Cola once she got on the vet taking her fur topic.
Mom came around the corner a few minutes later. “Hi, bunnies. Zoomer, guess who called to check on you?”
“Who? Who?” Zoomer was curious.
“The nice lady from the vet’s office. I told her you’re doing great after your neuter,” Mom said.
Zoomer binkied but Cola’s eyes almost popped out of her head. “The vet has our phone number?”
“Yes,” Mom said.
“They probably have our address too,” Duster added, not helping Cola’s anxiety any.
“Yay, maybe they’ll send us bunmail! Or lettuce!” Zoomer said happily.
Cola was not so enthusiastic. “Oh this is great, just great. A vet has our phone number and address. Might as well just tell me that curtain farming is making a comeback … yeah, that would just be perfect …”
Mom, Duster and Zoomer listened to Cola’s rant and watched her pace. When she finally seemed to be rational again, Mom assured her the vet wouldn’t be coming to visit anytime soon.
“Promise?” Cola interrogated Mom.
“I promise on your fur that no vet will be coming to visit or try to take your fur, or any bunnies fur that lives here,” Mom said sincerely.
“Now my fur and I have to recover from this trauma,” Cola over-exaggerated her sigh.
Mom’s turn to roll her eyes. “Let me guess, a treat will make it all better?”
“Yes, a treat will make me forget the vet…for now,” Cola said.
Poor Zoomer. “But I was the one that went to the vet!”
“I’ve been to the vet too,” Duster added.
“Right, treats for all the bunnies!” and Mom headed off to get the treats.
MIXED UP MESSAGES
“Mom, you lied!” Cola thumped.
“I did? About what?” Mom asked.
“You said the vet wouldn’t call here,” Cola grumbled. “And they did!”
Mom tried not to smile. “Oh the vet called. And did you talk to the vet?”
“Please! As if! They left a message on that machine you have,” Cola rolled her eyes.
Mom listened to the message. “They were calling to see how Zoomer is doing after his neuter. That’s pretty nice of them.”
“Sure that’s what they want you to hear and believe,” Cola muttered.
Mom played the message again. “Hi, this is the vet’s office, just calling to see how Zoomer is doing?”
“What do you hear, Cola?”
Cola sighed dramatically. “Um, we’re on our way to get Cola’s fur.”
“Well, they left that message about half an hour ago so they should be here any minute,” Mom said, playing along with Cola’s interpretation.
Cola’s eyes were the size of saucers. “You mean the vet is really coming here?”
“That’s what you heard isn’t it?” Mom asked, looking around the apartment.
>
“Uh, of course,” Cola said. “What are you looking for?”
“Something for the vet to put your fur in. If they’re coming this far, the least I can do is give them something to carry your fur in,” Mom replied.
Cola scrunched up her nose, but said nothing.
Then the phone rang.
“OK, great, see you in a few minutes,” Mom said and hung up.
Cola went on high alert. Someone was coming? Maybe the vet really was on the way!
Mom was keeping busy looking for the fur-carrier, when Cola heard footsteps approaching and then the front door opened.
“The vet has a key to our apartment!” Cola thumped and headed for the closest thing she could hide behind.
Zoomer and Duster turned to look at the door … in walked … DADDY!
He was home early today.
“Yay, Daddy’s home!’ Zoomer cheered.
“It’s not the vet?” Cola peeked from behind the couch.
Dad looked at Mom. Mom explained how Cola had her own interpretation of the message the vet left checking on Zoomer.
Dad couldn’t help but laugh.
Cola hopped out from behind the couch. “Then who were you talking to on the phone?”
“That was Dad, saying he was going to be home early,” Mom replied.
“Why didn’t you tell me it wasn’t the vet?” Cola asked.
“After all the drama about the phone message, would you have believed me?” Mom questioned.
Cola did her now familiar nose-scrunch. “Probably not.”
“That’s OK, Cola, we still love you,” Dad assured the Bear.
“Well, since you’re home early, that means we get treats early,” and Cola sat at the treat line.
Mom and Dad laughed, of course that’s what it meant! And treats the three bunnies got.
FLYING FUR
“Cola Bear! Hold still!” Mom exclaimed.
“No way!” and Cola scooted around Mom’s feet.
“Cola, I’m trying to help you,” Mom said.
“Oh yeah, yanking fur off my body really helps me,” Cola scooted in the other direction.
“Cola, you’re shedding. It’s falling off anyways!” Mom sighed.
“Till the fur hits the floor it’s mine,” Cola declared.
“You aren’t up to your Diva standards with your fur all scraggly like that,” Mom said.
“Good try, lady. Insult the fur all you want, it’s still mine!” Cola called out from the cardboard condo she had found refuge in.
“How about if I give you a treat if you let me brush you?” Mom tried to bargain.
“You want to trade a treat for my fur?” Cola scoffed.
“Guess that means no,” Mom muttered and walked away from the condo.
Cola waited a few minutes and peeked out. No Mom in sight so out she hopped. In the process of doing so a loose piece of fur fell from her back.
Mom’s eyes honed in on the fur at pretty much the same time Cola realized it had fallen off.
The free fur floated and finally fell, landing on a towel that now served as a bunny blanket.
“NO!” Cola thumped. “That’s my fur.”
Mom reached for it and Cola hopped in front of her.
“Uh huh, you said till the fur hits the floor it’s yours, this fur is on the floor,” Mom said.
Duster and Zoomer had been watching the antics.
“Actually it’s in neutral territory,” Duster said.
Mom and Cola turned to look at the lop.
“It’s on a towel so it’s not really on the floor,” Duster shrugged.
“Good one,” Zoomer whispered.
“Oh thanks,” Duster said to the Dutch bunny.
“Ha! Not on the floor so it’s still mine,” Cola said.
“Not really,” Mom argued. “It fell off you, it chose to leave you.”
Cola was not impressed. “My fur would never leave me by choice! This silly shedding made it fall off. My fur loves me as much as I love it. My fur would leave me about as fast as I would leave it.”
“That would be fur abandonment,” Zoomer called out.
“That’s a very good point as well,” Duster said.
Mom and Cola continued the verbal volley about if the fur still belonged to Cola and what would be done with it when it was claimed. Dad had been out on the patio and opened the balcony door to come back inside. When the door opened, a nice breeze entered the room.
While Mom and Cola discussed the fur, the breeze made its’ way to the towel and gathered up the fur.
The fur hitched a ride on the breeze and floated towards the patio door that Dad was slowly closing.
“Bye, bye,” Zoomer called out.
Mom and Cola turned to look at the baby bunny.
“Who are you saying bye to? Dad just came in.” Mom asked.
“Cola’s fur,” Zoomer replied.
Mom and Cola turned to see the fur gently fly out the door and off into the wild blue yonder.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Cola muttered.
“The fur escaped,” Mom mused.
“Oh, my poor fur,” Cola sighed.
“No worries,” Mom said and winked at Dad, Duster and Zoomer. “You still have lots of it to shed.”
Cola scrunched up her nose. “Great here we go again.”
“No, Cola. I give up on trying to brush you,” Mom stated.
“Well it’s about time,” Cola said.
Dad appeared from the kitchen with a treat for each of the bunnies. “This should help you deal with your fur flying away.”
“I have a lot of shedding to do,” Cola sighed. “Better keep those treats handy.”
As always, Mom and Dad had to laugh at Cola’s candid comments.
COLA HAS THE ANSWER
Zoomer hopped slowly up to Mom and Dad. “We have to talk.”
“Alright, what do we need to discuss?” Dad asked.
Zoomer took a deep breath and blurted out. “I know you’re not my biological bunny parents.”
Mom and Dad looked at each other.
“Did you know that?” Zoomer asked.
Mom and Dad nodded.
“Are you okay with that?” Mom asked.
“Oh sure, you two are great parents!” Zoomer said. “I just wanted to make sure you knew too.”
Mom and Dad smiled.
“So how did you figure it out?” Dad asked.
“Your feet,” Zoomer replied.
“Our feet?” Mom and Dad chorused.
“Yeah, our feet look nothing alike. Mine are cute and furry and adorable. Uh, yours, not so much,” Zoomer was a very honest baby bunny.
Mom laughed. “Do you have any other questions for us about how you joined our family?”
“No, we’re good,” Zoomer said and hopped back to the cardboard condo.
However a moment later he returned with a question all parents dread.
“I do have a question,” Zoomer said. “Where do baby bunnies come from?”
Mom and Dad looked at each other, not sure how to reply and then Cola called out. “I got this one. I can explain it.”
“Um, maybe you’re not the best one for that…” Mom said.
Cola was known for her creative answers and Mom and Dad didn’t want Zoomer to have to undergo therapy after listening to how Cola may explain it.
“No, really, I know the answer!” Cola exclaimed.
Zoomer was on his way to her cage. “Really? Where do baby bunnies come from?”
“Isn’t it obvious? The same place you and I came from,” Cola said.
Zoomer didn’t know the answer and Mom and Dad cringed, preparing for the worse.
“Baby bunnies come from The Humane Society,” Cola said.
Mom and Dad both breathed a sigh of relief when they heard her answer.
“Yeah, we are at the Humane Society and we get to interview the parents we want to adopt,” Cola stated.
“Oh so that’s how you met Mom and Da
d?” Zoomer asked.
“Well, I chose Dad,” Cola said.
“And Mom,” Zoomer added.
“It was a package deal - if I wanted Dad, Mom came with him,” Cola sighed.
Mom rolled her eyes. “Yep, she’s still a Daddy’s bunny.”
Duster was napping and missed the whole conversation.
“Wow that’s pretty neat,” Zoomer said.
“So are treats,” Cola stated. “And I think I deserve one for explaining that to you.”
Dad agreed, “Yeah, you did good. Treats for everybun!”
“Treats?” Duster woke up at the mention of the word.
Mom and Dad laughed as the bunnies munched happily on their Romaine.
SCRAPBOOKING SUCCESS
Mom had her scrapbooking supplies laid out on a table in the living room. Zoomer was out hopping around and had to see what she was doing.
Zoomer periscoped. “Can I help?”
Mom shook her head. “I think it is better if you watch Mommy do this.”
Zoomer thumped. “But I want to help.”
He jumped up on the couch beside Mom. “What are we doing?”
Mom then explained she was working on finishing her scrapbook of the bunnies and that she was putting Zoomer’s pictures in now.
“Oh, pictures of me. Then I can help for sure cause they are my pictures!’ Zoomer binkied.
Mom sighed, pretty much knowing she wouldn’t get very far with trying to argue with the baby bunny.
Zoomer leaned over and started to chew on the edges of a page Mom hadn’t put anything on yet, “There, all done.”
“Not quite,” Mom said and reached for an unchewed page.
“Not that page,” Zoomer tried to push the unchewed page away. “Use the one I decorated.”
“I don’t want the page chewed right now, Zoomer,” Mom replied.
“But I do. You’re doing it wrong!” and a thump followed.
“How about if I give you that page and you can do your own scrapbook project?” Mom asked.
Zoomer binkied. “Really? I show you how it’s done!”
Mom laughed and put the paper on the floor. “You let me know what you need.”
Zoomer hopped around the page, chewing here and there.
“I need a picture, please.”
Mom gave Zoomer a picture she had a double of. He pushed it around on the page. “That’s perfect. OK make it stay.”
Mom put some glue dots on the back of the picture, flipped it over and put it where Zoomer showed her. He then thumped on the picture a few times to make sure it didn’t move.
Zoomer then hopped back up on the couch to see what Mom had done with her page. “What are those?”
“Stickers. They make the page look nice,” Mom kept her explanation pretty basic.
“Then I need some of those, please!” Zoomer hopped back to his page.
“You show me where to put them,” Mom said.
“No I want to do that myself,” Zoomer said.
“Are you sure? They can be tricky with being so sticky,” Mom asked.
Zoomer insisted he could do it. Mom took ten stickers off a page and put them on the floor beside Zoomer’s page, sticky side u. “Let me know if you need help.”
“I will,” Zoomer assured Mom.
Zoomer looked at the stickers, deciding where to put them. When he had made his decision, he figured the best way to put them on the page was with his nose. A second later, one sticker was on his nose. When he went to put it on the page, well, it just wouldn’t come off his nose. Zoomer rubbed his nose with his paw. The sticker transferred to his left paw. He still couldn’t get it to go on the page so he picked up another with his nose. This one wouldn’t go on the page either. He rubbed his right ear with his paws, transferring one sticker to his ear and then the second sticker to his paw. Within a matter of minutes, he had stickers on all four paws, his two ears his nose and on his tail.
“I think I needs help,” he whispered.
Mom looked at the well decorated bunny, she could only guess how he had gotten the stickers everywhere but the page.
“No worries. I’m very proud of you for trying to do that on your own,” Mom said, gently plucking the stickers from his fur. They were still useable so Zoomer told her where to put them on the page.
Zoomer looked at his page. “It still needs something. I know.”
He hopped away and came back with some hay. “In case my picture gets hungry.”
Mom tucked some of the hay behind the picture to hold it in place.
Zoomer hopped back to again check out his work, feeling it was still needing something more.
Meanwhile, Mom went back to working on her pages.
Zoomer finally decided what it needed and he hopped onto the paper.
Mom looked up just in time to see him poop on the page. “What are you doing?”
“Making it more real!” Zoomer said and hopped off the paper.
Mom laughed. “Well I guess you can’t get more real than that…”
Zoomer binkied. “Scrapbooking is fun. I’m all done now but can we do this again?”
Mom smiled. “Of course we can.”
“OK, I have to tell Cola and Duster all about this,” and off Zoomer hopped, leaving Mom to clean up his masterpiece.
TO TRICK A BEAR
Cola yawned and stretched. She wasn’t exactly a morning bunny. She blinked a few times to make sure she was seeing correctly. Mom was measuring Duster’s cage and then she moved onto Zoomer’s.
“What’s up?” Cola asked.
Zoomer was so excited. “Mom is measuring our cages for the customized curtains we are getting!”
“Huh?” Cola shook her head.
“Mom said you and I can have matching curtains!” Zoomer binkied.
“Um, no, no to matching curtains or any curtains on this cage,” Cola said.
“Your cage gets measured next. This is so exciting,” Duster had joined in.
“No, I don’t think so,” Cola insisted.
“No worries, Bear. We’ll get you curtains worthy of well, a bear,” Mom said and gave Dad the measurements to write down for Zoomer’s cage.
“What’s wrong with everyone? Curtains are evil!” Cola thumped.
“Curtains are our friends,” Mom, Dad, Zoomer and Duster said in unison.
“What the heck is going on?” Cola was beyond baffled.
“Last night, the Curtain Commander came on the TV and told everyone that curtains are now in charge,” Zoomer said.
“In charge of what?” Cola demanded to know.
“Everything,” Duster said.
Cola was getting mad now. “Let me out of here and I’ll talk to the Curtain Commander!”
Dad shook his head. “Cola, until you agree that curtains are in charge, you have to stay in your cage.”
“They were worried you wouldn’t agree,” Mom sighed.
“Agree to what?” Cola snapped.
Again in unison, Mom, Dad, Zoomer and Duster. “Curtains are our friends.”
“No they aren’t!” Cola insisted.
“It’s too late,” Zoomer whispered. “Look around the apartment.”
For the first time since she woke up, Cola saw that there were curtains hanging everywhere. “What the heck!”
Cola started to pull on her cage bars, determined to get out.
Mom started to measure Cola’s cage and read off numbers to Dad.
“Stop that! You aren’t putting curtains on my cage,” Cola thumped.
“Cola, what day is it?” Dad asked.
“The last day of curtains on this planet!”Cola growled.
“No, what is that calendar date?” Duster asked.
“April 1st,” Cola was still pulling on her cage.
“Gotcha!” everyone chorused.
“April Fool’s Day,” Mom said, and put her measuring tape down.
Cola stared at everyone. Then she shook her head. "Uh huh, joke's on you."
"What do you mean?" Dad asked.
"I get two treats now for bunny breakfast since you pulled that trick on me!" Cola declared.
Mom set about removing the extra curtains (aka towels and bedsheets) while Dad got the bunnies their breakfast!
THE COMMERCIAL THAT CAUSED CHAOS
Mom was in the bedroom when she heard the familiar “AHHH!”
Mom prepared herself for the blur of black fur that would soon be circling her feet.
“Three, two ...” Mom counted and just as she reached “one” Cola flew into the bedroom.
“Mom!” she yelped.
“Bear, relax, what's up?” Mom asked.
“I was watching TV...” Cola began, Mom readied herself as she knew this was never a good thing with Cola. “And I saw a commercial for the vet.”
“OK,” Mom said, knowing Cola's distaste for anything to do with vets.
“And then a minute later a commercial came on for another vet!” Cola exclaimed.
Mom waited.
“Mom, there are two vets in the world!” Cola freaked. “There's not enough room for that much evil in the same world as Cola Bear!”
Mom stopped folding laundry and sat down on the bed. “Cola, I'm sorry to have to tell you this but there are more than two vets in the whole world.”
“There's three vets?” Cola was devastated.
“More than that, I'm afraid,” Mom sighed.
“What? Is there a vet factory or school?” Cola muttered.
“Actually yes, there are schools for vets and for vet assistants,” Mom cringed.
“Do the police know this? That has to be illegal,” Cola thumped.
Mom was trying not to smile. “Well the students pay to go to school to learn how to be vets and vet assistants.”
“What is wrong with them?” Cola was getting mad now.
“I know, and everyone else knows, how much you dislike the vet, but they are needed in this world,” Mom said.
“Ya, ya so are curtains, I've heard that before,” Cola muttered.
Mom reached down and petted the Bear. “I'll go change the channel so you don't have to see those commercials again.”
“And you owe me a treat,” Cola said, hopping behind Mom as she went to the living room.
“I do?” Mom asked.
“You knew about the vet factories and didn't tell me!” Cola said.
“Schools, Cola, vet schools,” Mom corrected, hiding her smile.
“Whatever. My fur is so stressed that my mohawk won't even appear. I think I need double treats at least,” Cola stated.
Mom changed the channel and then went to get the Bear and Zoomer and Duster the usual treats.
A COLA CRISIS?
“Oh no, this is terrible,” Cola said, really loud so Mom and Dad could hear her from the kitchen.
Cola waited, Mom and Dad didn't come to the living room.
“OH NO, this is horrible!” Cola said, even louder.
Still no response.
The black bunny finally appeared at the line where the carpet and kitchen tiles meet. “Hi, Parents! I am having a Cola crisis and you may want to come and see what is going on.”
Mom and Dad looked at each other and followed Cola into the living room. And then they waited for an explanation.
“Isn't this just devastating?” Cola sighed.
“What are we looking for?” Mom finally asked.
Cola rolled her eyes and nodded at Duster. “My bunny fell over.”
Duster was flopped over is his napping position.
“Cola, he flopped, like he does every day at this time. It's one o'clock. It's his nap time,” Dad said.
Cola thumped. “No, he fell over due to lack of treats.”
Mom and Dad grinned at each other.
“So how are you going to fix this?” Cola asked.
“I think we'll just let him enjoy his nap,” Mom replied.
Cola was getting annoyed. “I hope this doesn't become an epidemic. We don't want more bunnies just falling over due to lack of treats.”
Almost as if on cue, Zoomer flopped.
Cola shook her head. “Oh no, now my other bunny fell over.”
“He's so cute when he flops,” Mom said, peeking into the baby bunny's cage.
“Thanks, Mom,” Zoomer whispered.
Dad laughed. “Guess he just needs a nap too.”
“No, we, I mean, they need treats. Right away!” Cola insisted.
“I think we should all take a nap!” Mom said.
“After we get treats, right?” Cola was periscoping.
“Please?” Zoomer whispered.
“You need to say please,” Duster whispered, agreeing with Zoomer.
“Shhh!” Cola said to her two bunnies.
“Aw, it's OK, Cola, we know you were trying to trick us to get a treat,” Mom said.
Cola tried to look offende. “Me? Play a trick to get a treat? I would never do that,” Mom and Dad were staring at her,. “On my own. I have to give my bunnies some credit.”
“You get points for originality,” Mom said.
“And that earns every bunny a treat,” Dad was already on his way back from the fridge with the Romaine lettuce.
Zoomer munched happily. “That was fun. What can we try next?”
Cola winked at Duster and Zoomer. “No worries. This Bear has lots of ideas!”
CAUGHT ON TAPE
Cola hopped into the bedroom where Mom was relaxing reading a book.
“Mom, we need to talk. Bunny to bunny Mom,” Cola declared, trying to nosebonk the door closed.
“Want me to get that?” Mom asked Bear.
“Yes, please. I don't want Duster and Zoomer or Daddy to hear this,” Cola said and hopped onto the bed while Mom closed the door.
Mom sat back down beside Cola.
“I need your help with a situation,” Cola said.
Mom listened.
“Let's say, for the sake of this talk, I saw a package on a shelf that maybe you had put there and I was curious and wanted to investigate,” Cola started.
“OK,” Mom said.
“And let's say I managed to get onto that shelf and did some very good bunstruction to said package,” Cola said.
Mom smiled. She knew Cola was talking about the almost empty bag of bunny bedding she had taped closed. Of course, Bear had to know what it was!
“So you need me to help you clean up the mess you made when you did your bunstruction?” Mom asked.
“No, there's more to this story,” Cola sighed.
Mom waited.
“In the process of my work, I ran into a little issue,” Cola admitted. “I got some of the tape stuck to my fur.”
But Mom couldn't see any tape, and it was green, she should have seen it.
Cola sighed and turned her back to Mom. “It's stuck on my tail and I can't reach it to get it myself.”
Mom looked, there was the smallest piece just barely holding onto some fur. She reached to remove it.
Cola spun back around. “No! You can't just tear it off.”
“So what are we going to do?” Mom asked.
“We'll discuss the procedure and then you can extract the tape. We need to minimize the loss of fur,” Cola said.
Mom smiled. “Turn around and I'll very gently remove the tape.”
“Don't you need some tools or equipment? This is a procedure,” Cola asked.
“Sure,” Mom said. “I'll be right back.”
Mom went to the kitchen, saw the curious look Dad gave her so she mouthed “Cola, fur” and Dad understood it was a mini Cola crisis.
Mom reappeared with a dish towel wrapped around her face like a surgical mask, wearing winter mittens and with tweezers.
“Perfect!” Cola hopped so Mom could see her tail.
And Mom gently removed the tape.
“OK, ready, anytime,” Cola cringed.
“Cola, I'm done,” Mom said and removing her mittens and towel and showed Cola the piece of
tape held in the tweezers.
Cola binkied. “Wow and no fur loss at all! That's a talent, Mom. Thanks.”
“You're welcome, Bear,” Mom said.
Cola looked at Mom. “Ya know, you're a pretty good bunny Mom.”
“Well thank you, Bear,” Mom smiled.
“But I didn't say that if anyone asks. I have a Diva image to uphold,” Bear added quickly.
“It'll be our secret,” Mom assured the Bear and opened the door so Cola could return to her bunstruction.
Mom followed Cola out of the room.
“All is good?” Dad whispered.
Mom looked at Cola who was recruiting Duster to stand at the treat line with her for the afternoon round of treats. “Yes, all is good.”
“A treat would be really good right about now!” Cola called out.
All Mom and Dad could do was smile at each other and of course, get the bunnies their treats.
CATALOGUE CONSPIRACY
Mom left the book she had been looking at unattended and went into the kitchen.
Cola had to investigate.
“I need to be in the know,” she told Duster and hopped onto the couch.
Duster flopped, waiting to see what Cola would find, or more like interpret and twist all around and cause a Cola crisis.
Cola looked at the pages. They were pretty shiny. She managed to move a page with her nose. There were only pictures, no words. The photos were of some large animals Cola had never seen before. Cola flipped another page.
“What?” she blinked her eyes.
There was a picture of Mom, with a really big animal!
“Oh no,” Cola quickly hopped off the couch and back to Duster. “Mom is shopping for some new pets! I found her catalogue and there's even a picture of her with a really big animal in there! Imagine all the treats it will eat!”
Duster yawned. “Maybe you should just ask Mom about it.”
“Yeah, Duster is smart,” Zoomer agreed from his cage.
Cola thumped. “Um, no, that's too easy. Then she'll know that I know what's going on!”
Mom came back into the living room and returned to her book.
Cola hopped up to join her,. Hi, Mom. Oh what do we have here?”
Mom had noticed the book was on a different page when she got back and just assumed Cola had been investigating.
“Just some pictures.” Mom replied.
“Well I know that,” Cola scoffed. “I mean, what are the pictures for? What are these huge animals?”
“Those are horses and cows,” Mom said.
“Wow, they sure are big, really big,” Cola observed.
“Yep,” Mom said, waiting for the crisis to start.
“Bet they need a lot of room to live in,” Cola said.
“Yes, they sure do,” Mom agreed.
“Our apartment is definitely too small for those pets,” Cola said, trying to keep her eyes on the pictures.
Mom smiled. “Oh definitely, they couldn't live here.”
“Good to know. I bet they eat a lot too. What exactly do they eat?” Cola wondered.
“Hay, just like you bunnies do,” Mom replied.
“I'm not sharing my hay! I mean, really - hay, you say?” Cola was trying to remain calm. “And I bet they need really big litter boxes. You wouldn't want to have to clean those huge litter boxes every day.”
“Hmm, I did a few times in the past,” she looked at Cola.
“I knew it! You are looking at this catalogue to get more pets!” Cola thumped, unable to contain herself anymore.
Mom smiled. “Cola, this is a photo album. The horses and cows are the ones that Mommy's grandparents had on their farm when Mommy was young. I'm pretty sure you saw the picture of me with the horses.”
“So they aren't coming to live with us and we won't have to share our hay or treats?” Cola asked.
“Nope, no need to worry. I was just looking at some old pictures,” Mom said as she flattened the mohawk that had started to appear on Cola's back.
“Well, Duster was so worried about it and I told him he was just hopping to conclusions again,” Cola said.
Duster had sat up and stared at Cola, Mom winked at him and he flopped over again. Zoomer just shook his head and kept munching on his hay.
“Tell me more about these horses and cows,” Cola settled in beside Mom.
Mom smiled and started to show Cola more pictures and tell her all about the other wonderful animals that had been a part of her life before the bunnies.
CRAFTS WITH COLA
Mom watched as Cola managed to open the bottom dresser drawer. She hopped in and started to go through Mom's socks. Apparently finding the appropriate black sock among all of Mom's black socks, Cola hopped out of the drawer, taking the sock with her.
Cola hopped past Mom and disappeared behind the couch.
Mom walked back out to the living room and sat down to resume reading her book. A few minutes later she sat the book down to go to the kitchen. Cola peeked around the corner of the couch, made sure Mom was gone and quickly grabbed the bookmark.
Mom came back in the living room and noticed the bookmark missing. Before she could put much thought into it, she saw Cola heading back to the bedroom. Mom had to follow.
This time, Cola hopped into the basket of clean laundry that Mom hadn't put away yet. Cola rearranged the items until she found what she needed. Out she hopped, pulling Mom's towel with the penguins on it behind her.
“Excuse me, Mom,” Cola said as she hopped on by and made her way back to behind the couch.
Now Mom was curious and started to walk towards the couch.
“No, not yet! You'll ruin the surprise,” Cola hopped towards Mom. “This is still a work in progress.”
“Do I need to be concerned?” Mom asked.
“No, no worries,” Cola replied from behind the couch. “OK, perfect … you can come back here now.”
Mom slowly walked around the couch. The area between the wall and the couch where Cola and Duster usually snoozed there was an assortment of items.
“Surprise! Isn't it great?” Cola binkied.
“It's very … thought provoking ...” Mom said, slowly, not sure what she was looking at.
“Now I tell you all about it,” Cola said.
“That would be wonderful,” Mom sighed with relief.
“I know you like to scrapbook. But I don't have a scrapbook so I took a whole bunch of things you like and made you a kind of non-scrapbook of things you like.” Cola revealed.
“Great,” Mom said. “Its a craft project.”
“Exactly. Now I tell you about everything. I put that sock there cause I know it is your favourite sock of all time.”
“That's why you were going through all my black socks,” Mom said.
Cola nodded. “Not easy to find your favourite one. You have too many same socks. You need to diversify your sock drawer,” Cola stated. “Now, there is your penguin towel cause for some reason, you think they are cute so I added it.”
“Very thoughtful of you,” Mom commented.
“Yes, I know,” Cola hopped to where Duster was stretched out. “Duster is here cause you love bunnies. I couldn't push Zoomer's cage here or he would be here as well.”
“Hi, Mom!” Zoomer called out. “Cola, I still love you.”
Cola shook her head and Mom smiled. “Hi, Zoomer.”
“Why is the toilet paper roll there?” Mom asked.
“That is your favourite room to clean,” Cola replied.
“It is?” Mom asked.
“Yes, trust me I know this,” Cola was already onto the next item. “There is your bookmark because you like to read.”
Mom nodded.
Cola came to the last item, a pile of poop.
“The poop is here cause I know you enjoy cleaning our litter boxes everyday,” Cola said.
“Yes, it's definitely one of the high-lights of my day,” Mom grimaced.
“And you do it very well. We apprec
iate your hard work,” Cola replied.
Mom petted Cola on her head. “Well that was very well done and a lot of hard work. Thank you, Cola and Duster and Zoomer for your participation.”
“Mom, before you clean up this mess can we have a treat?” Cola asked.
“Before I clean up this mess?” Mom questioned.
“Well, they are your belongings and Duster and I really want to stretch out back here and everything is kind of in the way,” Cola replied.
Mom had to laugh. “Yeah I'll take care of it.”
“After the treats, right?” Cola asked.
“Of course,” Mom said and went to get the bunnies their treats.
SPA SURPRISE
“Cola Bear, you know I love you,” Zoomer said.
Cola sighed. “So I have heard.”
“And you know I would never do or say anything to upset you,” Zoomer continued.
Cola stared at the Dutch bunny.
“I have to tell you...” Zoomer said, taking a deep breath.
Cola raised an eyebrow.
“Your fur is a disaster,” Zoomer blurted.
Cola shook her head, blinked, stared at Zoomer. “Did you really just say my fur is a disaster?”
Zoomer nodded.
Cola hopped around her cage for a minute. “My fur is never anything less than perfect.”
“Except when you shed,” Duster said.
Cola whirled around to stare at the grey lop. “Excuse me?”
Zoomer sighed with relief, happy he wasn't the only bunny that had noticed Cola wasn't up to her diva standards.
“I hate to say it but you need a bunny spa day,” Duster said.
“Is this a dream?” Cola asked, no one in particular. “You two think I should volunteer for a bunny spa day?”
Duster and Zoomer hopped to the opposite end of their cages, as far away from Cola as they could get.
“So you two don't get any more treats for a long time for saying something like that about MY fur,” Cola decided.
“Can she do that?” Zoomer asked Duster.
“No, she's bluffing,” Duster said. “I think she's bluffing ...”
“MOM! DAD!” Zoomer and Duster chorused.
Mom and Dad entered the living room and the boy bunnies explained the situation.
“No, Cola does not determine the treats you get,” Mom assured the boys.
Two sighs of relief.
“But she definitely needs some spa time,” Mom agreed.
“How about no,” Cola replied.
“Would you agree to a brushing if there was no nail trimming?” Dad asked.
Cola hopped to the edge of her cage and motioned for Dad to come closer. Being a Daddy's bunny she knew he would tell her if she really needed a bunny spa day. “Is it that bad?”
Dad nodded and whispered. “I hate to agree but your fur is rather unruly right now.”
Cola took a deep breath, scrunched up her nose and grumbled. “Fine let's get this over with.”
Mom got the bunny brush while Dad lifted Cola out of her cage. Cola would only let Daddy brush her fur.
“Oh no … my fur …” Cola pretty much winced every time she saw a brushful of fur.
“All bunnies shed,” Mom said.
“Yes but that's MY fur,” Cola grumbled.
Daddy kept on brushing, Cola kept on griping.
Then Cola noticed the rather large pile of fur that had been removed by the brush. “Do I have any fur left?”
Dad laughed. “Of course you do, you're really shedding right now.”
“Enough! No more fur-loss. Oh, my poor fur,” Cola was not a happy bunny. “So much less fur ...”
She let Daddy put her back in her cage while Mom quickly scooped up the fur and put it in the trash, hoping Cola didn't see.
“But you look so beautiful now,” Zoomer said.
“Back to your Diva standards,” Duster agreed.
Cola bunny shrugged. “But I miss my fur.”
“New fur will grow,” Dad assured the Bear.
“And then I'll shed again,” Cola sighed.
“It's a vicious cycle,” Duster nodded.
“But we are here for you” Zoomer said.
“Thanks, I appreciate that,” Cola replied. She paused, “And you know what else I would appreciate?”
Before she could finish her sentence, Mom, Dad, Zoomer and Duster all said. “A treat?”
“How'd you know that?” Cola was genuinely surprised, but happily accepted the treat Mom and Dad were giving to the bunnies.
DINNER WITH A DIVA
“Pssst,” Zoomer whispered to Mom and Dad.
“What's up?” Mom asked her baby bunny.
“I need your help. I want to take Cola out for dinner,” Zoomer said quietly.
“Maybe we can figure something out,” Dad said.
“Really?” Zoomer binkied he was so happy.
“Give us a few minutes,” Mom said to the baby bunny.
Mom and Dad disappeared into the kitchen and a few minutes later they motioned for Zoomer to meet them in front of Cola's cage.
Mom put a dishtowel on the floor in front of Cola's cage. Cola hopped over to the bars, curious as to what was going on.
“You and Zoomer are having a picnic,” Mom said.
Dad whispered to Duster. “And you get all the same food.”
As soon as Duster heard the word “food” he was onboard.
Zoomer binkied. “This is so exciting.”
Cola wasn't so sure.
Mom disappeared into the kitchen and came back with 3 salads. “Here we go.”
“Oh thank you, Mom!” Zoomer said.
“Thanks,” Cola said.
Duster nodded his thanks and kept munching on his lettuce.
When the bunnies had finished the salad, Dad appeared with three little paper cups. He put one in front of Zoomer, one in Cola's cage and handed one to Mom so she could put it in Duster's cage. Then he opened a bottle of cold water and poured a a cup for each bunny.
“This is great, isn't it, Cola?” Zoomer was so enthusiastic.
Cola nodded, this picnic wasn't such a bad thing so far.
Mom then came from the kitchen with some shredded carrots for each bunny.
The carrots were gobbled down and Mom and Dad gave the rabbits a few minutes before they would appear with dessert.
“So how have you been?” Zoomer asked Cola.
“Pretty much the same since the last time you loitered outside my cage,” Cola replied.
“Good to know I haven't missed anything,” Zoomer said. Then there was a lull in the conversation. Zoomer decided to show Cola his second favorite thing in the world (her being the first).
Zoomer quickly raised his back foot. “I have feet!”
Cola stared at him blankly.
“I have feet! Mom says I have really cute feet and she tries to pet them without my permission and I get mad and I glare at her but it doesn't work because she still says they are cute. And I have four feet, it's really quite convenient!” and he started to groom his foot.
Dad cleared his throat and Zoomer looked up. Dad shook his head no.
“Oh I guess grooming my feet is not proper picnic etiquette. I'm sorry,” Zoomer apologized.
“That's OK,” Cola said.
Duster was periscoping, looking for dessert.
Mom appeared from the kitchen with a small slice of banana for each bun. It was gobbled up very fast.
“Well thanks for having a picnic with me, Cola Bear,” Zoomer said. “And you too, Duster.”
“It was great idea, thank you!” Duster replied.
“Yeah it was nice,” Cola agreed.
“OK well I'll be by later to loiter,” Zoomer promised and hopped off to thank Mom and Dad for their help.
A PERPLEXING PROBLEM
Mom looked at Cola. She was sitting in her cage, staring off into space. Duster was out exploring the new apartment and it was unlike Bear not to follow her bunny. r />
“You alright, Cola?” Mom asked.
“Mom, please, I'm having a huge Cola crisis right now!” Cola grumbled.
Mom was confused. A typical Cola crisis usual registered on the Richter scale. This time, Cola was absolutely silent.
Mom sat in front of Bear's cage. “Tell me about this crisis.”
“Isn't it obvious? Look around you!” Cola said.
Mom did a quick scan of the new apartment. Everything looked good.
“I think you need to provide me with some details,” Moms said.
Cola sighed. “I always have to provide details.”
Cola nodded her head towards the window. “No curtains.”
“And that's a bad thing?” Mom asked.
“Curtain patrol is part of who I am. How can I keep curtains in line if we have blinds instead?” Cola asked.
“Well we still have a shower curtain. I hear that they can be pretty evil. And I'll set up a curtain patrol training camp so you stay in shape. I can hang towels over chairs and boxes, simulated curtains,” Mom offered.
“Hmm, but there's no carpet! My paws cannot touch that hardwood or ceramic tile flooring. I slide all over the place. And I need something to chew on!,” Cola said.
“Bear, we have mats and towels down for you and Zoomer and Duster to hop on. We're going to leave them there. And look at Duster and Zoomer have already started to get used to the non-carpets. We have plenty of cardboard boxes for you to chew on.”
“But I am a Diva. I have standards,” Cola argued.
“Point taken. But the mats and towels are here whenever you are ready to hop out,” Mom replied. “Anything else?”
“Yes, the vet doesn't know where we live now!” Cola exclaimed.
Mom was baffled. “I thought that would be the best thing about moving.”
“Um, how are the vet's Fur Finders going to attempt to steal my fur if they don't know where I live?” Cola asked.
“Pretty sure we can do a change of address with the vet or even get a new vet,” Mom said.
“A new vet?” Cola seemed to like that idea. “A new vet would be an adventure!”
All Mom could do was smile.
Cola hopped out of her cage and used the mats and towels to get to where Duster was flopped over – Cola Crisis averted.
FUR SURPLUS
“Poor Duster dude,” Mom said. “When you shed, you lose so much fur!”
Duster didn't mind, more shedding meant more time getting petted by Mom and Dad.
Cola looked over at the large pile of fur beside the grey lop.
“Wow he does have a lot of excess fur,” Cola thought and started to hop towards the curtains.
She stopped in pretty much mid-hop. “Extra fur!”
Cola waited till Mom had added more fur to the pile and then quietly assessed the fur abundance.
Mom saw the black bunny staring at the grey fur. “Whatcha up to, Bear?”
“Oh, well, I thought I could help you get rid of all that extra fur you seem to have collected,” Cola offered.
“You want to help me throw out Duster's old fur?” Mom was shocked.
Cola rolled her eyes. “Oh, Mom. No, I would like to give his old fur a place to stay, in case he misses it.”
“I won't miss that fur,” Duster assured Cola.
Cola glared at Duster. “But in case you do, I can store it for you.”
“Where?” Dad asked.
“I'm sure we can find a place!” Cola exclaimed.
“Cola Bear, what are you up to?” Dad questioned.
“Nothing!” Cola insisted. “I just want to preserve his fur.”
Mom, Dad, Duster and Zoomer all stared at her.
“Fine, fine, alright,” Cola sighed. “I want to keep his fur so when the vet comes looking for my fur I can give it to him.”
“But Duster's fur is grey, yours is black,” Zoomer said.
“But I can tell the vet it's grey because it's old fur that I shed,” Cola reasoned. “Everyone would be happy. The vet would get my fur, well he'd think he was getting my fur, Mom wouldn't have to dispose of the old Duster fur, Duster would get petted and I could keep my precious fur.”
Mom and Dad looked at each other.
“I have a better idea,” Mom said.
“I don't think that's possible,” Cola sighed.
Dad laughed.
Mom looked at Dad. “Here's what I think we should do. The next time we know the vet is coming for your fur, we'll quickly pet Duster to get even a little bit of his fur and we can give that to the vet. And like you said, Duster gets petted, we don't have to get rid of old Duster fur and the vet thinks he is getting Cola fur.”
Cola hopped back and forth, thinking, thinking, keeping everyone waiting.
She finally turned to look at her parents and the two waiting bunnies. “Mom, that's actually a pretty good idea. Let's do that.”
“Great,” Mom said.
“Wow, that was a really hard decision to make. I worked up an appetite,” Cola stated.
Dad laughed again, and headed to the kitchen for treats for the three bunnies.
EXPLAINING ERASED
“I'm running a bit behind and will be home a few minutes later than usual. See you when I get there,” Dad's voice floated into the room.
Cola hopped around, she had heard Daddy's voice but couldn't find him anywhere.
Mom came into the living room and went to the answering machine. She listened to Dad's message and then erased it.
Cola hopped over to Mom. “Where's Daddy?”
“On his way home, Bear. He'll just be a bit late,” Mom replied.
“But I heard his voice,” Cola insisted.
“That was the answering machine,” Mom said.
Cola periscoped and saw the machine. “Daddy is in that machine?”
“No, no, Daddy is in the car, driving home,” Mom answered.
“But he said he was running,” Cola shook her head. “You heard it wrong. Can you make Daddy talk again?”
“I'm sorry, Cola. It's already been erased,” Mom said and headed back into the kitchen.
“Erased? What does that mean?” Cola wondered.
“I think it means it's gone,” Zoomer said.
“Gone? Gone forever?” Cola asked.
Duster nodded. “Yep.”
Cola's eyes were the size of saucers. “Mom erased Daddy?”
“No, she erased his message,” Duster said.
But there was no use explaining that to Cola. She was sure that Mom had erased Dad and he was gone forever.
“Why would Mom do that?” Cola demanded to know. “I want my Daddy!”
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Mom ran back into the living room to see what was going on.
Cola continued to thump.
“Cola, what's wrong?” Mom asked.
“You erased my Daddy and now he's gone forever,” Cola said.
Poor Mom tried to calm Cola down.
“Cola, I erased his message not Daddy,” Mom said.
“Then where is he?” Cola demanded to know.
“Probably stuck in traffic,” Mom tried to explain why Dad was late.
“You erased him and now he's stuck somewhere?” Cola's eyes got big. “Poor Daddy! He just wants to come home to us bunnies.”
Mom kept trying to get Cola's attention to explain that erasing the message didn't mean Daddy was gone forever but Bear just wouldn't listen.
Finally the door opened …
Cola raced to the front door …
“DADDY!!” Cola persicoped. “I thought Mommy had erased you forever and then stuck you in traffic.”
Dad picked up Cola. “It's OK, Bear. Mom would never erase me.”
Cola looked at Dad.
“Or make me stuck in traffic,” Dad assured the Bear.
“I was so worried,” Cola said.
Mom, Duster and Zoomer were all shaking their heads. Daddy knew how Cola can sometimes over-exaggerate things.
>
“I know what Cola and our other bunnies need,” Dad said.
Cola's ears perked up.
“A treat?” Dad asked.
“Yes, I definitely need a few treats after that scare,” Cola agreed.
And off Daddy went to get the bunnies their treats.
“She's good ...” Duster said to Zoomer.
“Yep, the best at getting us treats,” Zoomer agreed.
THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE …
Cola was hopping around the living room, investigating the storage bins Mom was sorting through. There were the usual blue bins that she had to persicope to try to see what was in them and then she came across two bins that were made of clear plastic, she could see right inside. And what she saw, made her mad!
“What the heck?”Cola hopped up the one clear bin, looked twice and then hopped off to find Mom.
Mom was sitting on the couch, going through some clothes, with Duster curled up near her feet.
The black dwarf bunny hopped on up to Mom and nosebonked her.
“Hi, Cola,” Mom reached down to pet the rabbit.
Cola hopped away. Mom went back to sorting clothes. This time Cola hopped back and did her “you have to follow me” or “you're in the way” scratching at Mom's feet.
“Yes, Bear?” Mom asked.
“How could you?” Cola demanded to know.
“How could I...?” Mom was curious.
“I know all about it,” Cola said.
“All about...?” Mom asked.
Cola rolled her eyes. “Mom, please, so obvious. You could have tried to hide it better.”
“Hide what?” Mom was confused.
“You got another me! We're identical” Cola thumped.
“Um, no. Cola, Belle doesn't look at all like you,” now Mom was really confused.
“Not Belle,” Cola said. “The other Cola.”
Duster sat up. “Two Colas? Seriously?”
“Yeah, no kidding,” Mom said.
“Hello, right here!” Cola quipped.
“You'll have to show us this other Cola,” Mom said.
“Definitely,” Duster agreed.
“Oh I certainly will,” Cola said and off she hopped with Mom and Duster behind her.
Cola hopped up to the plastic bin and turned her back to it, looking right at Mom and Duster. “See? Can't deny it now.”
Mom and Duster both smiled.
“What are you so happy about?” Cola asked.
“Cola, that's you,” Mom said.
“I know it's me! Well another me,” Cola stated.
“Mom means it's your reflection,” Duster chuckled.
“What?” Cola asked and turned to look at the other bunny.
The “other Cola” did everything that the “original Cola” did.
“Hmmm,” Cola said. “Well let's be honest. There isn't enough room in this house for more than one me.”
“Cola, there isn't enough room in this world for more than one you,” Mom laughed.
“That's a good thing, right?” Cola asked.
Mom and Duster nodded.
“Just making sure we all agree,” Cola said and hopped off towards the kitchen, it was treat time.
FORLORN FUR
Mom had been watching Cola for nearly 10 minutes. The black dwarf bunny was sitting on the mat in the middle of the living room. Next to her, a clump of fur that she had just shed.
It was what Cola wasn't doing that had Mom confused.
Usually when Cola shed, it was a crisis. She mourned the lost fur for days. This time, she was all out ignoring the fur that she had shed.
“You want me to move that fur?” Mom finally asked.
“What fur?” Cola asked.
“The fur beside you that you're apparently trying to ignore,” Mom sighed.
“Oh THAT fur,” Cola pretty much growled.
Cola turned her head just enough to glare at the fur.
“Cola, come on, what is the issue?” Mom asked.
“The issue is that fur fell off me without telling me it was leaving me!” Cola thumped, still glaring at the fur.
Mom nodded. “Remember the talk we had about shedding? Your fur doesn't have a choice, it gets shed...”
“I still don't believe that my fur would leave me without telling me first. I need to prepare for this!” Cola grumbled.
Mom sat down on the mat beside Cola Bear. “But think of the beautiful new fur that will grow in its place. Shedding your fur is just a part of nature.”
“Well then I'm mad at nature too!” Cola double thumped.
“I bet your fur will miss you a lot,” Mom said.
“Really?” Cola stopped glaring.
“Well I'm not an expert in the area of fur that has been shed, but that fur looks pretty sad to me,” Mom said and got up.
Cola hopped to the fur. “Are you sad?”
Cola gently nose bonked the fur.
“Oh I'll miss you too!” and she cuddled up to the fur.
Mom knew what to expect would happen next ...
“Oh no, my fur, I'll miss you!” Cola sighed. “I need treats to cope with this!”
“Now that's the Cola we all know and love. Treats coming right up,” Mom said.
PARENTS – YA GOTTA LOVE THEM
“I love them,” Cola said to Duster, Zoomer and Belle. “But I don't understand a lot of the things they do.”
The three other bunnies turned to look at their parents.
“I mean, what's with all the changes of fur?” Cola wondered.
“I guess it's just part of being human,” Duster reasoned.
“I've seen them do laundry, that's what they call their changes of fur,” Cola explained to Belle and Zoomer. “They have three baskets full and then they come home and they hide it, put it in the closets as if they are embarrassed by it. Even worse, I've heard Mom say that she has nothing to wear … after doing all the laundry!”
“Wow,” Zoomer and Belle said.
Cola nodded. “And that's only one example.”
“What other weird things do they do?” Belle asked.
“Well Mom will actually trim her own nails,” Cola sighed.
Belle was horrified. “That's terrible!”
“Anything else?” Zoomer asked.
“Sure, let's look at when they do groceries. They go to the store and buy food. They put that
food in bags, pretty much hiding it. Then they get home and they put it in cupboards or the fridge or freezer, behind doors. Why are they hiding what they bought?” Cola wondered.
“Maybe it's so they are surprised when they open the door and see what they have,” Duster suggested.
The bunnies all nodded, that sort of made sense.
“But why hide food? We love our food and keep our hay and pellets on the shelf where we can see it anytime,” Zoomer said.
“Maybe they don't love their food as much as we do,” Belle wondered.
“And even stranger, I've seen them look through the cupboards and fridge and say there's nothing here to eat, when I know we have lettuce in there that we would share with them,” Cola said.
“I guess we're really lucky we aren't humans,” Belle said.
“Oh definitely,” Duster agreed.
“Hmm, all this talk of food has made me hungry. Any bunny else need a treat?” Cola asked.
Three bunnies nodded.
“Mom! Dad! Treats please!” Cola called out.
“Coming,” Mom replied.
“Be right there,” Dad agreed.
Cola smiled. “It is good to be a bunny.”
FICTIONAL FUR
“Wow, that's really neat!” Zoomer exclaimed.
“My turn, please!” Belle said.
“And then me next?” Duster asked.
“Sure thing, bunnies. This is a lot of fun,” Mom agreed.
Cola had been pretty much ignoring what Mom was doing on the computer. But now she was curious. Since it was her and Duster's turn out of their cages, sh
e hopped over to see what all the fuss was.
“What are we doing?” Cola asked.
“Mom is showing us how she can use a computer program to change our pictures,” Duster said.
“Change our pictures?” Cola questioned.
“Yes! She added a giant carrot to mine!” Belle said.
“And she added an igloo to mine,” Zoomer binkied.
“That's neat!” Duster said. “Thanks, Mom!”
“What did she do?” Cola periscoped.
“She made my fur green! I look like lettuce!” Duster grinned.
Cola scrunched up her nose. “She changed the colour of your fur?”
Duster nodded.
“Oh she made mine blue and Belle's pink,” Zoomer said to Cola.
Cola took a few hops back. “She can change the colour of fur?”
“Yes!” Belle said. “I look pretty with pink fur. Cola, you would look great with pink fur too.”
“No, I wouldn't!” Cola thumped.
Mom looked at Bear. “What would you like me to add to your picture?”
Cola shook her head. “Nothing. Leave my fur alone!”
“Cola, it doesn't change the colour of your fur in real life,” Mom explained.
“I'm not willing to risk that!” Cola said.
The black bunny hopped away and started to check her fur, making sure it was still it's wonderful self.
“Cola, I can add a treat to one of your pictures,” Mom offered.
Cola considered the idea,. OK, you can add a treat to my picture IF we can have one in real life!”
“Aren't you the negotiator?” Mom laughed and went to get the bunnies some lettuce.
HALLOWEEN HIJINKS
“Have you bunnies decided what you would like your costumes to be for Halloween?” Mom asked.
Cola quickly replied. “Yes, we have!”
Mom and Dad looked at Bear.
“Alright, Duster is going to be a grey lop that is shedding,” Cola said,
Duster nodded and everyone watched as some of his fur floated away.
“Zoomer is going to be my number one fan,” Cola said.
“I love you, Cola!” Zoomer called out.
“And Belle is going to be a baby bunny,” Cola stated.
“With spots!” Belle added.
“With spots,” Cola agreed.
“Well, those are pretty easy costumes, really no work required,” Dad said.
“Well you haven't heard what I am going to be,” Cola grinned.
Mom laughed. “What? A bunny?”
Cola's mouth dropped open, “How did you know?”
Mom and Dad looked at each other.
“That costume won't take too long to do either,” Dad finally said.
Cola was confused. “It won't take long to make a bear look like a bunny.”
“Oh right, we'll have to make you look like a bunny...” Mom's voice trailed off.
“But you are … “ Belle started to say.
“Shhh,” Mom, Dad, Zoomer and Duster chorused.
“We'll explain later,” Zoomer whispered.
Belle nodded and went back to munching on her hay.
“We'll see what we can do,” Dad promised.
“Great! This is going to be a lot of fun,” Cola binkied.
On the afternoon of Halloween …
Mom and Dad made sure that Duster, Zoomer and Belle were all ready for their trick-or-treating around the apartment. Then they had to tackle Cola's costume.
“Good thing we are starting to work on my costume now,” Cola said. “It's going to take a long time to make me look like a bunny.”
Mom and Dad had come up with a plan on how to handle the Bear to Bunny transformation.
Cola hopped up onto the couch. Mom and Dad brought out an assortment of brushes.
“Impressive,” Cola said. “I'm gonna look great!”
“You sure will,” Mom agreed.
And for the next while, Mom and Dad took turns brushing Cola's fur with the different brushes, showing her that no fur was coming off in the brushes.
“And we are done!” Mom declared.
Dad held up a mirror for Cola to approve her “costume.”
“Wow, I look awesome! I look like a bunny!” Cola checked out her reflection.
Mom and Dad high-fived.
“Mission accomplished!” Mom said.
“You look like a real bunny!” Belle said to Cola, and then winked at Duster and Zoomer since she was now in on the “Cola is a bunny but thinks she is a bear” story.
“Thanks! I owe it all to Mom and Dad,” Cola told her bunny friends.
And that evening the bunnies were ready for their trick-or-treating. One by one they went in one of the kitchen doors where they got a slice of shredded carrot. They exited out the other kitchen door where they got to stretch out on a blankie and get petted. From there, they hopped over to the couch where there were phone books just waiting to be shredded! And when the returned to their cages, they each found a lettuce leaf and piece of cardboard to bunstruct!
“I like this trick-or-treating,” Belle said. “Especially the treating part!”
GOTTA GET GROCERIES
Cola stared at Mom and Dad, not even blinking. “That's not acceptable.”
“Cola, it's not like you don't have anything to eat,” Mom reasoned.
“Sure, we have pellets and hay but there are no treats in this whole apartment?” Cola said.
Mom and Dad shook their heads “no.”
“There's nothing here we can have for bedtime bunny breakfast?” Cola questioned.
“No,” Dad confirmed.
“Then that means there's nothing here for bunny breakfast in the morning either?” Cola squeaked.
“What?” Zoomer, Duster and Belle echoed.
“We promise we'll go grocery shopping tomorrow,” Dad assured the bunnies.
“Go now,” Cola thumped.
“The stores are closed,” Mom said.
“Then use the computer and order something,” Cola thumped again.
“Do you have treats to eat?” Duster asked.
“Well I guess we kind of do …” Mom said.
“How does that work?” Zoomer asked.
“It was Halloween, you bunnies got more treats than usual,” Dad said.
“But there are more of us bunnies than you humans. Shouldn't you buy more treats for us than for yourselves?” Belle asked.
“I guess we could do that in the future,” Mom agreed.
“Guess what?” Cola said. “The future is now!”
“We promise we'll go shopping right after breakfast,” Dad said.
“You're going to have breakfast tomorrow and we aren't?” Cola was stunned.
“No, of course not,” Mom said. “We'll get up as soon as the stores are open and go get whatever you would like for bunny breakfast.”
“One minute,” Cola hopped off to confer with the other bunnies.
A minute later she shopped back.
“Alright. Get a piece of paper and a pen and have a seat. We have a list of demands, um, groceries and this may take awhile.”
Mom and Dad wrote down the bunnies requests and then had to set the alarm clock with Cola's supervision to make sure they were up as soon as the grocery stores were open.
“And we expect double bunny breakfast tomorrow since we aren't having bedtime bunny breakfast tonight,” Cola said.
“I guess that's reasonable,” Mom sighed.
“I think it's time for bed. You and Dad have to get up early to go get groceries,” Cola said.
Mom and Dad agreed, promising the bunnies – and themselves – they would never run out of treats again!
WHITE NOISE
“Good night, Cola, Duster, Zoomer and Belle,” Dad said.
“Good night, bunnies. Thump if you need us,” Mom said and the bunny parents went to bed.
A few minutes passed … Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
Mom and Dad scurr
ied into the living room.
“What's wrong?” Dad asked.
“Everybun OK?” Mom questioned.
“We just needed to test our thumps,” Cola replied. “It worked so you can go back to bed now.”
Mom and Dad nodded and headed back to the bedroom, some time passed.
“I can't get to sleep,” Mom complained.
“Neither can I,” Dad said.
“We need some white noise,” Mom decided and got up to turn on the fan.
The bunnies of course had heard the conversation.
“You know what the means,” Cola said to Belle.
Belle nodded and started to throw around her pellet bowl and bang her water bowl and chew on the cage and then dig at the cage.
Mom and Dad slowly emerged from the bedroom.
“Belle?” Mom asked.
“Yes,” Belle replied, still digging.
“What are you doing? It's bedtime,” Dad said.
“You said you needed white noise to help you sleep,” Duster said.
Mom and Dad were a bit confused.
“She's a white bunny and she's making noise,” Cola pointed out.
“With spots,” Belle added.
“With spots,” Cola said. “Do we always need to add the “with spots”? It's pretty obvious you have spots.”
Belle stopped digging. “The Spots don't want to be forgot.”
“I don't think we would ever forget them,” Cola assured Belle.
“You like people to know you are a bear, my spots like to feel included,” Belle said.
“Fair enough,” Cola now understood. “Anyways, she was just doing what you asked.”
“Oh,” Mom replied.
“But that's what we turned the fan on for,” Dad told the bunnies.
“Then why didn't you say you were going to turn the fan on for white noise?” Zoomer asked.
“And if Belle's noise isn't white noise what is white noise then?” Duster wondered.
Mom and Dad tried to explain white noise to the bunnies and four furry faces just stared back at them.
“You're starting to babble. You need some sleep,” Cola said.
“Thank you, bunnies. Good night,” Mom said and the parents were off to try to sleep.
“Don't be late for breakfast!” Cola was quick to mention.
THE DPA
Mom followed the trail of poops to where Cola was sitting.
“Good work!” Cola congratulated her.
Mom used the small dust pan and broom to sweep up the poops. “Bear, I have other things to do rather than follow you around sweeping up after you. There is a litter pan two hops away from you.”
Cola rolled her eyes and the familiar “I don't do litter boxes” was heard.
“Right, right,” Mom said.
Mom decided she had to come up with a solution. She went about gathering the few extra litter boxes they had, some plastic mats and even a few cardboard boxes. Mom laid the litter pans and plastic mats around the area where Cola was sitting. She quickly cut down the cardboard boxes and placed them near Cola as well.
Cola was intrigued. “What's this?”
“This is your DPA,” Mom replied.
Cola raised an eyebrow.
“Your Designated Potty Area,” Mom explained. “ You poop in this area only. As a matter of fact, I am banning Bear poop from the rest of the apartment, other litter boxes excluded, of course. Feel free to start to use any litter pan.”
“What does that mean?” Cola asked.
“You have all this area to poop in, it's a huge area. There is no need to leave little piles anywhere else for me to sweep up,” Mom said.
Cola sat down. “That sounds fair. Bear poop only in this area.”
“Thank you,” Mom said and went about other things she had to clean.
A short while later, Mom came back into the living room. Cola was sitting on one of the mats, a fresh pile of poop beside her.
“But, Bear, we had an agreement,” Mom sighed.
“Yes, we agreed about Bear poop in the DPA only,” Cola nodded. “This is bunny poop. No DPA for it.”
And Cola hopped over to cuddle with Duster.
Belle and Zoomer were trying not to smile.
Mom had to grin. “She's smart, she's very smart.”
“And she needs a treat,” Cola called out. “We all need a treat.”
Off Mom went to get the treats.
FUR FIRST AID
It happened almost in slow motion.
Cola hopped into Duster's pen. Duster scurried across the floor to join her. Duster, not known for being particularly agile, bumped into his water bowl. The water flew through the air and some of it splashed Cola. Trying to not get soaked, Cola hopped into Duster's litter box. Realizing she was in litter box, she quickly hopped out and some of the bedding got stuck to her wet fur. From there Cola hopped to the black mat in front of the cages and sat.
“I am so sorry,” Duster apologized and hopped over, trying to groom Cola.
He was met by an icy glare that clearly said “don't touch the fur.”
“Yikes,” Duster hightailed it back to his pen.
Cola resumed her sitting position.
Mom and Dad had witnessed the whole incident and got concerned when Cola hadn't moved from her spot in a few minutes.
“Are you alright?” Mom asked.
Cola remained quiet and stared straight ahead.
Mom and Dad looked at each other.
“Cola Bear?” Dad questioned. “Can you come here?”
“Isn't one of the rules that you don't move the injured party?” Cola whispered.
“The injured party? Did you get hurt?” Mom wondered.
“Shouldn't you be calling someone?” Cola questioned.
The bunny parents looked at each other.
Cola sighed, trying to remain still. “You know, the professionals?”
Again Mom and Dad weren't sure what she meant.
Cola was becoming agitated. “The people trained to deal with a situation like this.”
“Can you tell us who you need us to call?” Dad asked.
“Dial the 3 numbers,” Cola suggested.
Mom and Dad were trying to figure out whose three numbers they were supposed to call.
Cola moved slowly, covering her face with her paws and then sighed. “You know, 911. They send emergency professionals.”
“We need to know what the emergency is before we call anyone,” Mom said, still not sure what was going on as Cola appeared to be fine.
“My fur is wet and there is litter box residue sticking to it! My fur has been traumatized. You need to call a trauma team to get first aid for my fur!” Cola squeaked.
“Oh,” Mom and Dad chorused. “Your fur.”
“Yes, my fur. Now get me some help!” Cola thumped, trying not to move her fur that was wet.
“All we really need is a towel,” Dad whispered to Mom.
“We need to make sure it's a white one, you know so it looks like a Dr.'s coat,” Mom whispered back.
Mom went to retrieve a white towel while Dad approached Cola.
“Mom and I have actually been trained to handle this type of situation,” Dad explained.
“Seriously?” Cola asked. “You know fur first aid? Well then fix it.”
Mom appeared with the white towel, assuring Cola it was what a pro would use and Dad set about drying her fur and removing the said litter box residue.
“There, all done, fur looks good as new,” Dad said.
“I don't want new fur, I want my fur,” Cola muttered.
“It is your fur, it's just an expression,” Mom sighed.
Cola turned to check out her fur. “Um, there's some litter box leftover.”
Dad quickly removed the bit of bedding stuck to Bear.
Cola surveyed the results again. “Hmm, I guess that will do.”
And off she hopped to find Duster to let him know she and her fur had survived the ordeal.
/> PICTURE PROOF
Mom came out of the bedroom, stopped in her tracks and went right back into the bedroom.
She returned, camera in hand.
Quickly and quietly she made her way to Duster's pen and “click.”
“Finally! I have picture proof!” Mom exclaimed.
Cola spun around. “Did you just take a picture?”
Mom nodded happily.
“A picture of me?” Cola questioned.
“Yes!” Mom answered.
“You just took a picture of me in the litter box didn't you?” Cola squeaked, hopping out of Duster's litter box.
Mom was pretty much hopping up and down she was so excited. “Yes, I finally have picture proof that you do use litter boxes.”
Cola frowned. “You can't prove I used the litter box just that I was in it. ”
“Cola, the fact that I have a picture of you even in a litter box is pretty amazing.”
“Mom, you need a hobby,” Cola sighed.
“I have lots of hobbies, including taking pictures of you bunnies,” Mom replied. “And this picture is pretty much priceless.”
“I am not happy about this,” Cola thumped. “That picture is priceless, it's garbage – you should delete it.”
“Would a treat make you happy?” Mom asked.
“It better be one heck of a treat,” Cola scoffed.
Mom disappeared into the kitchen and returned with treats for all the bunnies.
Cola accepted the peace offering. “Fine. You can keep the picture. I guess it shows that even us bears do use litter boxes sometimes,” and then whispered to herself. “I can always say the picture was edited. Everyone knows that bears don't use litter boxes. Silly Mommy.”
BUNNIES SAY “IT'S GOTTA BE MOMMY'S WAY”
Zoomer nosebonked Daddy's hand. “What are you doing?”
“Um, cleaning your cage,” Daddy said, trying to scoop up the litter.
Zoomer grunted, pushing the litter scoop Daddy was using out of the way. “Where's Mommy?”
Daddy sighed. “Mommy isn't home right now.”
Zoomer thumped. “That's not how Mommy cleans my cage.”
“Zoomer, the door is open, hop out so I can scoop the poop,” Dad sighed.
Zoomer hopped out and sat there, watching Daddy. “That's not how Mommy does it.”
“You already told me that,” Dad said.
“Maybe you should wait till Mom gets home. She can show you how she does it,” Zoomer suggested.
“Zoomer, please, I just wanna clean your cages,” Dad sighed.
“But you have to do it the way Mommy does it,” Zoomer thumped.
“What am I doing wrong,” Dad asked.
“I didn't say you were doing it wrong just that you aren't doing it the way Mommy does,” Zoomer said.
Zoomer thumped as he hopped away from his cage.
Belle was watching. “Mommy puts his hay over there,” she whispered.
Dad smiled. “Thank you for the hint.”
“You're welcome, Daddy” and she flopped.
After a little while it was Belle's turn to come out so Zoomer hopped back in his cage. He quickly set about putting things where Mommy would have.
Daddy shook his head and went on to clean Belle's cage. Naturally she had to supervise from outside her cage.
Daddy went to put her hay in the same location he had put the hay in Zoomer's. Belle made a little noise and Dad turned to look.
She shook her head. “Not where Mommy puts it.”
Daddy sighed and moved the hay to the Mommy-approved location. When he finished Belles' cage he sat down on the couch.
Belle hopped up beside him and stared at him.
Dad grimaced. “Did I forget something?”
Belle nodded.
Dad got up and checked – everything was there.
“I need a hint.”
Belle periscoped. “Mommy pets my nose and tells all of us bunnies how we are the bestest bunnies in the world.”
“I can do that,” Dad said and so he did.
Dad sat back down, taking a well deserved break.
Awhile later, Belle hopped back in her cage. Cola and Duster had already been out and there weren't any issues with how Daddy had cleaned their cages.
“OK, now it's time for bunny bedtime breakfast,” Dad announced and there were four happy bunnies.
Dad went to the fridge and got the shredded carrots. He gave each rabbit their bedtime breakfast and went to put the carrots back in the fridge. When he came back into the living room, he saw all the bunnies staring at the food.
“OK, what's wrong?” he asked.
“Well …, ” Cola started.
“Cola, really?” Dad was shocked that she had an issue, she loves her Daddy.
Cola nodded. “Mom always gives us bedtime breakfast with a pet on the head and tells us she loves us.”
Dad was quick to correct the error of his ways just in time for Mommy to walk through the door.
“Mommy!” four bunnies chorused.
Mom laughed as Dad sighed.
“Rough night?” she asked.
“I need to take notes next time you do cages and bedtime bunny breakfast,” Dad said. “Apparently you have a bunny approved routine.”
Mom and Dad both laughed as the four bunnies nodded in agreement.
THE NEW NEMESIS
Cola hopped over to see what Mom was doing.
“Hi, Cola,” Mom said, trying to open a package.
“Whatcha got there?” Cola asked.
“Nothing too exciting,” Mom replied.
“Whatcha going to do with it?” Cola inquired.
“Nothing too exciting,” Mom was choosing her words very carefully.
“Sounds boring,” Cola said.
“It will be, very very boring,” Mom assured the Bear.
“OK, see you later,” and Cola hopped away.
Mom breathed a sigh of relief and started to open the package. When she had fully opened the new shower curtain, she started towards the bathroom.
However, Cola's curiosity was piqued by what Mom had in her hands.
“Oh, that looks interesting,” Cola hopped back over to Mom.
“It's really not,” Mom stammered.
“What's on it?” Cola periscoped to see.
Mom held out the shower curtain. “Yellow duckies.”
“Oh they're cute. Where are you going to do with that?” Cola asked.
“Well I have to hang it in the bathroom,” Mom said.
“What is it for?” Cola questioned.
“It, well, it keeps water in the shower, you know, stops it from hitting the floor,” Mom was trying to describe the functions of a shower curtain without using the word “curtain.”
“Don't want to get the floor all wet,” Cola agreed and hopped away to find Duster.
Mom sighed with relief and quickly went to the bathroom.
A few minutes later, Dad entered the living room and Cola hopped up to greet him.
“Hi, Daddy!” she said.
“Hi, Bear, have you seen Mommy?” he asked.
“She went to put the new water stopper in the shower,” Cola replied.
“The what?” Dad wondered.
“The thing that keeps water off the floor,” Cola said.
“Oh she's hanging the new shower curtain,” Dad remembered.
“Excuse you?” Cola asked, her fur mohawk starting to stir.
“The new shower curt … water stopper, the new water stopper,” Dad said quickly, realizing he had used the “forbidden” word.
“No, I heard it. You said it's a shower curtain!” and Bear thumped. “We have blinds on the windows now instead of curtains and you go and get a shower curtain! What were you thinking?”
“Bear, it stays in the bathroom,” Dad sighed.
“And it is water-proof!” Cola thumped as her fur-mohawk stood straight up. “It's a curtain on steroids!”
Mom heard the noise and came
out of the bathroom. “She knows?”
Dad nodded still trying to assure Bear everything was going to be alright. “We have always had shower curtains. You just didn't know they were shower curtains.”
“You and Mom have been lying to me all this time?” Cola was hopping around their feet now.
“No we were protecting you,” Mom said.
“From what?” Cola stopped hopping and stared at her at her parents.
“From having to do curtain patrol on another room. We knew how busy you were with curtain patrol in the living room and bedroom,” Dad said. “Even with the other bunnies help, it was a lot of work and took up a lot of your time.”
“Oh,” Cola started to think about it. “I did have a lot of time devoted to curtain patrol in our old apartment and since there are no curtains here, I have had some free time.”
“And now you can keep an eye on the curtain in the bathroom,” Mom said.
“I have to call a meeting with Duster, Zoomer and Belle and let them know we have to start curtain patrolling again,” Cola hopped off to spread the news, her fur falling back into place.
Mom and Dad both sighed with relief.
“Good thinking with the we're doing her a favor angle,” Mom said to Dad.
Dad grinned as they watched Cola hop to the bathroom door and stare down the shower curtain. “That's our Bear!”
OUT IN THE COLD
“Good morning, bunnies,” Daddy said.
Cola watched as Daddy opened the balcony door and stepped outside, he wanted to see how much snow was on the car.
Then Mom appeared with bunny breakfast.
Daddy came back in from the balcony and went into the bedroom. Cola however did not see her Daddy return as she was too busy with breakfast.
Mom let Cola and Duster out to hop around.
Time passed and Cola still hadn't seen her Daddy.
She hopped over to the balcony door. She placed her paws on the door and noticed how cold it was.
“Wow, it sure is chilly out there,” Cola said loud enough for Mom to hear.
Mom walked across the floor, and locked the balcony door. “Old Man Winter sure is back with a vengeance, Bear.”
“Maybe you should let him in,” Cola suggested.
“Let in Old Man Winter? What a funny thought,” Mom chucked. “Glad we're all inside that's for sure.”
“But we're not,” Bear said.
Mom had already returned to the kitchen and didn't hear Cola's comment.
Cola quickly hopped to Duster. “Mom just locked Daddy outside.”
“She wouldn't do that, Cola,” Duster shook his head.
“But he went outside and didn't come back in and she locked the door. He's stuck on the balcony and he wasn't wearing a coat!” Cola insisted.
“If that actually happened, Daddy would knock on the door,” Duster said.
“But it's freezing out, he's probably too cold to knock,” Cola argued.
Duster stretched knowing there was only one way to solve this. “Let's just ask Mommy to open the door and let him back in.”
The two bunnies hopped to the kitchen and Cola explained the predicament to Mom. Before Mom could even say that Daddy was in the apartment, Cola insisted Mom unlock and open the door. And so Mom did.
“See, Cola, no Daddy on the balcony,” Mom said.
Cola periscoped, not wanting to get too close to the cold air. “He has to be there! It's snowing, maybe he's covered in snow!”
“Close the door please, it's cold in here,” Daddy's voice was heard.
“I knew it! He's stuck under the snow,” Cola hopped around in a panic.
“Who's stuck under the snow?” Dad asked.
“Daddy is and Mommy ...” Cola's voice trailed off as she turned around to see her Daddy standing behind her.
Mom closed the door and Cola happily binkied around Daddy, explaining how she was sure Mom locked him outside in the cold.
“All this stress,” Cola sighed. “I think we need a treat.”
“You just had breakfast,” Mom pointed out.
“That was before we thought Daddy was stuck outside,” Cola said.
“And he's fine,” Mom said.
“We still need a treat,” Cola stated. “It's a reward for saving Daddy.”
“Saving him from what?” Mom wondered.
“From almost being locked on the balcony and becoming a snowman!” Cola answered.
“I have your treats, Cola,” and Daddy gave the bunnies their “rewards.”
THE WATER WHISPERER
“Do you hear that?” Dad asked Mom.
“I do! I thought I was hearing things!” Mom exclaimed.
They paused, both hearing the “mew, mew” noise. But it stopped before they could figure out where it was coming from.
Mom and Dad went back to doing what they were doing, when the noise started up again.
Dad stopped typing and Mom put down her book.
“Mew, mew, mew...”
They looked at each other and then around the living room, still not able to figure out where it was coming from.
“Whatcha doing?” Cola finally asked.
“Don't you hear it?' Mom questioned.
“Hear what?” Bear wondered.
“That mewing noise,” Dad replied.
The noise had stopped by then.
Cola scrunched up her nose. “No. Maybe you are hearing things.”
“Both of us?” Mom asked.
“I was just trying to make conversation,” Cola said and hopped away.
And the elusive sound returned a few moments later.
Mom and Dad stood up, looking around to see what direction the noise was coming from. They were able to narrow down that it was coming from near the rabbit cages.
“Funny, it's not bothering them at all,” Dad mused.
“And they usually react to new sounds,” Mom said, knowing there would be bunny ears at full attention if it was an unknown noise.
“So they have heard it before,” Dad reasoned.
Mom and Dad made their way to where the cages were located. Zoomer and Belle watched as their parents approached as quietly as they could.
“Do you have treats for us?” Zoomer asked.
“Treats!” Belle binkied, making lots of noise.
The mewing sound was lost.
Mom and Dad sighed, sure they would never solve the mystery.
“Duster, don't drink too much water or you won't have room for treats,” Cola said.
Duster looked up from his water bowl. “I always have room for treats,” and he went back to enjoying his water.
“Mew, mew, mew.”
Mom and Dad looked at each other and then at Duster.
The lop looked up when he saw they were staring at him.
“You're making that noise!” Mom said.
“I always talk to my water,” Duster replied matter-of-factly.
“I guess we just never heard it before,” Dad said.
“And he still has room for treats!” Cola told the parents.
“We can take a hint,” Mom replied and headed to the kitchen to get the bunnies some treats.
THE MUFFIN MYSTERY
Mom came out of the kitchen with a treat for herself.
Cola stared at the item. "What is that?"
"It's a chocolate chip muffin," Mom replied.
Belle was curious. "What's a chocolate chip muffin?"
Mom wasn't sure how to explain it so she showed it to the baby bunny. "Um, this is."
"What are those black spots in it?" Duster asked.
"Those are the chocolate chips," Mom sighed as her snack turned into an interview.
"What are those spots made from?" Zoomer inquired.
"Chocolate ..." Mom whispered.
Belle was horrified. "You're eating Spots?"
"No, no, those black dots are chocolate chips," Mom assured Belle that no spots of any kind would ever be had for a snack.
"The
y look like our pellets," Cola observed.
"Did you bake our pellets into that muffin?" Duster asked.
Mom shook her head "no."
"Those dots look like poop," Belle said.
"You're right, they do!" Zoomer exclaimed.
That observation caused all four bunnies to scrunch up their noses.
Mom looked at the muffin. "It's not made with pellets or poop."
Mom stood there for a minute, staring at the muffin.
"What's wrong?" Cola asked.
"All of a sudden, this isn't such an appealing snack for right now," Mom sighed and went to put the kitchen.
"Since you're not eating, can you bring us some snacks?" Cola called out.
"Sure thing," Mom replied, and set about getting the bunnies some treats.
ALAS AN ALIAS
"Mom, Dad, what are drapes?" Cola asked, hopping up to her parents as they stood in the kitchen.
The bunny parents looked at each other, not sure how to respond.
"Where did you hear that word?" Mom asked.
"Oh, you know, around," Cola replied.
"Drapes are not important" Dad said.
"Well what are they?" Cola persisted.
"A home accessory," Mom replied quickly.
"For where?" the black dwarf bunny wondered.
"Oh, you know, for a room," Dad said.
"What do they look like?" Cola continued to question.
Mom and Dad exchanged nervous glances.
"Well they're made of fabric," Mom said slowly.
"Yep, fabric, that sums up drapes," Dad said. "You want a treat, Cola?"
"Sure, but after I find out what drapes are!" Cola stated.
Mom sighed. "You want to tell her, Dad?"
"Not really," Dad admitted.
"Well one of us has to," Mom said.
Dad sighed. "Alright, Cola, drapes are large pieces of fabric that cover things."
"That's it?" Cola asked.
Both parents nodded.
Then Belle's voice floated into the kitchen. "Drapes sound a lot like these curtain things you keep telling me about."
Cola stared at her parents as they both paled.
"Curtains?" Cola started to hop back in forth in front of Mom and Dad. "Curtains? Are drapes curtains?"
"No, they're drapes," Mom pretty much whispered.
By now Cola's ears were flat against her head and the fur mohawk on her back was on the rise.
"How about that treat?" Dad asked.
"I don't have time for treats right now," Cola thumped. "I have to have an emergency Curtain Patrol meeting to let everyone know that curtains have an alias. And that our parents knew that and didn't tell us."
"Treats?" Mom offered.
"Please get the treats and follow me," Cola said. "You two can cater the Curtain Patrol Meeting."
Mom and Dad nodded, got the carrots and followed Cola to the living room so she could inform the other bunnies about the latest curtain chaos she had discovered.
“LETTUCE” ENJOY
Mom distributed the Romaine lettuce between the four bunnies.
Cola, Duster and Zoomer happily munched on the leafy green veggie but Belle was cautious.
She positioned herself on the far side of the cage, keeping lots of distance between the lettuce and The Spots.
Mom noticed Belle shying away from the lettuce. “What's wrong, my baby Belle?”
“What is that?” she asked.
“Lettuce,” Mom replied.
“Let us what?” Belle questioned.
Mom paused. “Sorry?”
“Let us what? What do you want to do?” Belle was keeping a close eye on the lettuce leaf.
“I confused you. That green leaf is lettuce. I want you to eat it like the other bunnies are.”
“Why?” Belle was in interrogation mode.
“It's good for you.”
Belle's ears twitched. “Is it good for The Spots?”
“It's even better for The Spot,” Mom said.
“It is good for you?”
Cola, Duster and Zoomer paused, waiting for Mom's reply.
“Yes, it is good for people to eat lettuce,” Mom replied.
“Then why aren't you eating some with us now?” Belle wondered.
Cola snickered. “Cause our Mommy doesn't like lettuce.”
“Why not?” Belle asked.
“I do like lettuce,” Mom defended herself.
“With lots of extras on it,” Cola said. “And us bunnies can't have those extras.”
Belle scrunched her nose. “Not fair. Mommy can have but bunnies can't? What are they?”
Mom described how she liked lettuce in a Caesar salad.
Belle shook her head. “Those extras sound yucky.”
“Well they aren't meant for bunnies anyways. Now you have to at least try the lettuce.”
“I will if you will,” Belle said.
Cola pretty much flopped over laughing at the look on Mom's face.
“Without any extras, no bacon bits or dressing,” Belle said. “If it's good for the bunny, it's good for the Mommy.”
Mom smiled. “OK.”
And off she went to get a piece of lettuce. She returned and started to nibble on it.
“Yummy,” Mom tried to sound like she was enjoying the lettuce without her croutons.
Belle watched as Mom finished the lettuce.
“OK, you're turn,” Mom said.
Belle shook her head. “I all full from my hay. I try lettuce later … maybe. It did not look like it tasted very good from the look on your face.”
Mom sighed.
“The Spots want the lettuce out of our cage, please. They don't want the lettuce at our Spot Party,” Belle said
Mom removed the lettuce as per The Spots request and Belle set about binkying around the cage.
“Good try, Mom,” Cola grinned.
“Thanks, Bear,” Mom said.
“Anytime!” Cola assured Mom. “Always happy to help, especially when treats are involved!”
REFUND REQUESTED
Cola hopped up to Mon and dropped a crumpled, chewed piece of paper at her feet.
“What's that, bear?”
“A receipt,” Cola replied, nosing the paper closer to Mom.
Mom picked it up and tried to figure out what it meant.
“I need you to translate.”
Cola rolled her eyes. “Oh right, you don't speak or read chewed paper.”
“I'll work on that,” Mom promised.
“It's a receipt. I want a refund,” Cola explained.
Mom was confused,. “A refund for what?”
“Well on January 24th and March 3rd you were late with breakfast,” Cola said. “You might want to write these down.”
Mom sighed and got a pen and piece of paper.
“OK, February 2nd and 23rd, March 2nd and 23rd and last year on numerous occasions, you took more than 5 minutes to compliment me on my fur first thing in the morning.”
“Maybe I was too busy getting you bunny breakfast” Mom suggested.
Cola shook hear head. “No, I would have made a note of it.”
“Of course you would have,” Mom sighed again.
“That was a little rude. Can I continue now?” Cola asked.
“Sorry, Bear,” Mom apologized and sat down.
Cola proceeded to list off instances of Mom not correctly petting her fur, not asking for permission to pet Cola's bunny (AKA Duster), improper treats and anything else she could come up with.
Mom had scribbled nearly two pages. “And all of that was chewed, er recorded on that little piece of paper?”
Cola nodded. “I had to be thorough.”
“So what were we hoping to accomplish?” Mom asked.
“I would like a full refund,” Cola replied.
“A refund?” Mom wondered.
“I am not a happy Bear customer so I want a refund,” Cola said.
“But, Cola, you didn't pay for any of
those things. Refunds usually have to do with things you pay for,” Mom explained.
“Do I love you?” Cola asked.
Mom had to laugh. “Sometimes, usually when food is involved.”
“Oh, Mom, I do love you. I just love Dad more,” Cola assured Mom. “See, I pay you with love.”
Mom smiled. “You want a treat, don't you?”
“Yes!” Cola binkied.
“Why didn't you just asked for a treat?” Mom questioned.
“That's too predictable and boring,” Cola grinned. “Now about that treat...”
“Treat after truth, did you really keep that list?”
“No,” Cola admitted. “But you do need to work on your treat response time. Like right now!”
And off Mom went to get the Bear and the other bunnies some treats.
COLA AND THE CONFETTI
Mom was in the kitchen preparing to empty the back of the paper punch and free the hundreds of little paper circles. At the exact moment Mom undid the back of the paper punch, she sneezed. Cola had been on her way to see what Mom was doing – instead of getting the bunnies treats – when the sneeze spread the confetti-like circles all over the place.
“ACHOO!” Mom hollared.
“Ack!” Cola thumped, fleeing the kitchen.
Cola hopped quickly to the living room.
“What happened?” Duster asked.
“Mom wasn't getting us treats and when I went to point out the error of her ways, there was an achoo,” Cola muttered.
“An achoo?” Duster, Zoomer and Belle echoed.
Cola nodded, wondering how they did not hear it.
“Is Mom OK?” Zoomer asked.
Cola rolled her eyes. “What about me? I was achooed too!”
“What exactly is an achoo?” Duster wondered.
The black dwarf bunny shrugged.
Belle periscoped and stared at Cola. “Spots.”
“Pardon?” Cola asked.
“An achoo is a spot explosion,” Belle binkied.
Duster and Zoomer stared at Cola.
“Cola got spots!” Belle was so happy.
Cola's face was blank. “No.”
Zoomer and Duster looked where Belle was and sure enough, Cola had spots.
“White spots!” Belle exclaimed.
Cola shook her head. “You three are hallucinating spots.”
Mom came out of the kitchen, broom and dust pan in hand. “I made quite the mess, bunnies. Treats after I sweep.”
Cola thumped.
“It won't take me long to sweep and for you to get your treats,” Mom assured her.
“I have spots on my fur,” Cola whispered, finally seeing what the other bunnies had been staring at.
“Spots!” Belle binkied again.
Cola was trying to reach the paper circles that speckled her back.
“Want me to help you?” Mom offered.
“No way! You and your achoo gave me the spots! I don't want Mommy germs and spots!” Cola hopped to Duster. “Save my fur.”
Duster began grooming Cola and her temporary spots fell to the floor.
“Aw, don't got spots,” Belle shook her head sadly.
Cola sighed happily. “My beautiful fur is back. Spots look great with your fur, Belle, but not mine.”
Belle binkied. “Love my spots.”
Mom had gone to the kitchen and reappeared with treats. She gave them to Zoomer, Duster and Belle.
“Can you accept a treat or will you get Mommy germs?” Mom asked Bear.
Cola scrunched up her nose and sighed dramatically. “I guess I can accept a treat.”
Mom was trying not to laugh. “I know it's asking a lot.”
“It is,” Cola agreed, munching on the carrot. “Maybe next time you can give us treats without an achoo traumatizing me and my fur.”
Mom hid her smirk. “I'll work on that.”
Another dramatic diva sigh. “I guess that's all we can ask for. Well maybe we could ask for another treat so you can work on not achooing.”
“Good try, Bear,” Mom had to laugh.
“Just trying to help,” Bear assured Mom, hopping away to plan the next treat attempt.
GRIZZLY BUNNIES
When Cola watches TV you never know what the outcome will be. So when Mom notices Cola totally absorbed in a show, she took a deep breath and sat down with her.
“Hi, Bear.”
“Shhh,” Cola exclaimed. “Can't you see I am busy?”
Mom nodded and then whispered. “What are we watching?”
“It's a show about Grizzly bunnies and how hard it is to get food in the wild,” Cola sounded sad. “I guess the Park Ranger was late with bunny breakfast and the Grizzly bunnies got really mad.”
“Grizzly bunnies,” Mom repeated.
“They have got to be the biggest bunnies I ever saw! But the TV voice keeps calling them Grizzly bears. I think I need to write a letter and complain they are misinforming viewers,” Cola said, never taking her eyes off the screen.
Mom finally focused her eyes on the TV. The footage showed bears going through a campsite looking for food.
“The campers shouldn't make the Grizzly bunnies play hide and seek with their breakfast. They should share with the Grizzly bunnies,” Cola commented.
There were no sign of campers on the program. Mom figured out it was a show telling people how to safely store food to keep bears out of their campsites.
“Maybe they went to find the Park Ranger and see what is taking so long with breakfast,” Mom said.
“That would be the smart thing to do,” Cola replied.
The Grizzlies had pretty much destroyed the camp and found no food. One of the Grizzles sat down, looking frustrated.
“Maybe they could order something for delivery,” Cola suggested.
Mom smile. “Might be hard to get something delivered to the forest, but a good idea.”
Cola stretched and then periscoped. “I guess I'm lucky I am a Cola Bear and don't have to wait for someone to bring me breakfast. You're usually on time.”
Mom looked at Cola.
“Except when you get distracted by a TV show and me and the three bunnies have to wait for breakfast,” Cola said.
“Not very subtle are you?” Mom asked Cola.
“Not on time with breakfast are you?” Bear countered.
Mom took the hint and went to get breakfast, thankful she had a Cola Bear and not a Grizzly bunny waiting impatiently for breakfast.
BRAIN FREEZE
“Ow, ow, ow,” Mom jumped up from the couch, her hand pressed to her forehead.
“What's wrong?” Zoomer hopped to his feet. He was a Mommy's bunny and need to know she was OK.
“Brain freeze,” Mom replied.
Cola, Duster and Belle were watching Mom.
“What does that mean?” Belle asked.
“Mom's brain is frozen?” Duster wondered.
“Frozen like ice?” Cola speculated.
“It's OK,” Mom assured the bunnies. “Just need to warm up.”
Mom disappeared into the kitchen.
Belle was still confused. “What's going on?”
“Mom's brain is frozen – like ice – maybe she can't think,” Duster said.
“Or remember...” Cola said. “Like remember we already had breakfast! Maybe we can get a second breakfast!”
“What if she doesn't remember us?” Zoomer whispered.
“Mom could never forget us,” Belle said. “Even baby bunny knows that.”
Zoomer flopped, life was good as long as he knew Mom would remember him.
“Repeat breakfast?” Belle asked.
“We could try,” Cola nodded.
Duster shook his head. “Don't corrupt the baby bunny.”
“With spots,” Belle added.
“With spots,” Duster echoed.
“Belle and The Spots aren't corrupted – they are growing bunny and spots and need a second breakfast,” Cola replied.
“A
nd what's your reason for needed a second breakfast?” Duster asked.
Cola shrugged,. It's breakfast – I don't need a reason.”
“Spots are hungry,” Belle binkied.
“Bear hungry too – this is what we need to do,” Cola replied.
When Mom returned to the living room -
“Mom alright?” Belle asked. “The Spots were worried.”
“You can tell The Spots Mom is fine,” Mom assured Belle.
Cola stretched. “Mom, I don't think you're alright.”
“Huh?” Mom asked.
“You went into the kitchen to get us breakfast and yet here you are – no breakfast,” Cola said.
Mom paused. “But we already ate.”
“Yesterday morning we had breakfast,” Cola cut in.
Mom looked at the four bunnies. She was positive she had given them breakfast. Duster and Zoomer were both flopped over. Cola was staring at her and baby bunny Belle looked ready to binky all over the place.
“No breakfast yet?' Mom asked.
Mom Cola and Belle looked at each other. “Not yet.”
Mom went back into the kitchen and was getting ready to peel a banana when she noticed there was already a banana peel in the garbage.
Mom smiled. “Cola and her treats and now she has Belle on board.”
Mom decided to play along.
“Just a minute bunnies, I'll be right out with food.”
Belle and Cola binkied.
Just then, the phone rang. Mom answered it.
“Are you sure? Forever? Okay, I'll let them know,” the bunnies heard Mom say.
Mom came back into the living room, looking very serious, no treats in hand.
“I have news, bad news,” she said.
The bunnies all sat up.
“That was the Breakfast Police and they said that breakfast has been canceled – forever,” Mom said, trying to sound devastated.
“The Breakfast Police? How'd they know what we were doing?” Cola grumbled.
“What was that, Cola?” Mom asked.
“Nothing, nothing at all,” Bear replied.
Belle was not happy or discreet. “The Spots are hungry – need second breakfast.”
“Second breakfast?” Mom asked.
“Oops,” Belle whispered. “Um, The Spots have an appointment to get to.”
Mom looked at Belle. “An appointment?”
Belle hopped to her litter area. “Potty time appointment – excuse us.”
Cola covered her eyes with her paws. “There are no Breakfast Police, are there, Mom?”
“No,” Mom replied, she had used her cell phone to call the house phone.
“And no second breakfast?” Cola was holding out hope.
Mom shook her head no. “But there will be breakfast tomorrow, that I can promise you. And maybe a treat later.”
“So your brain wasn't frozen?” Cola asked. “That's how you remembered?”
“Of course my brain wasn't frozen. I drank something cold and it hurt my head – it's just called brain freeze, doesn't really happen though.”
“But if it did ever really happen, that would be the perfect time to try this again?” Cola said.
“Uh I guess it would be,” Mom had to agree.
“Good to know. Well I hope it doesn't happen when you go to bring us that treat later. Wouldn't want you to forget that,” Cola said.
“I'm very confident you won't let me ever forget that,” Mom said with a smile.
“You know me so well,” Cola replied and settled in to await the arrival of the promised treat.
BREAKFAST BATTLES
Bang! Bang! Thump! Thump!
Mom and Dad stumbled out of the bedroom.
“Bunnies … here ...” Mom mumbled.
“What's wrong?” Dad asked.
“It's 6:30 am and we don't have breakfast,” Cola said,
“And that is very wrong,” Belle stated.
“We want to sleep in,” Mom pretty much whined.
“And we want treats,” Zoomer countered.
“We're the parents,” Dad said.
“We are the bunnies – more of us than there are of you,” Duster replied happily.
Mom sighed. “You can't just wake us up because you want treats.”
“Yes, we can,” Cola smiled.
“We just did,” Belle added.
“Going back to bed,” Dad sighed. “Breakfast later.”
“Going to make noise,” Cola replied. “Breakfast now, please.”
“I think we need to set up some ground rules,” Mom said.
“You're grounded till we get breakfast,” Duster said.
“Not quite what I meant,” Mom replied.
Belle periscoped. “The Spots need breakfast.”
“The Spots can wait just like the bunnies can,” Dad said. “Rule # 1 – no waking up parents because you want breakfast.”
“We don't like that rule,” Zoomer replied.
“Well we are the parents, we made the rule and it stays,” Mom said.
Cola sighed. “And you are the parents that are already awake and would be back in bed if you had just given us breakfast.”
Mom and Dad looked at each other.
“It's OK,” Cola said. “I'm used to being right.
The bunny parents quietly went to the kitchen and got the requested breakfast. Once breakfast was distributed and the bunnies were happily munching away, the parents were allowed to return to their sleep.
“Good night, you two,” Belle called out.
“See you at lunch time,” Cola said. “Don't worry, we won't let you be late for lunch!”
SHREDDING SUCCESS
“Mom, I need help!” Cola exclaimed, hopping to where Mom was standing.
“What's going on?” Mom asked.
“I need the phone book ASAP!” Cola said.
Mom got the phone book out of the cupboard and followed Cola to the living room.
“I need you to open the book to where vacuums are,” Cola instructed. “ And then put the book on the floor.”
Mom did as requested.
Cola circled the phone book and then hopped onto it. She shredded the pages in record time. Bear hopped to the side.
“OK, now we need to find curtains.”
Mom was hiding the smile as she turned to the curtains heading.
Cola pretended to walk away from the phone book. She then quickly leaped onto the drapery directory.
In a few minutes that section of the phone book was a shredded pile of black and white paper.
“Good work, Bear!” Mom said.
“One more I need to eliminate,” Cola whispered. “Once I tear them out of the phone book, no one can look up their business address or phone number anymore.”
“What category would that be?” Mom questioned.
“The V-E-T,” Cola scrunched up her nose.
“Of course,” Mom nodded.
Mom searched for the veterinarian pages as Cola did some stretches. She was ready for this.
Mom placed the book on the floor. Cola periscoped and then hopped with all her might, landing right in the middle of the directory and shredded with all she had.
“That's for me, and my fur!” she tore at a page. “That's for every bunny you ever stole fur from.”
It only took a minute really. Cola obliterated the veterinarian pages. Cola hopped out of the heap of shredded paper.
“Sorry for the mess, Mom, but it had to be done,” Cola sighed.
Mom smiled.
“It was for the best. I don't mind cleaning this up,” Mom assured Bear.
“Wow, I worked up quite an appetite,” Cola sighed.
“All that hard work deserves a treat,” Mom agreed.
“Thanks, Mom. I'll be cuddling with Duster,” Cola said and hopped off to see her lop and to share the good news with Zoomer and Belle.
LIFE BEFORE BUNNIES
“Mom, we need to talk to you,” Cola said.
“Sure thing, what's up?” Mom asked.
“You may want to sit down, this could take awhile,” Cola advised.
Mom pulled a chair up in front of the cages.
“Mom, we need to know something,” Duster said.
“It's really important,” Zoomer told Mom.
“Even The Spots want to know,” Belle added.
“This sounds serious,” Mom said. “Go ahead, what is it you need to know?”
“What was your life like before you were adopted by bunnies?” the four rabbits chorused.
Mom smiled, relieved it was something positive.
“It wasn't as interesting as it is now,” Mom admitted.
“Did you have to clean litter boxes?” Belle asked.
Mom nodded. “I have had pets before that used litter boxes.”
“Did you have to clean as many litter boxes as you do now?” Cola wondered.
“No, I think you bunnies win the largest number of litter boxes I clean on a daily basis,” Mom said.
“Yay, us!” Belle binkied.
“Did you have other pets that liked treats?” Duster asked.
Mom nodded yes. “But I think again you bunnies like, and get the most treats. And you can thank Cola for that.”
Cola looked so proud of herself. “Finally some recognition.”
“Were the other animals in your life as cute as us?” Zoomer asked.
“No, rabbits are the cutest animals I have had in my life,” Mom assured Zoomer.
“Did any other animals wake you up?” Cola asked.
“Not as consistently as you, my dear Bear,” Mom replied.
“We're awesome,” Cola looked at the other rabbits.
“Did you have Spots in your life before?” Belle wondered.
“No, no Spots before bunnies,” Mom answered.
“Did you have any idea how evil curtains are before we came along?” Cola asked.
“No, I really didn't know the truth about curtains, Cola,” Mom acknowledged.
“So your life got a whole bunch better when bunnies adopted you!” Cola exclaimed.
“Yes, it certainly did,” Mom nodded.
“And with that, I think we deserve treats, for making your life as great as it is today,” Cola said modestly.
And Mom could not have agreed more, and went to get the bunnies their well deserved treats.
RAINY DAY REASONING
Mom put the book back on the shelf.
Cola hopped up to her. “Don't you want to read that today? I could help, you know, chew a few pages for you.”
Mom laughed. “Thanks for the offer but I'm going to save that book for a rainy day.”
Cola was confused. “You can only read that book on a day it rains?”
“No, it means I am saving it for a rainy day, to have something to do,” Mom explained.
“Why?” Cola questioned.
Mom looked at the black dwarf bunny. “So I won't be bored I guess.”
“How can you be bored with me and Duster and Zoomer and Belle around?” Cola wondered.
Mom smiled. “Good point but there are times when you bunnies aren't having adventures and I have a few minutes to read.”
“But only on rainy days,” Cola added.
Mom sighed. “Reading that book on a rainy day will be la treat for me.”
“Treat” was a word Cola certainly understood!
“A treat? But why would you want to wait for a treat? What if it doesn't rain for a long time and I can't have a treat till it rains?” Cola was hopping back and forth.
“Cola, I didn't say you and the other bunnies have to wait for a rainy day to have a treat,” Mom assured Bear.
“Oh thank goodness, that was really stressing out me and my fur. That's double the stress, Mom,” Cola persicoped.
Mom stared at Cola.
“You know what happens when me and my fur are stressed,” Cola said.
Mom continued to stare at Bear.
“Do I really have to say it?” Cola sighed.
Mom nodded.
“I need a treat. My fur needs a treat and the other bunnies could probably use a treat too while you're at it,” Cola was to the point.
Mom took the book back off the shelf.
Cola looked at her. “Is it going to rain?”
“I don't know, but you're right, why wait for a treat?” Mom said.
“Wow, we're starting to think alike!” Cola did a small binky and lead the way to the kitchen so she could help Mom pick out the appropriate treat.
TREAT REVENGE?
“Oh this is not good!” the bunnies heard Dad exclaim from the kitchen.
Then they heard the cupboard doors being opened and closed and then being opened and closed again.
“This is a dark, dark day!” Dad called out, more cupboard doors being opened and closed.
“What's going on?” Cola asked Mom.
Mom was sitting on the couch. “Dad is out of his favorite snack, you know those cookies he likes.”
“Oh,” all four bunnies chorused.
Dad came out of the kitchen. “Are you sure, 100% positive we don't have any?”
Mom nodded.
“Would you maybe have put them in the closet?” Dad questioned.
Mom shook her head. “No, but you can always triple check it ...”
Dad sighed and headed off to the bedroom.
“Wow, this is really bad,” Duster whispered.
“Kind of like when you don't have potato chips,” Zoomer said to Mom.
“I think this is worse than that,” Mom admitted.
Dad came out of the bedroom,. No, no cookies in there. Are you sure the store is closed?”
“Till 8:00 am tomorrow,” Mom confirmed.
Dad flopped onto the chair in front of the computer.
Cola hopped up to him. “This reminds me of when we were out of bunny treats cause someone forgot to buy them and the store was closed.”
Dad looked at Cola. “Did you hide my cookies?”
Cola rolled her eyes. “How would I reach the cupboard, Dad?”
“Maybe Zoomer or Duster or Belle helped you. Is this revenge for us running out of your treats once?” Dad wondered.
Belle laughed. “Daddy is funny.”
Mom smiled. “Maybe Daddy should go to bed. And when he wakes up the store will be open and we can get him his cookies.”
“Good idea,” Dad agreed, he said good night to Mom and the bunnies.
“And maybe you can dream about the cookies till then!” Cola called out.
Dad nodded. “That's a happy thought. Thanks, Cola.”
“Night, Dad!” the bunnies chorused.
“Whew, that was close, can we have a treat now?” Cola asked Mom.
Mom laughed.
“Well it wasn't fair that we get a treat and Dad doesn't have any,” Cola reasoned.
“Very thoughtful of you,” Mom replied.
“We try,” Cola hopped beside Mom to the kitchen. “Maybe we could each have two treats, since we're so thoughtful and all?”
“Sure, why not. Just don't tell, Dad!” Mom said.
Cola promised and hopped off to share the good treat news with Duster, Zoomer and Belle.
TAIL TWIN
“Cola, that loose piece of fur must be annoying,” Mom said, looking at Cola's lower back area.
Cola looked over her shoulder. “What loose fur?”
“The one right beside your tail,” Mom replied. “You sure are shedding.”
Cola tensed at the word “shedding” and turned to look at Mom. “That is NOT loose fur, that is my tail twin.”
“Pardon?” Mom asked.
“My tail twin,” Cola replied, hopping over to where Mom was sitting.
Cola turned so Mom could get a closer look.
“I'm pretty sure that is loose fur just waiting to be shed,” Mom countered.
Cola shook her head. “Trust me, I know my fur. My tail has a twin. It just recently decided to join us.
”
Mom pulled a Cola and scrunched up her nose. “Just suddenly joined you?”
“Kind of like a long lost relative,” Cola commented.
“That just decided to join you, right around the time you start to shed, convenient,” Mom observed.
“I do not shed,” Cola mumbled.
“Hey how about I brush your fur? Make it look all nice,” Mom asked.
“You just want to see if my tail twin will shed,” Cola accused Mom.
Mom tried to look offended. “I'd never do that.”
Cola glared at her.
“OK, fine, this whole tail twin thing is very suspicious though,” Mom said.
“Me and my tail and its twin have things to do, far away from you and a brush,” Cola replied and hopped over to cuddle with Duster.
“OK, Cola Bear, you and your tail and its twin have a good nap with Duster,” Mom smiled.
“Oh we will,” Cola assured Mom. “And don't be late with our after-nap treat.”
Mom smiled as she watched Cola hop over to where Duster was laying, the tail twin bouncing as she hopped.
RABBIT RADAR
Cola hopped to where Mom was standing. “What's that?”
“My new bunny statue,” Mom placed it on the shelf.
Cola periscoped. “You sure have a lot of statues.”
“I collect them,” Mom said. “I am so glad your Dad saw this one.”
“Dad saw it?” Cola asked.
Mom nodded. “He thought it would be the perfect addition to the collection”
“Huh,” Cola replied. “It's cute. Gotta go find something to do...”
Mom smiled and Cola hopped off to fins Dad. He was in the kitchen.
Cola hopped up to him and nosebonked his ankle.
“Hi, Bear.”
The she started to dig at his socks.
“OK, OK I'll get you a treat,” Dad mumbled.
“I don't want a treat,” Cola exclaimed.
“You don't want a treat?” Dad asked.
“We need to ration the ones we have,” Cola replied.
Dad was confused.
“Mom keeps on adding statues to her collection. She's spending treat money on fake bunnies!” Cola said.
“That one was from the dollar store,” Dad said. “It cost us a whole dollar.”
“Plus tax! A dollar that could have gone to bunny treats and even worse Mom said you saw it!” Cola accused.
Dad laughed. “I sometimes have rabbit radar when it comes to finding rabbit related items.”
“Well shut the radar off!” Cola thumped.
Dad sighed. “Cola, trust me, we'll always make sure you have treats before Mom buys a dollar store bunny statue.”
Cola looked relieved. “Thanks, Dad. That was stressful. Now I do need a treat.”
Dad obliged, making sure Cola, Duster, Zoomer and Belle got a treat.
ALLERGY ALLEGATIONS
“Achoo!” Dad sneezed.
Cola hopped to her feet, little ears honing in on the noise.
“Achoo! Achoo!” Dad sneezed again.
Cola hopped towards her Daddy as Mom entered the living room.
“Are you alright?” Mom and Bear asked at the same time.
“I think I'm getting sick,” Dad said.
“Sick of Mom?” Cola asked.
Mom looked at the black dwarf bunny.
“Just kidding,” Cola said and then hopped up to Dad and whispered. “But seriously, between us – sick of Mom?”
“No, I am not sick of Mom,” Dad whispered back to Cola.
“Just wanted to make sure,” Cola said.
“Cola, don't you have some curtain surveillance to do?” Mom asked.
“Nope, it's all secure,” Cola replied. “Maybe you have an allergy.”
“That could be it,” Dad agreed.
“I bet you're allergic to Mom,” Cola said.
Mom stared at Bear.
“Maybe you could stay with Grandma and Grandpa while we rule out if Dad is allergic to you,” Cola suggested. “You could call us on weekends.”
“Don't you mean visit on weekends?” Mom was a bit sarcastic.
“No! You can't visit if he is allergic to you,” Cola replied.
“Maybe he's allergic to bears,” Mom said.
“I'm a bunny,” Cola had an answer for everything.
“You're a bunny when it's convenient,” Mom smiled.
“Achoo! Maybe I'm allergic to both of you,” Dad mumbled.
“Pardon?” Mom and Cola asked.
“Nothing, nothing. I'm just going to go over here with my cold and leave you two to discuss whatever you need to,” Dad said and flopped onto the couch.
Mom and Cola looked at each other.
“Feel like a treat?” Mom asked Bear.
“Of course,” Cola followed Mom to the kitchen to get the bunnies some treats and a box of tissues for Dad.
BUN-E-MAIL
Cola hopped up to the computer desk where Mom was sitting.
“I need your help,” Cola said.
“Anything for a Bear,” Mom replied as she stopped typing.
Cola periscoped,. “I need you to send a letter for me.”
“A letter?” Mom asked.
“Yep, use that computer thing and send a letter,” Cola confirmed.
“To whom?” Mom questioned.
“The maker of treats,” Cola replied.
Mom smiled, to Cola “treats” was a food group.
“An e-mail would be faster.”
“Then do that please. Let's send a bun-e-mail,” Cola hopped up on the couch.
Mom opened a blank text document, waiting for Cola to dictate.
“Dear Treat Maker, This is Cola,” she paused. “Do you think I need to say Cola Bear?”
Mom smiled. “I think you're OK with just Cola.”
Cola returned to her dictation. “I am writing to say thank you for all the treats you make. Treats are my favorite food. I wish Mom and Dad weren't so stingy with them sometimes but I know that isn't your fault.”
Mom paused.
Cola looked at her. “Not done yet.”
Mom resumed her typing position.
“If you ever need to add a bear – or bunny – to your staff please feel free to contact me. I will always be happy to be a treat taste tester. Thanks for all your hard work, Yours truly, Cola.”
Mom finished typing and read it back to the Bear.
“Perfect,” Cola binkied.
Mom saved the document and pretended to send an e-mail. “Great, I am sure the Treat Maker will appreciate your e-mail.”
Cola periscoped to see the computer screen. “Did they reply?”
Mom hadn't anticipated that question.
“Not yet.”
“But isn't that what makes bun-e-mail so great is that it's so fast?” Cola questioned.
“It is but they have to have time to read it and then reply,” Mom explained.
“Oh,” Cola said and sat down on the couch.
“Maybe while you wait you could do a curtain patrol,” Mom suggested. “I don't trust that shower curtain. I am pretty sure those ducks on it are planning something.”
“I knew it!” Cola thumped hopping off the couch and bee-lining it to the bathroom.
Mom had to think and type quick. She knew when Cola got back she'd expect a reply from the Treat Maker.
About twenty minutes later, the black dwarf bunny returned.
“All is good?” Mom asked.
“It was close, think I got there just in time. A shower curtain with ducks, Mom, that's double the trouble,” Cola sighed. “Did the Treat Maker reply?'
“Yes!” Mom exclaimed.
Cola hopped back onto the couch, hopping back and forth. “Read it, read it, read it please!”
“Dear Cola, thank you so much for your bun-e-mail! What a wonderful surprise to get a letter from Cola Bear! I work extra hard knowing how much you love treats. If I ever have an opening on staff for a b
ear – or bunny – the job is yours! I'll keep creating treats and you keep enjoying them! All the best, The Treat Maker,” Mom read.
Cola was doing bunny laps on the couc. “Wow! The Treat Maker knows who I am! And you read that – I might someday have a job with the Treat Maker! I gotta go tell Duster and Zoomer and Belle!”
And off hopped a very happy Bear!
BUNNY BEAR
“Mom!” Cola was hopping around her cage excitedly.
Mom poked her head out of the kitchen. “What’s wrong, Bear?”
“I need to see Dad right away!” Cola persicoped.
“Daddy’s taking a nap, can it wait for a bit?” Mom asked.
Cola thumped her little foot. “No, this cannot wait! I need Daddy!”
Zoomer, Belle and Duster were watching Cola have a mini meltdown. The only end result would be that she would get what she wanted.
Mom sighed and walked over and released the Bear from her cage.
Cola bee-lined it to the bedroom door.
“It’s closed! I need Daddy!” Bear thumped again.
Mom quietly opened the door.
Cola rushed into the bedroom and hopped onto the bed. She dug at the blankets.
“Daddy!”
Dad sat up. “Huh?”
Cola binkied. “Daddy!”
“Cola? What’s wrong? Mom not give you a treat again?” Dad asked sleepily.
“Nothing wrong, I could use a treat though,” Cola sat down beside Dad. “I have news!”
Mom and Dad looked at each other.
“And what’s that?” Mom asked.
“I know what type of bear I am,” Cola announced.
Mom and Dad stared at her.
“I have decided ...” she paused. “I am a Bunny Bear.”
“Bunny Bear?” Dad repeated.
“Yes, a very rare bear. The only one in the world!” Cola was very proud.
“You just decided this?” Mom asked.
Cola nodded. “I didn’t know I was on a timeline. Anyways, I’m a Bunny Bear. I have the best features of both animals – the cuteness of a bunny and the fierceness of a bear.”
Dad petted Cola. “And does the Bunny Bear need a treat?”
“You know it!” Cola hopped off the bed and waited for Dad to follow her to the kitchen.
COLA’S CLOUD CONCEPT
“So pretty,” Belle said, looking out the window.
Cola’s ears twitched. “What do you see?”
“Fluffy white things in the sky,” Belle whispered.
“Oh those are clouds,” Cola said.
“Clouds,” Belle repeated. “What are they made from?”
Now Duster and Zoomer took an interest in the conversation as Cola is known for being quite knowledgeable about, well, pretty much everything.
“Bunny fur,” the black dwarf bunny replied.
“Bunny fur?” Duster, Zoomer and Belle repeated.
Cola stretched and nodded.
“Yep, when we shed our fur – or when a vet steals it and the fur is able to escape from the vet – it floats up to the sky. It reunites will all other bunny fur and they make clouds.”
Belle looked at her fur. “My fur makes cloud?”
“Definitely. You and Zoomer have white fur so it makes the bright clouds.”
“Wow, that’s neat,” Zoomer groomed his white paws.
Duster was curious. “What type of clouds does my fur make?”
“Well your fur is grey and mine is black, so our fur tends to create storm clouds, you know, the kind that bring snow and rain,” Cola answered.
Duster’s eye got big. “Wow, our fur is pretty impressive.”
Cola smiled, always happy to talk about her fur. “It is. Humans underestimate the power of bunny fur.”
DUSTER
TRIPLE THREAT OF CUTENESS