It was a nice sunny day in fall at the Pappa-pepper ranch. The sun was already warm as it rose over the trees and shone down on the grass in the back yard. The grass was littered with fallen leaves as the trees were getting ready for winter. They crunched and crackled whenever anyone walked on them.
Runaway Rabbit loved playing on the leaves. He would run from one end of the yard to the other listening to the crunching and kicking up his heels to throw the leaves into the air. Sometimes he would race his brothers and sisters, and they would charge through the leaves creating a huge noise and clouds of flying leaves.
It was lots of fun.
But today Runaway Rabbit didn’t so much feel like playing in the yard. He wanted a bigger adventure. He wanted to explore the big wide world beyond the fence. There was so much out there that needed to be found, and explored, and chewed on.
He knew that going outside the fence by himself was not allowed, but he felt the call of the wild. It sang to him of long green grass and wild carrots. Maybe there were other rabbits he could meet and make friends with.
The more he thought about it the more he wanted to go. So he pricked up his ears, wiggled his tail and hopped over to the fence. Just when he thought he might get away without being caught, Charlotte called his name.
Runaways Rabbit’s ears drooped and his tail sagged. He had been caught already.
Charlotte knew that Runaway Rabbit liked to get out and explore, and she also knew that it was very dangerous for a young rabbit to be out by himself.
“Now Runaway Rabbit” she said. “You just stay in the yard today and be good, and I’ll see if I can find some nice juicy carrots for your dinner.”
Image credit: @pappa-pepper
He looked longingly through the wire fence at the big wide world, where all the adventure was, and sighed.
He would never get to meet new rabbits if he stayed in the yard. But he promised Charlotte that he would behave himself and stay in the yard.
Happy that Runaway Rabbit would do as he was told, Charlotte swished her purple skirt making it twirl and she turned and walked away.
Runaway Rabbit wandered through the yard in a grumpy mood. He picked up a fallen leaf and nibbled on it. It crunched and crackled and tickled his whiskers, but even that didn’t cheer him up.
Image credit: @pappa-pepper
Suddenly a shadow blocked out the sun and he looked up, startled. A large black crow swooped across the yard, skimming the top of the fence, before flapping his wings and disappearing into the woods. It called out, “Caww, caww…” as it went.
Runaway Rabbit heard the laughter in the crow’s voice. It was free to go wherever it wanted. No-one told it to stay in the yard. It was free to explore all day long.
“Well I can explore all day long too!” shouted Runaway Rabbit as the bird flapped its wings once more and was gone.
He looked around quickly to see if anyone was watching. Everyone else was playing with Charlotte down by the vegetable patch. They would never even know he was gone.
Image credit: @pappa-pepper
He tucked in his ears, set his tail on high speed, and then hopped as fast as he could towards the fence.
Hop, hop, hop, bounce… and suddenly he was over the fence and on his way to adventure. Yippee!!
Image credit: @pappa-papper
Runaway Rabbit kept hopping until he was safely in the trees. With just a quick look over his shoulder to make sure no-one had seen him, he set off to explore the woods.
The sun shone down through the branches that were losing their leaves, like an old man loses his hair. There were a lot more leaves in the wood than there were in the yard back home, so Runaway Rabbit had to hop even higher and higher just to get through.
But there was so much to see!
Here there was a fallen log, all covered in moss and mushrooms. Over there was a stump that looked like a table. In a small clearing there was a ring of mushrooms, and when Runaway Rabbit took a closer look, he thought he could see tiny boot prints on the ground.
He walked over toward a big oak tree spreading its branches across the sky. It was so big! It was probably the biggest tree in the whole world. Standing in the shade, Runaway Rabbit stopped for a short rest.
“This adventuring is hard work” he said to himself. “I think I’ll stop here for a few minutes.”
Just then, something small and hard hit him on the head, then bounced off to land on the ground just in front of his nose.
“Ouch!” he said. “That hurt!”
He looked down at the small round shape trying to figure out what it was. It was brown and sort-of shaped like an egg, and it had a little hat on it with a stalk sticking out the top.
“Curious” said Runaway Rabbit as he sniffed it.
The loud chattering filled his ears as a grey blur dropped down from above and snatched up the little brown egg with the hat.
It stood there staring at Runaway Rabbit, holding its prize close to its chest, its fluffy tail sticking up and quivering.
“This is my acorn” it said in a squeaky voice. “Go get your own acorn.”
“Is that what it is?” asked Runaway Rabbit.
‘Of course it is. I’m a squirrel aren’t i? So this is an acorn. And it is my acorn.” The squirrel clutched the acorn even tighter.
Runaway Rabbit shuffled back a bit. He was a bit concerned about the look in the squirrel’s eye.
But since it didn’t look like the rabbit was going to try and steal her acorn, the squirrel relaxed a little and said, “You look a bit young to be out in the wild by yourself. The wild is not a safe place for a young rabbit to go alone you know.”
Runaway Rabbit looked back over his shoulder to make sure he knew which way home was, then he said to the squirrel, “I’m grown up enough to explore the wild. I’m even bigger than you, so if it is safe enough for you, it is safe enough for me.”
The squirrel looked him up and down and said “You should go home right away. You don’t know what dangers are out in the wild. Who said you could come out here anyway?”
Runaway Rabbit looked down at the ground and shuffled his feet. He mumbled something that the squirrel couldn’t hear. But she didn’t need to. She knew he had run away.
“Huh” she said. “You are just a small mistake away from being someone’s dinner! Go home Runaway Rabbit and do as you are told.”
With that, she leapt toward the great trunk of the giant oak tree and scampered up into the branches, taking her acorn with her.
“I’ll show her” said Runaway Rabbit. “I am big enough to be in the wild.” So he hopped past the big oak tree and carried on exploring the wood.
Eventually he came to a small stream winding its way through the wood. Not wanting to get his feet wet, Runaway Rabbit hopped along the bank looking for a way across. Eventually he found a fallen log the stretched all the way from one bank to the other side. So he hopped up onto it and carefully made his way out over the water.
The log was damp and slippery, so Runaway Rabbit went very slowly. He didn’t want to fall in and get all wet.
Suddenly there was a sound of scampering claws behind him and a voice saying, “Coming though, mind your tail, coming through.” A small grey bundle of fur pushed past him, nearly bumping him off the log. Runaway Rabbit squeaked in alarm as he nearly slipped off the log and into the cold water below.
The grey bundle of fur turned at looked at him as he scrambled to get back on top of the log. It had black beady eyes, with what looked like a mask, like a bandit would wear.
“Hello little rabbit” it said. “What are you doing out in the wild? Are you lost?”
“No, I’m not lost!” said Runaway Rabbit angrily. “And I‘m not a little rabbit” he added sulkily.
The grey bundle looked him up and down, then smiled. “You’ve run away haven’t you?”
“A raccoon knows a thing or two about running away lad. If I were you I’d turn around and head back home before something bad happens. The woods are not safe for a young rabbit out on his own.”
“Nothing bad will happen” said Runaway Rabbit crossly. “I’m a big rabbit and I can go where I want.”
The racoon looked him up and down again, then turned around and shuffled his way to the end of the log.
“Suit yourself.” He said. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.” And with that he scampered off into the trees.
Runaway Rabbit carefully made his way to the end of the log and hopped off. He was glad to make it to the other side without falling off and getting all wet. That would have made for a very damp and cold adventure indeed.
Further into the woods he explored find all kinds of interesting rocks and trees and flowers with bumble bees buzzing to and fro.
He was starting to feel a bit hungry when he spied a familiar dark shape standing on a rotting log. Runaway Rabbit hopped over to say hello to the crow that had shown him the way into the woods.
“Hello friend crow” said Runaway Rabbit cheerfully. “Thank you for showing me the way into the woods.”
The crow cocked his head and studied the young rabbit with a critical stare. Then quick as a wink he reached out and pecked him on the top of his head, coming away with a tuft of fur in his beak.
“Ouch!” said Runaway Rabbit. “What did you do that for?”
The crow just looked sideways at him and pecked again, filling his beak with even more fur.
“Ouch!” said Runaway Rabbit again. “Stop it!”
The crow stopped and looked at Runaway Rabbit. Speaking around the fur in his beak he said “That’s nice soft fur, that is. That will make my nest nice and comfy. You don’t need all of it.”
Runaway Rabbit opened his mouth to protest, but the crow pecked him again, and again, so decided the best idea was to hop away while he still had some fur left. The crow laughed and flapped his wings, and flew off up into the branches to add some comfy padding to his nest.
Runaway Rabbit hopped slowly along a small path feeling very sorry for himself. The wild was not how he thought it would be. The other animals out here were not very nice. At least at home nobody threw nuts at him or knocked him or pecked his fur out.
He was just thinking that maybe he should turn around and go back home when a smooth voice said “Well, hello there little rabbit. What’s brings you to my area of the woods?”
Runaway Rabbit looked up to see a smiling face. The first friendly face he had seen in the wild. He smiled back and said “Hello, nice to meet you.”
His new friend flicked his brush tail and smiled a wide smile. “And it’s very nice to meet you little rabbit. You’re the juiciest little rabbit I’ve seen for quite some time.”
Runaway Rabbit blushed. He wasn’t quite sure what his new friend meant by that. But at least he wasn’t telling him to go home or pecking him.
“So this is where you live?” asked Runaway Rabbit looking around.
The fox smiled and said “This is some of my hunting range, yes. Would you like to see my home?”
Runaway Rabbit thought for a moment. He really should be going home soon. He had been away for quite a while now and somebody might have missed him.
He was just about to tell the fox that he would come and visit him another day when his tummy rumbled loudly.
“Ha ha ha” laughed the fox. “It sounds like you are hungry. I’m hungry too, so why not come to my home for lunch?”
Runaway Rabbit smiled and blushed. He was suddenly quite hungry and the thought of some nice fresh carrots made his ears stand up.
So he started walking along the path beside his new friend.
“Thank you very much for inviting me for lunch” he said. “I’m not a fussy eater you know. Rabbits eat all kinds of things, carrots, beets, turnips even nice fresh grass.”
“Is that so?” replied the fox. “I’ll have to keep that in mind.”
“What do you eat Mr. Fox?” asked Runaway Rabbit.
His new friend smiled broadly, showing long sharp teeth. “We foxes are quite happy with a nice, young, juicy rabbit.” He stopped walking and looked hard at Runaway Rabbit. He was drooling just a little bit.
Runaway Rabbit felt the first tingle of fear run down his spine.
“While it is nice of you to invite me for lunch Mr. Fox, I really think I should be getting off home now” said Runaway Rabbit nervously. He tried stepping back slightly from the smiling jaws as the fox stepped even closer.
“Nonsense” said the fox. “You don’t want to stay in the yard all day. You want to do whatever you want to do. You’re a big rabbit and you can decide for yourself where you can go. And you want to come with me for lunch.”
“N-no thank you” stammered Runaway Rabbit staring at a big line of drool hanging from the jaws of the fox. “I really should be going.”
“Bye!” he shouted as he jumped as high as he could. The fox’s jaws snapped shut with a loud click, just below his tail. Runaway Rabbit landed on top of the fox’s nose, pushing his head into the dirt.
But he didn’t even stop to say sorry. He pinned his ears back, put his tail into full turbo mode, and hopped as fast as his legs would go.
The fox spat out a mouthful of leaves covered in drool, and then set off after his lunch, like a hungry grey blur.
Runaway Rabbit hopped and hopped as fast as he could. The trees flashed past as he hopped for his life.
“Run, Runaway Rabbit!” cawed the crow as he hopped underneath his nest.
The fox was getting closer so Runaway Rabbit couldn’t stop. He hopped and hopped until he could see the little stream in front of him.
But where was the log?
There it was, but the raccoon was in the middle of it! There was no way he could get across and get away from the fox. It would take too long!
“Ha ha ha, little lunch, I have you now!” said the fox. He was very close now and Runaway Rabbit could almost feel his breath on his tail.
He looked at the bridge where the raccoon was now looking at him with wide eyes.
“Run, Runaway Rabbit!” cried the raccoon.
Runaway Rabbit kept hopping until he was at the edge of the stream, then he jumped his biggest ever jump. He heard his toes splash in the water at the edge of the stream and saw the cold flowing water far below him as he sailed across to the other side. The wind whistled though his ears as his whiskers flattened against the side of his nose.
Then with a thump he landed on the bank on the far side. He hopped to the top of the back and looked over his shoulder just in time to see the fox also jumping across the stream.
He couldn’t rest. The fox was right behind him.
Runaway Rabbit didn’t wait to see if the fox made it all the way to his side of the stream. He got his hopping gears in motion and hopped as fast as he could through the woods.
He passed the interesting rocks and flowers, and they didn’t seem so interesting any more. He hopped under the great big oak tree, puffing and panting. He was getting tired now.
“Run Runaway Rabbit!” called the squirrel from up in the branches. She threw acorns at the fox as he ran after his lunch. A couple bounced off his head, but they didn’t slow him down much.
Runaway Rabbit could now see the fence of the yard. If he could just make it to the fence he would be safe. On the other side of the fence he could see his sisters and brothers munching on leaves and grass without a care in the world.
If only he had stayed in the yard, he could be quietly having a snack, and not running for his life with his tail nearly in the jaws of the fox.
And his tail was nearly in the fox’s jaws! The fox had his mouth open ready to snap shut. He only needed to get a little bit closer. Just a couple more steps.
One, two, three… SNAP!
The fox’s jaws snapped shut on thin air as Runaway Rabbit bounced over the fence and landed on the other side. He didn’t wait to see if the fox was still after him. He kept hopping until he saw Charlotte and then hopped right into her arms.
“There you are Runaway Rabbit. We were getting worried about you. We thought you must have gone off for a nap somewhere and forgotten to wake up. Your brothers and sisters ate nearly all of the carrots, but I saved some of the sweetest ones just for you” she said.
Image credit: @pappa-pepper
Runaway Rabbit snuggled closer into Charlotte's arms. It felt so nice and safe here, not like out in the wild.
Next time, he told himself, he would stay in the yard like he was supposed to. The wild was no place for a young rabbit on his own.
A huge thank you to @pappa-pepper for giving me the inspiration for this story and supplying the gifs of Runaway Rabbit.
If you have young children and you'd like me to write a story for them, feel free to add a comment and ask.
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