The Snowbunny and I

[Lappi]

Umm . . . I hope you like it . . . ?

The Snowbunny and I

RAINBOW LANE – I, Kayla, trudged through the heavy snow quickly, as my breath floated in front of me. It was a very sunny day in the late Month of Awakening, but although the sun was shining, the weather was still below freezing.
I shivered, as I pulled down my Woolly Jubjub Hat closer to my head. My scarf dangled from my neck, although it was not completely necessary because Usuls have a puffy collar.
My ears lopped from side to side, along with my earphones, as I walked through the streets of my neighbourhood. A cold feeling rushed to me, making me shiver again and pulling all my winter clothes closer, making me feel warm and comfortable.
I could finally see a hint of my Neohome around the corner of the block. I made a sigh of relief and hurried along the brilliantly snow-covered path. Just then, I saw a glint of black race through across my yard and behind a stone.
Curious, I walked over to the stone. It was located in front of the side of the Neohome, and somehow, the creature squeezed through the little gap. When I first saw it, I knew what the creature was right away. It was my favourite Petpet in the world — a Snowbunny!
I was guessing it was a he, but anyway, he had a dark coat, although unseen, it was clearly dirty from being outside. It looked as though it was once domestic, but either became lost or ran away from home.
How I longed to bring that little Snowbunny home. The only problem was, my owner did not like Petpets very much. Small creatures scared her, and she would never take a small creature from outside.
On the other hand, I absolutely loved Petpets. My owner knew that, and she didn’t mind at all. She sometimes teased me, though, but I never minded her. I loved doing research on them, and perhaps someday, I could be a petpetologist! I had no idea what it was called, or if it even existed, but it would still be fun!
I knew almost everything about Petpets; which colours they could each be painted, their common habits, the Neopets they would most like to be matched up with, where they would be found if they were wild, and much more.
I rushed inside and saw my owner sitting down, with a nice bowl of hot Minestrone Soup. Before I sat down, I told her what I had seen. She smiled sweetly and when I asked her if I could leave food out for it, she agreed. It would be the best times of my life, I was sure! A little black Snowbunny and an Usul, me and the Snowbunny.
After I finished the soup, I went into my room and planned. I could tell all my friends about him, and maybe he could stay for a while. It would be great if he could!
It didn’t take me very long to choose a name, for BlackJack was what I chose. It was the name of my old babysitter’s Petpet (but more specifically my owner’s friend’s Neopet’s Petpet). I used to admire her, and think she was my sister. She was a Usul just like me, after all. She said that her brother’s Snowbunny ran away, after they carelessly left the door of their Neohome open. But she also had another Snowbunny named Marshmallow, who was as white as the fluffy food itself. I used to play with it all the time with my babysitter, although she passed on for some reason later on.
It was lunchtime, so I just came back from my Neoschool to eat lunch at home. Soon I had to say farewell to my owner, and to the stone where BlackJack lived.
After school, I walked home again, but this time with my friend, Lilac. I hadn’t told her about the Snowbunny just yet, but I was planning to tell everybody, or at least my closer friends, soon.
“Hey look, Kayla!” she exclaimed enthusiastically. “There’s a Snowbunny!”
Glad that it was still there, I saw it run back behind the stone. After it did, I replied, “I saw him at lunchtime. Isn’t he cute?”
My friend nodded, just as I realized my neighbour had just come home too. Apparently, she wasn’t there long enough to examine him, so all she saw was a black blur. I wasn’t sure what she was positively certain what she thought he was, but she asked, “Are you sure it’s a Snowbunny?”
“I’m sure it is,” I replied drastically, as though it were some kind of a movie.
Soon after, my friend dropped my off, and walked to her own house. We waved to each other, and I was sure she was glad to witness the little Petpet run around my yard.

[Lappi]

I went inside the house. Before I raced into my room, I took a carrot and placed it on the kitchen counter. “When the others get home,” I informed my owner (the others as in my brothers or my owner’s other Neopets). “I’m going to race outside and give BlackJack some Organic Carrots!”
My owner smiled at me, as I ran upstairs and mostly daydreamed. I also did my homework, and considering I was a good student, I checked over my work, and nothing seemed to be wrong. My daydreaming and homework worked well together and could cooperate very well.
When I finished, I hopped onto my bed and hugged my Pretty Pink Pillows tightly. I had a sudden regretting feeling, that the Snowbunny may actually leave me. When I heard the sound of the door opening below me, all my worries seemed to be rushed away with a gust of excitement.
I raced down the stairs happily, and said a quick “hello” to the others. I grabbed the Organic Carrot and ran through the hall to the entrance door, and swung it open. Oh, but it was the Month of Awakening! It was snowing.
Later that night, the flurry of snow stopped, and the glistening snow lay on the street of Rainbow Lane. The air was as cold as the morning, but I asked my owner if we could take a peek at the Snowbunny behind the stone.
My owner agreed, and we trudged a little way off our porch and into our yard, and she removed the stone out of its original position. Nothing; BlackJack was not there. I did not feel a sinking feeling, but I felt overjoyed still. Perhaps my owner was no longer scared of Petpets, and we could finally own one!
The entire time of the next day at school was telling basically all my best friends about the Snowbunny. Lilac was the most interested, and she said how lucky I was. Not many of my friends owned Petpets, because their owners weren’t rich enough.
Every day, I fed the Snowbunny by leaving food on top of the stone, and I was happy to see that it disappeared every day. I found that BlackJack had a nice taste for Neo Crackers, didn’t like Organic Apples, and saved up every time he received an Organic Carrot.
The next day, I was happy to see BlackJack again. He was sitting on the stone, then stood on his hind legs. I was careful not to frighten him, so I edged closer every so slowly. I drew nearer and nearer, as the Snowbunny sniffed the air and prickled his long, darn ears. The moment felt long and wonderful; he stayed there as long as I did, and left when I left.
When I left for Neoschool again, I told my friends about it. At this time, Lilac was so excited and listened to my every word. None of them were too envious of me, but I could hardly believe it myself.
That night, the others came home. Joe, the oldest of us three Neopets, came home late. I had told Reggie, my Buzz brother, about BlackJack beforehand, but Joe was always busy doing work, and mostly came home after all of us.

[Lappi]

As the door opened, I heard Joe say, “Hey, there’s a little Snowbunny running outside!”
“Yeah,” I replied, smiling. Then I told Joe about how I met him, my adventures of the past few days, and ended it with, “Isn’t he cute?”
For the next few days, I borrowed books from my Neoschool’s library, and from Lenny Library also. I gathered information about Snowbunnies, even though I had already known much, and learned how to capture a stray. There was an extremely fascinating book about it.
After I got all my information, I told Joe whenever he was free. I told him about luring and the food the Snowbunny liked. He said I could help it by luring it into our backyard and let it live there. I knew my owner would not like that at all, since she took so much time last spring to plant all the flowers in there. I knew the Snowbunny was much more important than that, but my owner most likely wouldn’t have agreed.
I updated my friends in all the adventure, and five days after I told Lilac about BlackJack going on his hind legs, I told her the idea of having the hutch (a home of a Snowbunny, which for BlackJack, was a stone).
At lunchtime, I saw the Snowbunny again. He was on my yard, and just when I had enough time to notice he was there, he zapped back into his hutch in a blink.
On the second week of meeting the Snowbunny, on the first Tuesday of The Month of Running to be more exact, I decided not to feed him. If he grew too dependent on me for his food, what would happen to him when I had gone? BlackJack wouldn’t even be able to survive! But that day, I couldn’t help thinking that he might leave me. What if he notices there is no food there, and thinks that I don’t care for him anymore? That would be wrong.
Later that week, I didn’t see him. I left food out often, but they became soggy in the rainy weather of The Month of Running. Even in terrible weather, BlackJack usually came out to eat his food. The disappointment took hold of me, and I had a sinking feeling in my heart.
Months later, I grew happier that he visited me in the first place, and how happy I was when I approached him. I still remembered the day he went on his hind legs, how much he loved his food, and all the other events. But I knew it would end this way since the beginning, so why couldn’t I deal with it?
“Kayla,” Lilac said to me one day during class with a horrified voice. “I just heard him make fun of BlackJack!”
She pointed at one of the boys, and I replied, “What did he say?”
Lilac told me, and it wasn’t nice at all. It was horrible, but I forgave him anyways. Shrugging, I said, “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about, he doesn’t even know the story! Saying something before knowing what you’re talking about is just plain stupid.”
“Yeah,” Lilac replied.
It was clear to me that the Snowbunny would not come back. The last time I ever saw him was the time he disappeared into its hutch. The last time I ever saw him was the day I told Lilac my plans. The last day I ever saw him was the day before I decided not to feed it that much. The last day I ever saw it was unforgettable.

The End

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Author’s Note: This story is based on a true story. BlackJack left on the first Tuesday of March in the year 2002. He will be forever remembered, and forever hoped to come back.

[Lappi]

Thankies everybody! I'll just edit it and send it in.