Life was good. Rabbit had no complaints, (OK…so maybe one or two) but if anyone had told him a few years ago that he would make ‘The Creatures with Fur Official Representative’, he’d have laughed. Huh. If his dad could see him now. A silver tear squeezed itself from the corner of his eye, attempted to run down his cheek but thankfully, at the last moment, pulled itself together and aborted the attempt. If he could see his dad? What the hell was he talking about? He could…he could see his dad, anytime he wanted. No problem.

All he had to do was take a night trip down to the Human’s glove and boot shop that was situated on the edge of the town and look through the illuminated window. He’d see his dad all right. Hanging there like a pair of gloves. Like a pair of gloves? What was Rabbit thinking? His dad was a pair of gloves for Lab-rat’s sake.

Rabbit was ashamed. His father had been in the window for over six months. Winter had come and gone with its varied selection of snow, wind, rain and hail and still no-one had purchased him. Oh the embarrassment of it all. The slur on the family name. What was wrong with his dad’s coat that no-one wanted him…even for a pair of gloves? It wasn’t as though it was too warm for gloves. Listen, the temperature had dropped so low this year that the Troll who lived under the rickety bridge had quit and gone home to spend more time with his family. That had never happened before. That’s how cold it was. That’s how cold it was and his father couldn’t even make it as a pair of gloves. Rabbit wasn’t so sure he believed anymore. All that guff about living on. All that bullshit about the afterlife and the glory of taking on another form. His dad didn’t look so glorious. Huh. Blasphemy. Who cares?

The sun was starting to fall from the sky and Rabbit was getting a little edgy. For all his rebelliousness late was not good. There’d be a vote and he wouldn’t be there and that’s something else that had never happened before. The Rabbit missing a vote? Perish the thought. Rabbit knew some who’d be pleased about it and that gave him grief. He sneered. He could see the perfectly formed Artimus X smiling sweetly and declaring in that Tinkerbell voice of his, that he,…’hoped nothing drastic…like a trap….or poison bait, or even a hungry woodland creature…etcetera etcetera… had happened upon Rabbit to make him miss this important vote’. Rabbit laughed aloud. Artimus X had hated him since the day Rabbit had insulted the Head Fairy by calling him a.. ‘a fruit of the forest’. X had never forgiven him for the insult. Rabbit laughed again, belched and realised that he didn’t give a shit. Life was too short. So he missed a vote…what we gonna do, put the forest on Red Alert? Rabbit brought down a passing dragonfly with a spitball and wondered about his punishment. What could they do to him? Get the Top Pixie to shake the bell on top of his hat at him? Sprinkle him with fairy dust? Rabbit made a decision.

The meeting was off. This had been a good day in Rabbit’s busy calendar and it wasn’t over yet. Rabbit didn’t get enough days like this. There were too many responsibilities in his life. This day, he would enjoy while he could and to the full. There was still a little sunshine to come and the meeting…well the meeting could go run. There’d be other meetings, unfortunately. Rabbit lay back, checked his pulse and grimaced as a short sharp pain shot across his chest. He paused and waited for the discomfort to fade away like it always did. Rabbit smiled, reached into his waistcoat pocket and pulled out a long thin cheroot. Today, he do things his way. He’d smoke the cheroot, take a nap, and then go back the same way he’d come…and this time… this time…he’d spend a little longer at the old turnstile.