The lightning from the previous day had struck the old tree - the one just down the lane, and somebody had decided that the best thing to do was to cut the tree down. My mum explained that it was now unsafe and had to be cut it down before it fell and hurt somebody. If it was going to fall, why would anyone stand underneath it, I wondered.
After the tree had been cut down, I wanted to go and play in the branches, and so I told the kid next door to come with me. He said he didn't want to come out to play.
"I hate people!" I yelled as I went off down the lane by myself. I walked right past the felled tree and on towards the river. I told everything I saw how much I hated people. From the riverbank, I saw a fish, but I had not brought my net. It was a big fish. I hadn't seen one that size before, so I climbed down the bank and carefully approached, but the moment I leaned forward, it must have seen me because it swam off. If only I had brought my net, I could have caught the fish.
"I hate fishes, and I HATE PEOPLE," I yelled.
The sight of the fish had temporally distracted my anger, but now my anger was back twofold. I had even rushed my dinner just so I could go and play in the tree with the kid from next door, thinking this would have been exciting, but the stupid kid didn't want to go.
I sat on the riverbank, wondering if the rabbit knew of a place where I could go where there weren't any people to mess up my life. Yes, he would know, I thought. Better still, I could go and live in the warren with all the rabbits - there were no people there.
. . .
Off I went to the rabbit hole. It was still muddy from the rain storm, but I found a dry patch off to one side and sat down. The rabbit sat and looked at me.
"I hate people," I voiced.
"I know. We heard you tell everything in sight. I thought you would come and tell me about it sooner or later. So why do you hate people?"
"Because... because my mum and dad told me that I was getting a sister or a brother. I was excited because then I would have someone to play with, but when my mum brought her home, she was no good. She was just a baby. I thought I was getting somebody my size. What good is a baby? How can you play with a baby? And...and that stupid kid from next door. He didn't want to go and play in the tree that they chopped down. I want to live where there are no people. Can I live here?"
"Yes!"
'That was too easy,' I thought. "Why?" I asked.
"Because then you would soon realise that you need other people," explained the rabbit.
"No, I don't," I responded.
"Try to imagine a world with no people."
A smile came across my face as I imagined the whole world as mine.
"You could go to the shops and get any clothes you wanted, any food you desired, and you could have all the toys you ever imagined," said the rabbit, fueling my thoughts.
"Yes! It would be great, everything I ever wanted, I could go to school when I wanted and play when I wanted. Wouldn't the other kids be jealous?"
"What other kids?"
Ever see a rabbit smile? My imagination stopped having a good time.
"Surely, if the world was mine, I could then decide if there are other people or not?"
"The moment you introduce other people or other creatures for that matter, then the world is no longer all yours. It's either one or the other. You can't have it both ways."
The rabbit reminded me of another day when we talked about what we could change and what we couldn't. "People are a fact of life," said the rabbit.
"They exist and they're not going to go away because you want them to. Sure, you could run away and hide from them, but you would only be cheating yourself. You can't run away from something because you want it to go away. You need people."
"That's stupid!" There I go using that word 'stupid' again just because I didn't understand. "Why do I need people?"
"Before we talk about people, let's talk about being stupid," suggested the rabbit.
"I ain't stupid," I told the rabbit in no uncertain term.
"You're smart - right?"
"Yep!" I confirmed.
"Well, the problem is, smart people tend to assume that everyone else is stupid - right?"
"Yep!"
"Then there is no point to you getting smarter, is there?" suggested the rabbit.
"That's right," I confirmed.
"Which makes you look pretty stupid!"
I didn't know what to say so, I said nothing.
"Nothing to say?" asked the rabbit.
I sat in silence.
For you to be smart, means you are stupid, because you need people so that you cannot look stupid." The rabbit went on to explain. "Without people, life becomes pointless. Why do you dress the way you do - to keep warm? Partly - but why the different styles? Do styles keep you warm in the winter? No. The only reason you care what style of clothing you wear is if you know that someone else will see you wearing it. Clothing is just one example. All material possessions, while they may provide a certain entertainment or satisfy a certain curiosity, they are primarily to compare yourselves with other people. Without other people, there is no point to your life. People who shy from other people are saying that they do not want to be part of life. They feel they cannot compete, so they try to remove the competition by removing themselves."
"So how can I deal with stupid people?" I asked.
"Let's start with other people. Do you know how many types of people there are?"
"Yes," I said and started to list them. "Babies! Sisters! Parents! Kids next door! Bullies! Stupid people..."
The rabbit interrupted, "Millions and millions - perhaps more!"
"That's a lot!"
"Right! There are millions upon millions of people in the world, and that's how many types of people there are, so don't try to categorise them into groups. People who do that are desperately trying to find their own identity. After they have come up with their well-defined groups, they usually find that they have excluded themselves from any of the groups. In other words, they have placed themselves above all others."
"So, what do you suggest," I asked.
"Nothing!"
"I've got to know what type of person they are, haven't I?"
"Why! Pretend that you have met someone. You analyse them and then you put them in a group."
"Okay!" I agreed.
"Then what?" asked the rabbit.
"What do you mean - 'then what?'"
"Exactly what I asked - then what? What have you possibly achieved?"
"I understand the type of person they are," I offered.
"Why don't you just accept people as you find them? Look at it this way," said the rabbit changing tack. "Forget about trying to analyse someone, just become the expert at human relations, and now all you have to do is relate. By analysing and grouping people, you are providing an excuse for why they are a potential problem, thus excusing yourself of having to deal with them."
"I do?"
"Yes. After you have categorised them, grouped them, and typed them, you have eliminated any reason to interact with them, which is very convenient if you want to live in a world by yourself. The problem is, the system works both ways."
"What do you mean - 'it works both ways?'"
"It works both ways because if you put yourself above your well defined and analysed groups, everyone will see you as being outside of their group and will not be willing to accept you, therefore to them, you will always be an outsider."
"I have lots of friends," I said, trying to convince the rabbit that I really did have some friends.
"Then go and play with them!"
I left.
. . .
When I got home, I went next door again and knocked on the door. The kid came to the door. I told him that somebody had chopped down the old tree down the lane.
"They chopped down the old tree?! Why didn't you tell me before? Oh wow!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah!" I agreed. I guess I had overlooked that small but significant fact. "Don't you have windows in your house?"
"Let's go!" said the kid rushing out the door while putting his coat on.
We spent the rest of the day exploring the felled tree. A few other kids arrived, and we got some of the broken branches together and made a hideout.
That day I made some new friends.
. . .
The purpose of writing this book was never to generate a huge royalties. It was written to entertain through stories, to help young people put some purpose to their lives, and give them some guidance. What I had not anticipated was how much I would discover about myself. As a result, my life changed dramatically.
Literally, thousands of hours went into writing this book, but it’s free for you to read. If you enjoy it, please let me know - it’s encouraging to hear from readers. If you would like to donate a coffee that would be wonderful. If you would like to spread the word, that would be awesome. And if it changed your life for the better - I couldn’t be happier!