My mum was in a good mood. She was making the beds and singing some dumb song about rabbits.
Run rabbit, run rabbit, run run run.
Don't let the farmer get his gun gun gun.
He'll get by, without his rabbit pie.
So, run rabbit, run rabbit, run run run.
I couldn't stand it any longer. I had to leave the house.
. . .
It was the day after I'd made some new friends and I'd decided to go to the rabbit field. I didn't go to the warren. Instead, I sat on the riverbank and looked up the field towards the warren. There were tons of rabbits playing between the mounds. Well, three or four at least. They looked like young rabbits. I wondered if they were brothers and sisters or whether they were just friends.
I had wanted to bring one of my new friends to meet the rabbit but thought better of it. I was already being teased a lot about being the boy that talked to rabbits! Taking my friends to meet the rabbit would be one way of proving that there was a big rabbit that talked to me, but I wondered what would happen if we got to the hole and the rabbit wasn't there. Then I would look really stupid in front of everybody.
I then decided to wander up the field. The young rabbits suddenly stopped their playing. One sat with his ears upright, then suddenly they all scampered away.
. . .
"I was going to bring my friend," I said as I sat down in what had now become my corner in the rabbit hole.
"Why didn't you?" answered the rabbit.
"You wanted me to bring my friend?" I asked.
"It was your choice."
I explained why I had changed my mind and that it hadn't really been for selfish reasons. I then told the rabbit about my new friends and how one of them had become my very best friend in the whole wide world.
"And you met him yesterday?" mused the rabbit.
"Yes. What's wrong with that? I can make anybody my friend or even my very best friend if I want. Can't I?"
"Sure, if that is how you want to select friends. Does he know that he is your very best friend in the whole wide world?"
I detected an odd tone in the way the rabbit had asked the question. "No," I answered. "I haven't told him yet."
"Oh!"
The rabbit and I looked at each other for a while before either one of us spoke.
"How does he feel about you as a friend?"
"I don't know," I responded. "I didn't ask."
"Friendship is something that develops over time. It's not something that you designate or label. It's like culture, upbringing, and class. It can't be instantly created just because you want it to be. Instant friendships are just as easily forgotten."
"How long does a friendship last," I asked, trying to be smart.
"About as long as it is old, or until either person purposely destroys it."
I hadn't really expected an answer, but now that I had one, I didn't quite understand it. "I don't understand," I stated.
"If you have developed a friend over, say a week, then that friendship will probably last for at least another week. If it has lasted a year then it is likely to last another year."
"But that is stupid because in a week's time I will have known that person for two weeks, therefore, according to you, it will then last for another two weeks, which is a month, so then it will last another month, and if you keep that up it will last forever, so how can you say that it will only last another week?" I was out of breath.
"It will only last if you develop it -- otherwise, it will fade away in a week," answered the rabbit.
"What do you mean 'develop it'?" I always paid attention when somebody suggested that I had to do something that required effort on my part.
"What is friendship?" asked the rabbit. "Acquaintances, and social contacts - are these friends? Just because someone is friendly towards you and you towards them, are you friends? In a social environment, yes, they are, but when it comes down to real friends, that is something quite different."
I preferred the idea of picking my friends if and when it pleased me. "Why can't I just pick and choose who is my friend? It's easier that way. I can keep track of who is my friend and who ain't."
"Is that how you would want someone else to choose you as a friend?"
I thought about this for a moment.
"You have to think about that?" questioned the rabbit, somewhat surprised.
"No, but..." I couldn't think of what to say.
"Consider being someone's friend as both an honour and a privilege, and for you to live up to that, you must be the best friend anyone could ever have. You have to earn friendship. Anything worth having, such as friendship, is only worth having if you have earned it. Otherwise, it is meaningless, as are most so-called friendships."
"What do you mean, so-called?" I asked.
"Most people look at a friendship as a means to get something, whereas, it should be a means through which you can give."
"I ain't givin' anything to nobody," I stated.
"Then you'll forever be without true friends," said the rabbit.
"I don't want to be without friends."
"Then learn to give. The more you give, the more you will receive."
"I ain't got much to give," I stated, thinking that if I give all my toys away, I wouldn't have anything left, and then I wouldn't have any friends.
"We rabbits don't have toys. We don't have anything, but we are all friends because we give intangibles. We give ourselves."
"That sounds tough," I stated.
"Not really. You wanted to give the kid who lived next door the opportunity to play in the tree when it was chopped down."
"It wasn't my tree to give," I said.
"No it wasn't, but you didn't give away the tree. You gave the information about the tree. There is a difference."
"I see - I think."
"Good, but making friends does have its risks..."
"It does?"
"Yes. In all true friendships, there must be trust..."
"There should?"
"Yes. And, as with all trust, there is exposure..."
"Exposure?"
"Yes. And with exposure, there is always the chance of being disappointed..."
"Disappointed?"
"...being let down -- betrayed! Choose your friends wisely and carefully," advised the rabbit. "Some people will make friends with you very easily, but only to gain your trust and confidence."
"What do you mean -- betrayed?"
"Are you listening?"
"Yes!" Betrayal didn't sound like it was anything good, so I repeated, "What do you mean -- betrayed?"
"If you told me something such as your innermost thoughts, for example, and I told everyone what they were..."
"Do all my friends come and talk to you?" I interrupted.
"No."
"Then how can you tell them what I tell you?"
"I'm just saying that as an example," explained the rabbit.
"I see. You can carry on."
"Thank you," said the rabbit. "Where was I? Oh, yes. If you told me something such as your innermost and personal thoughts, and I told everyone what they were, wouldn't you feel that I had betrayed your confidence?"
"Yeah! Is that what betrayed means?"
"Yes. All I'm saying is, whenever you tell someone something that you only want them to know, you stand the risk of being disappointed or betrayed."
"So I won't tell them anything," I said.
"But you must share your personal thoughts with other people."
"Why?"
"It's not good for you to keep everything inside of you. You need that release, and you need to share those thoughts."
"I do?"
"Most definitely," confirmed the rabbit."
Then who do I tell?"
"Friends!"
"How can I tell if they will keep it a secret or not?" I asked.
"That's what you learn as you develop a friendship with someone," said the rabbit. "There are no instant friendships."
"I think I see."
"You will get to know a lot of people over the years, but only a very select few will ever become your very best friends in the whole wide world! These people will be the greatest treasure that you ever find on this adventure of life," said the rabbit.
"Are you my friend," I asked the rabbit.
"Friends have no need to ask that question, stated the rabbit.
. . .
I went home and looked at my new baby sister lying in her cot.
Are you going to be my friend, I thought.
She just giggled, kicked her legs and stuck her thumb in her mouth.
. . .
Next chapter coming soon