Once upon a time, near an ancient castle in southern Germany, an apple fell from a tree. The apple grew up attached to a branch, that was attached to a limb, that was attached to the trunk of this short and strong apple tree. The tree took care of the apple all summer. The tree protected the apple, held onto it during the stormy winds,and fed the apple with nutrients from the ground, air, and sky. The tree also kept the apple out of the reach of a hungry rabbit, who frequently looked up at the apple with longing little black bunny eyes. Day after day the bunny hoped that the tree would finally let him have the apple, so he could take it home and show his bunny wife, who would bake a pie out of it and make all his little bunny children happy.
On the day the apple fell, the bunny was hanging out near the local stream, talking to some butterflies and making jokes about the tadpoles (of course only behind mother frog's back) He asked the butterflies simple questions because he knew they were only insects and by their nature, were not very smart. They knew few words in the bunny language, but it was enough to trade information about where the juiciest clovers were, and whether or not they thought it would storm that evening. Suddenly, the bunny heard a thud. It was no doubt made by the apple when it hit the soft grass near the trunk of the tree. His big white bunny ears flung backward instantly so he could hear better. With a few wiggles of his pink bunny nose, he knew the apple had finally come down for him.
His wet nose smelled the delicious sugary aroma of the apple, and he could almost taste a slice of his bunny wife's delicious apple pie. Hippity-hoppety-hippity-hoppety. The bunny bounced and jumped with excitement over to his lookout rock, on the bank of the stream. He wanted to see the apple with his own black bunny eyes. As he reached the top, he saw for 200 feet in every direction. This is a lot, considering bunnies mainly live on the ground. Anyway. He saw the apple and was filled with more excitement than a 5 year old on Christmas morning. Truly, it was like Christmas for his baby bunnies back home.
To his most jarring surprise, he saw one of the farmers cows lumbering around, munching on grass and weeds. The bunny knew that the cow was far too stupid to link the sound of the thud to the falling of the apple, but he also knew that cows have extremely big heads with extremely big noses (and extremely small brains to run it all). The bunny took out his bunny-size spectacles because, like many bunnies in southern Germany, he had genetically inherited short-sightedness. Much to his shagrin, he arranged his glasses just in time to see the egg-size nostril holes on the end of the cow's snout flare to twice their normal size. As he glanced up the cows long face, he saw the cows eyes enlarge to the size of peaches. With his long floppy ears, he heard a low grunt of excitement. The cow knew what had happened and where.
Like the bunny, the cow also had invested much time day dreaming about smashing the fat red apple between her long rows of bumpy molars. Her enormous tongue would be covered with red apple peel, and moist sweet flavorings harvested from the summer's warm sunshine and gentle added by the tree among its plant fibers. The cow moved with new found urgency toward where the apple had fallen. Driven by desire for the novel flavors offered by the apple. Quite alarmed, and very distraught over the prospect of seeing his little baby bunnies go without their Christmas apple, and most of all - coming home to a disappointed wife (if you know anything about the habits of bunnies, you will know why a mad Mrs. Bunny is very troubling to Mr. Bunny) the bunny's face dropped into all-business mode.
No more cute nose wiggles. His long black whiskers snapped back against his cheeks, forced to fur-level as the wind pushed against his conical head. His head jogged up and down in perfect rhythm with his powerful hind legs. He used to be a track runner in his bunny high school days. He was so fast in those days, he bragged he could out run the birds. The cows hooves sank into the mud near the stream, but she was also closer to the tree. Slowed by the mud, and generally tired from all this exertion, the cow seemed as if she would not be able to fulfill her succulent dreams. Never the less, she plugged on. Her udders swung between her legs like a giant metronome keeping time with a somewhat lively jazz song.
Mr. bunny saw how quick he got a lead on the bovine tractor-trailer. He stopped to smoke a cigarette.
As the bunny was about mid-way through with his fine turkish blend, the cow had disappeared behind a rolling hedgerow. The bunny looked up and realized that the cow had somehow disappeared. He looked over to the apple, laying on the ground - no cow in sight. He decided he'd have enough time to finish a couple more puffs and then jog over and pick up nature's prize. But just as he reached the apple, a huge mass of black and white swung down past his little paws and swiped the apple right from under his nose. The bunny was congratulated for his effort with a splatter of apple juice and shards of apple skin. He sat stunned, with juice dripping off his face. The cow gave the apple two or three chews and swallowed it for safe keeping. Later she'd chew on it a little more just to soften up the seeds.
When Mr. bunny returned home, he did not have the heart to tell his family about what his over confidence had cost all of them. He figured, they never knew about his planned surprise, so he would not need to bring up what had happened. For days he dwelled heavily on how stupid he had been to take a break, and what the cost of happiness had been. A simple pleasure, a short pause, with the goal in sight. Now his family had been let down and only he knew it. The bunny learned that if he was to make big plans involving the hopes and dreams of others, he could never take time for himself if they were to become real.
THE END
On the day the apple fell, the bunny was hanging out near the local stream, talking to some butterflies and making jokes about the tadpoles (of course only behind mother frog's back) He asked the butterflies simple questions because he knew they were only insects and by their nature, were not very smart. They knew few words in the bunny language, but it was enough to trade information about where the juiciest clovers were, and whether or not they thought it would storm that evening. Suddenly, the bunny heard a thud. It was no doubt made by the apple when it hit the soft grass near the trunk of the tree. His big white bunny ears flung backward instantly so he could hear better. With a few wiggles of his pink bunny nose, he knew the apple had finally come down for him.
His wet nose smelled the delicious sugary aroma of the apple, and he could almost taste a slice of his bunny wife's delicious apple pie. Hippity-hoppety-hippity-hoppety. The bunny bounced and jumped with excitement over to his lookout rock, on the bank of the stream. He wanted to see the apple with his own black bunny eyes. As he reached the top, he saw for 200 feet in every direction. This is a lot, considering bunnies mainly live on the ground. Anyway. He saw the apple and was filled with more excitement than a 5 year old on Christmas morning. Truly, it was like Christmas for his baby bunnies back home.
To his most jarring surprise, he saw one of the farmers cows lumbering around, munching on grass and weeds. The bunny knew that the cow was far too stupid to link the sound of the thud to the falling of the apple, but he also knew that cows have extremely big heads with extremely big noses (and extremely small brains to run it all). The bunny took out his bunny-size spectacles because, like many bunnies in southern Germany, he had genetically inherited short-sightedness. Much to his shagrin, he arranged his glasses just in time to see the egg-size nostril holes on the end of the cow's snout flare to twice their normal size. As he glanced up the cows long face, he saw the cows eyes enlarge to the size of peaches. With his long floppy ears, he heard a low grunt of excitement. The cow knew what had happened and where.
Like the bunny, the cow also had invested much time day dreaming about smashing the fat red apple between her long rows of bumpy molars. Her enormous tongue would be covered with red apple peel, and moist sweet flavorings harvested from the summer's warm sunshine and gentle added by the tree among its plant fibers. The cow moved with new found urgency toward where the apple had fallen. Driven by desire for the novel flavors offered by the apple. Quite alarmed, and very distraught over the prospect of seeing his little baby bunnies go without their Christmas apple, and most of all - coming home to a disappointed wife (if you know anything about the habits of bunnies, you will know why a mad Mrs. Bunny is very troubling to Mr. Bunny) the bunny's face dropped into all-business mode.
No more cute nose wiggles. His long black whiskers snapped back against his cheeks, forced to fur-level as the wind pushed against his conical head. His head jogged up and down in perfect rhythm with his powerful hind legs. He used to be a track runner in his bunny high school days. He was so fast in those days, he bragged he could out run the birds. The cows hooves sank into the mud near the stream, but she was also closer to the tree. Slowed by the mud, and generally tired from all this exertion, the cow seemed as if she would not be able to fulfill her succulent dreams. Never the less, she plugged on. Her udders swung between her legs like a giant metronome keeping time with a somewhat lively jazz song.
Mr. bunny saw how quick he got a lead on the bovine tractor-trailer. He stopped to smoke a cigarette.
As the bunny was about mid-way through with his fine turkish blend, the cow had disappeared behind a rolling hedgerow. The bunny looked up and realized that the cow had somehow disappeared. He looked over to the apple, laying on the ground - no cow in sight. He decided he'd have enough time to finish a couple more puffs and then jog over and pick up nature's prize. But just as he reached the apple, a huge mass of black and white swung down past his little paws and swiped the apple right from under his nose. The bunny was congratulated for his effort with a splatter of apple juice and shards of apple skin. He sat stunned, with juice dripping off his face. The cow gave the apple two or three chews and swallowed it for safe keeping. Later she'd chew on it a little more just to soften up the seeds.
When Mr. bunny returned home, he did not have the heart to tell his family about what his over confidence had cost all of them. He figured, they never knew about his planned surprise, so he would not need to bring up what had happened. For days he dwelled heavily on how stupid he had been to take a break, and what the cost of happiness had been. A simple pleasure, a short pause, with the goal in sight. Now his family had been let down and only he knew it. The bunny learned that if he was to make big plans involving the hopes and dreams of others, he could never take time for himself if they were to become real.
THE END
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