I remain still, torn and a little suspicious. Raccoons aren’t as chompy as other animals that eat bunnies, but they will sink a tooth into you if given the chance.
“C’mon, cottontail,” he chitters. “Sticky Fingers and I have been watching you. We know you’ve been nibbling in Savannah and Colin’s garden. We know you could use a friend. And I know how you can get fed for a lot less work.”
“Is this a trap?” I ask him.
His eyes widen as he sits back on his fluffy backside. “An English bunny? How’d that happen? Did you stow away in the big guy’s luggage?”
“Something like that,” I answer vaguely.
“Well, in any event, we neighborhood animals stick together around here,” he replies solemnly. “And you’re one of us now. Let me help you out, kid. You seem a little twitchy.”
“That’s my name. Twitch.”
George grunts. “That makes a lot of sense, Twitch. Why don’t you come with me, buddy? Let me help you find a home?”
My nose quivers in excitement, and my ears twitch faster. Even my tail is vibrating. “Really? You really want to help me…and be my friend?”
“Friend and mentor. One day, we’ll need new animals to watch out for the people of Happy Cat, and you look like the kind of bunny who might be up for the job.” He jerks his head toward the house with my humans. “Follow me. I know how to get inside.”
I lift my eyes to the treehouse again, where Beatrice is explaining something called spotted dick to the younger two.
“But will they want me?” I ask George, uncertainty rising inside of me again. “No one has ever wanted me before. Once I was washed from my burrow as a baby, none of the other rabbits wanted me in their family.”
“I’m sorry about that, kid. Forest animals can be brutal sometimes.” He rests a gentle paw on my back, which makes me twitch harder for a moment before I realize he doesn’t mean me harm. His paw is gentle, nice even. “But these people will love you, I swear, trash panda’s honor. And you’re gonna love them. And those two little guys up there? They’re adopted too.”
The news makes my heart leap, and my ears perk up.
George grins. “See? This is going to be great. Just wait and see. C’mon, Twitch. Let me introduce you to your new family.”
And that’s exactly what he does.
I won’t give you all the details—there was a lot of screaming involved at first and some worries about rabies and whether I might secretly be a ninja—but now?
Now, I sleep with Beatrice every night, and she feeds me carrots every morning. We play with her siblings in the backyard after she comes home from school and have more fun than I imagined possible when I was a lonely orphan bunny without a place to call my own.
Now, I have a human family and an animal family, and I am chuffed about it.
Absolutely, positively chuffed.