The Bridge In the Distance
I just eated my salad.
I hab free ob dem ebbery day, bud somehow, dey aren't as sustainin' as salads usta be.
I god up wast nite to hab wun an my wegs aren't werkin wike dey shuld. I am nod compwainin, bud I can't be habbin wif dis.
You know whut? Wast nite, I seed sumfing I habbin't seed bifore. Dere issa Bridge ober dere an I can see Hawthorn rite inna middle obbit. Hawthorn! I habbin's seed Hawthorn in forebber! He wooks gud, too, wif his widdle puzzle-face an bwight bloo eyes, widdle ears fwappin. An he's doin binkies! Rite dere inna middle obba Bridge!
Know whut else? I seed Willow, too. She still issn 'zactwy whut you'd call da bwightest crayon inna box, bud she's still my Willow, my bestest friend. An she don't hab Hed-Tilt ennymore! An she's onna Bridge, too, standin dere, shiftin frum paw to paw, eetin ob course, an she don gotta snotty nose, eidder, sort ob wike afta she god her nose stuck inna bak-yoom cweaner dat Phil-da-Lad was usin an god alla snot sucked outta her, an skeert Maman an Phil to deaf.
An dere was Hunny's Maggie dere and she don hate me ennymore, eidder, which has gotta be da mirakul obba centchury, cos I bited her a gud'un on her wip when she told Hunny to 'tack Willow dat time when we was all young. She ebben called oud to me wif her pointed Rexy ears, "I lub you, Belinda!" An dat's gotta be a furst...
An big old Smokey is onna Bridge, too, wif his air-planey, heelykopter ears an wide Flemmie face. He weft da Warren just afta DaddyBrian came to lib wif us. Smokey was sik, an I twied to call Maman an DaddyBrian an dey didn' heer me...
So dat's where dey all went! An I kin see it! Well issn dat sumfing! Id's rite ober dere... kin you see it? Onwy... I can't figger oud how to get dere... it's sort ob near, bud it's kinda far, too. I mean, I kin see ebberyfing berry kleer, bud id seems wike id's a wong ways away, too... I wonder how to ged dere?
I amma berry owd bunny now. Nod as owd as Hunny, ob course. NObunny is as owd as Hunny onna'kount ob Hunny bein owder den most rocks (Doktor Doolen sed dat he has nebber seed a bunny as owd as Hunny an dat V-E-T has seed a WOTTA bunnies cos Doktor D issa most 'portant bunny V-E-T inna whole werld!). Budda fack is, I am now 10 yeers owd an dis is BERRY OWD fora bunny.
An I ged tired a wot. Id is hard for me to stand up for sum reason.
Wast nite, I axt Maman an Dadda for help. I pulled on Dadda's trouser-weg, an didn want to eet my salad in my habbytat. I stwuggled outta da habbytat an wuldn't go back in when Dadda sed, "Home, Belinda!" I stood dere, wookin up at him, axtin him to pik me up.
So Maman godda towel an sum blankies anna pillo an Dadda wrapped me up an taked me innu dere Bedrum. An I lied down wif Maman. Den I lied down onna pillo inna middle obba bed between Maman an Dadda. Dey cobbered me up cos Maman feeled my ears ged cold. Den preddy soon, Dadda bringed me my salad, so I eated it inna bed.
An alla nite, I kept axtin Maman,
"How do I ged toda Bridge?"
An wadder was runnin down Maman's face. So I wicked her an gwoomed her cos I can't be habbin wif dat. So I axted Dadda,
"How do I ged toda Bridge?"
An Dadda poked his nose against mine an sed, "Hullo, Preddy Gurl." Which issn'zacktly helpful.
So I shouted ober to Hawthorn onna Bridge, "Whut do I hafta do?"
An he shouted back, "Hang on, dey'll get id ebenchually. We'll send help!"
An I sed, "Hokay! Cos it's a wong way to go an I'm tired! Dees salads aren't whut dey usta be!"
An Hawthorn sed, "You don't habba shout, Belinda. I'm as cwose as your nextest thought!"
An I'm wike, "Oh."
An Hawthorn sed, "Yeah."
Den Hunny calls ober to me, "Wookit, hab sum hay an habba nap. Fings will wook bedder when you wake up."
So I telled him to shuddup wike I ushally do.
An when it wass'boud dawn, Dadda piked me up an taked me bak innu my habbytat an gibbed me sum appul.
An Babby George was all upsed, runnin bak an forf, wif his widdle face up-turned, an his eyes all bwinky, an he's axtin, "Whattsamatta? Whattsamatta wiffa Maman? Whattsamatta wiffa Dadda? Where you bin, BelindaBunny? Whossat BlackBunny inna corner? Why you godda appul? Do I gedda appul? Whattsamatta? Whattsamatta?"
So I telled him to siddown. Dat boy is jus too much bunny-boy atta momint. He needs to calm down!
An Mouse is hunched down byda door ob his habbytat, his eyes all angry an distrustful. "You hab seeda Bridge." he sed to me. "I can feel da Bwack Rabbit heer an I don wike him. Don't leeb wif him, Belinda. I'll fight him for you."
An I sed to Mouse, "Id's hokay. Hawthorn is onna Bridge. He won't wet ennyfing happin bad to me. You don habba fite ennybunny, Mouse. Jus tell me if you see da pafway toda Bridge so I kin ged to Hawthorn."
An Mouse sed, "I don see ennyfing cept da Bwack Rabbit I don wike. Don't leeb, Belinda."
An I sed, "Bud it's Hawthorn an Willow. Id's hokay, Mouse. Honest." An I wooked again, an I added, "An ebben Luckie is dere, too."
An Mouse rewaxed a bit an sed to me, "Is she allrite?"
An I seed her wabe her eers ad me. An I told Mouse, "She's standin wif Willow. An I'm tellin you, dey is wike two peas inna pod - berry sweet, nod too bwight. If you wisten, mebbe you kin heer her."
An Mouse cocked his hed an his pointed ears was up berry sharp fora minit. Den he nodded, bud he sed to me, "I still don wike it."
An Hunny calls oud frum his Habbytat, "Is Heatherington dere, too? He ushally is. Rite inna middul."
So I wooked, an sure enuf, dere wassa widdle bwack an white Dutch face, wookin berry calm, nextest to Hawthorn anna widdle behind. An SnoBall Ex-foster was dere, too, an ebberybunny I hab ebber knowed bifore dat has weft Our Warren! Id wassa'mazin. Dat Bridge was loaded wif happy bunnies!
An I sed to Hunny, "You seed dat Bridge bifore?"
An Hunny sed, "Yes. Alla time. I tawk to ebberybun."
An I sed, "So how do I ged dere?"
An Hunny sed, "I don know."
An I sed to Hunny, "Fat lotta help you are."
An Hunny sed to me, "Wookit, you ged all hextcited boud ebberyfing an dere is no need. When id is time, when da Cirkul comes aroun, you'll know how to go. Sumbun will be sent to Show You Da Way, an you will go an you'll find da Pafway. Do you hafta know Ebberyfing ahead ob time?"
An I sed, "I'mma Top Bun. Id's my job to know ebberyfing."
An Hunny sed, "Dere comes a time when you don gotta be Top Bun alla time. Dere comes a time when it's just Alla Us Togedder - when we aren't da Top Bun, when we can lay dat title onna gwass an wet anudder, gweater Bunny take id up. Den we kin jus be Us, Alla Us Togedder, as we are. No need to know 'Ebberyfing', no need to werry boud bein 'In Charge' or 'Finkin' alla time. Jus time to be a bunny, doin bunny fings, fillin uppa days habbin salad, pwayin, doin binkies..."
An I sed, "I'm too tired to do binkies, Hunny. My wegs don werk, my eyes don werk, my ears don hear gud an I'm so tired I can't stand up. My pooties aren't rite an I habbin't seed a cecal in forebber. Dere is sumfing wrong inside ob me an I habba take meddysin an my paws hurted..."
An Hunny sed, "Shaddup, Belinda! Whut I'm twyin to tell you issat id issn gonna always be dat way. Fings is gonna ged bedder.
You is gonna ged bedder. An you'll go toda Bridge dere wif Hawthorn, an alla odders, an ober dat Bridge issa Meadow - I know cos I hab seed it in Ancient Bunny Dweams - an dat's where you an ebberybunny else is gonna waid for Maman an Dadda to come to begin Da Journey - Alla Us Togedder. An id's a wunnerful Journey toda One Big Warren, where ebberybunny is well, an happy an nobun ebber OnAlone ebber agin. Alla Us Togedder, in God's One Great Warren. Dat's whut dis is alla'boud."
So by dis time, I wanted to just bop Hunny a gud wun, cos I hab seed da same Bridge an alla bunnies, an I'm tired ob bein sik! I lub Maman an Dadda, an I know dat dey lub me, bud howcome dey can't help me find da way toda Bridge? Why does Maman jus hab wadder on her face an howcome Dadda, who is da smawt wun inna fambly, jus say stoopid stuff wike, "Hullo, Gorgeous"? I mean, dat's nice, bud why can't sumbun help me?
Id's just ober dere. I kin see id. An dere is Hawthorn an I've missed him an Willow SO much!
Bud I'm too tired to go just now. I'm tired ob wookin an I'm tired ob tawkin. I know dere issa stwanger heer an I am nod afwaid, bud won't sumbun pwease help me find da way?
I lub you, Maman. I lub you, Dadda. I lub you, Phil. I lub you, Beffy. I lub you all who hab lubbed me so berry much. I amma berry blessed bunny. I habba habbytat, an fings udder bunnies onwy dream ob. Bud id is time an I'm tired an I don't know da way...
I'm comin, Hawthorn! Just as soon as I figger dis oud...
Posted by Our Warren
at 1:29 PM EDT