Now Playing: The Fing Is...
Fank you, Foxie, for that inner'resting post.
Ebberybunny needs an Opening Act Bunny, and she's a Good One, when you come to fink aboud'it - widdle, cute, energtic and willing to fit in. Which are all Good Qualities to hab!
I'm not saying enny'Fing is wrong heer at Our Warren, but it is.
Hokay, so Maman had Missy and me atta V-E-T's again yestidday onna'count obba Fakt dat it looked a whole lot like I, George, bit MissyBun onna shoulder.
And afta Dr Sharin looked at MissyBun's shoulder, it looked a whole lot *more* like I had bitten her onna shoulder.
Anna Fakt Obba Madder is dat I did bite MissyBun onna Shoulder.
And that's the Fing ob It...
Maman is used to me being "Babby George", cute and snuggly, which I am. And Missy is used to me being Attentive, Grooming George, which I also am.
But this having Dusty around...
And it's not Dusty as Dusty that bothers me. I mean, he's hokay. He's a bunny-in-need and we got whut he needs. Maman got him nootered so he doesn't stink ennymore (which issa very good fing!) and so he isn't so bouncey ennymore and so he isn't allus grabbing alla 'tenshun away frum ebberybunny else alla time (which is 'portant).
Da Fing is...
Maman allus comes innu da Bun Room to get sum milk to put innu her coffee and she allus whispers, "Hello George!"
And I am pleased. I know my name. I hear my name and I wave my ears to show that I am pleased. It is a subtle fing, but it is Our Fing. It makes us bof a widdle happy and because I am happy, I go and give Missy a few liddle licks on top ob her ears. And den Missy is happy and she smiles at Mouse. And Maman goes past Mouse on her way out wiffa milk for her coffee and whispers, "Hello Mouskus!" and he waves his ears and he is happy, too.
And it usta be like Our Liddle Sekret, Maman and me whispering "Hello George!" and me waving my ears; me grooming Missy and her smiling, and then Maman whispering to Mouse and him being happy, too. It does not take much to make us happy, you know?
But Now Maman comes innu da Bun Room to get milk for her coffee and she whispers, "Hello George!" and alla sudden, there's a Dusty-hextplosion frumma habbytat nextest-door, wif Dusty runnning back and forth, and putting up his paws and bouncing offa habbytat walls and yelling,
"Me! Me! Over here! Here I am! Me!"
And our Happy Momint of Liddle Quiet Fings is all gone.
And Maman breaks the rhyme obba Happy Momint and has to step ober to where Dusty is and and talk Out Loud (insted ob whisper) and say, "Hello Dusty to you, too! Maman's pretty boy! Calm down. Have a pet-onna-nose. Calm down, Dusty. Calm down! Yes, we love you, too!"
And then she stops to bend down to where Foxie is and says "Hello little Foxie Gurl! Yes, we love you, too, Liddle Foxie Lady!"
But the "Momint" is broken, don't you see? Our Momint wif Maman is all messed up. It isn't how it allus usta be alla time bifore there wassa Dusty or a Foxie. It is just now being all messed up because now they are here.
And Dr Sharin sed, yestidday, "Well, I could foster Dusty for you." but she didn't seem to hab much hope. She ebben offered to hextchange bunnies wif us!
But Maman sed, "I don't know why George won't get along. He usta get along before when we had Clover and Beebe - but he was introduced to them by Belinda and Hunny. We had Top Buns in those days, but noBun has stepped forward to take over being Top Bun."
And Dadda sed, "There was no need for ennybun to be a Top Bun. They all knew their place from Before."
And I'm finking, "It's not me who is not Getting Along. Da Fing Is issat Dusty is not Getting Along wif us."
And Missy was sitting inna carrier nextest to me looking all puffy and pretty and sad.
And Maman sed, "I can't be habbin' da Warren torn apart wike dis."
And Dr Sharin sed, "I have had this same Fing happin in my Warren, too. My Thumper bit me over a new bunny."
And Maman and Dadda talked aboud'dit alla way home inna car.
Da Fing Is, I tried to tell Maman frumma backseat, is dat I, George, usta be Furst, alla time. But dat was because I wassa "Babby George". Now, though, I am Grown-Up, 'Tellygint George and I know Fings. I bemember How Fings Were and How They Should Be:
"Hello George"
It was justa liddle whisper, but it was my whisper frum Maman and I would wave my ears.
No banging around from nextest door, no hextplosions ob bunny-energy or binkies offa walls. No desperate pleas of "Here! Here! Me! Me!" until she stopped and petted sumbun else.
Just quiet and whisperings like conspirators ob affectshun.
And there especially shouldn't be, as Dusty bounces and races around his habbytat, that Fear you see suddinly spring up behind Maman's eyes, a Fear Frum Long Ago - wif werds: "Shut up! Shut up! Don't wake anyone, don't bring 'them' innuit! Shhhh! Shhhh..." Because there is somefing inside Maman that is still a skert bunny who looks and runs and only comes out later, when it is silent out and nothing moves...
And Dusty wakes that bunny up in her, when it should be left to sleep.
Dat's da Fing.
He shatteres da Quiet Fing dat Our Warren knows that he hasn't Lerned. Belinda knew about the Quiet Fing, and so did Hunny. And if Dusty wuld Only Shut Up, he could lern, too, because I would tell him. Bunnies tell each udder about dere Mawmies and Daddas, about da History and Tradishuns obba Warren, and it is called Da Lore (I have told you dis Bifore).
It's not only hoomins dat figger out their bunnies; their houserabbits figger them out in return. And Each Bunny learns frumma bunnies who are already there.
But Dusty isn't stopping to learn. Foxie is learning, though. She is learning fast and will fit right in. She knows how to be Cute, like me, and how to be Quiet, like Missy, and how to be Feisty, like Mouse. All at dif'frunt times. But Dusty needs to slow down to lern. Rushing to the Frunt might make him noticed, but not inna Good Way.
And dat's da Fing, as it is, so to speak. Da Fing Is, I didn't mean to bite Missy. I didn't mean to be out of sorts. It's not me, not George, but I am not a Babby for ennybun except Maman, and just George only for Missy.
To da Udders, da Fing is, I fink I might hafta become Top Bun.
------------------------ By George