CHAPTER ONE
A Breakfast Surprise
Spring had come to Misty Wood. The icy frosts of winter had melted away and the earth was warm and bouncy again. On the hillsides, the sweet scent of lavender drifted gently on the breeze. Soft clover carpeted the valleys, and in the meadows, hundreds of new flowers were just ready to bloom.
Below a cluster of mulberry bushes, in a cozy burrow deep inside the Misty Wood Rabbit Warren, somebody was bursting with happiness.
“… and then I’ll twitch my nose and the beautiful buds will unfurl and springtime will have arrived in Misty Wood at last!”
Bailey the Bud Bunny sat at the old log that was her family’s breakfast table, chattering away. She was so excited that her pretty pink wings kept fluttering and she had to hold on to the table to stop herself from flying off. Bailey’s mom was bustling about the warm burrow. Her dad was busy tweaking his whiskers and arranging his long floppy ears. And her baby brother, Bobby, was sitting on his toadstool high chair, playing with his mashed carrots. Bailey leaned across the log table and put her little pink nose close to Bobby’s face.
“I’ll twitch my nose like this, Bobby,” she said, wiggling her nose slowly. “I have to be careful because the petals are very delicate. If I do it too quickly, the flower might break. Ouch!” she yelped as Bobby whacked the tip of her nose with his little white paw.
“Bweak! Bweak!” the baby bunny cried.
Bailey laughed. “When you’re a bigger Bud Bunny, you’ll understand.” She fluttered her tiny pink wings proudly. Like all the fairy animals living in Misty Wood, she had a very special job to do to make sure it stayed such a magical place.
A Bud Bunny’s special job was to unfurl the flowers and reveal their beautiful blooms. Bailey was a very young Bud Bunny and this was only her second springtime. Her white cotton tail fluffed up with happiness as she thought back to last year. All the other Bud Bunnies had said she’d done really well. This year she was determined to do even better.
And maybe if I’m really good, Bailey thought, I might even see the Easter Bunny at the Misty Wood Easter Egg Hunt. Her mom always said that no one got to meet the Easter Bunny, because he was so busy and important. But Bailey still hoped that, one day, she’d be really lucky.
“I’m sure I’ll see all sorts of lovely flowers today,” Bailey said dreamily. “Big ones and small ones. Pink ones and blue ones. Short ones and tall ones and some in-between ones and…”
“Bailey, if you don’t stop chattering and finish up your food, it will be time for bed before you’ve even started,” her mom said, stirring a wooden pot of fresh elderflower juice.
“Sorry,” Bailey said with a grin. “I’m just so happy. I’ve been waiting for today forever!”
Her mom set the pot down on the log table. “Well, you can wait just a little bit longer and have a nice big drink first. It’s a lovely sunny day outside and I don’t want you getting thirsty.” She poured some of the sweet juice into Bailey’s acorn cup and the little bunny gulped it eagerly.
“Yum, that was delicious,” she said, licking her lips. “Now, I can’t hang around. I’ve got to hurry, hurry, hurry—hic!” Bailey stopped, openmouthed.
Bobby giggled.
Bailey’s mom gasped.
Bailey’s dad raised an eyebrow.
Bailey tried again.
“Good-bye, everyone,” she said. “I’m off to—hic!” She stopped and looked around the burrow in dismay. “What’s—hic—happening?” she wailed.
“Oh, Bailey,” her mom said, shaking her head. “You drank your juice so quickly, it’s given you the hiccups.”
“Hiccups?” Bailey cried. “But how am I—hic—going to do my—hic—job now? I’ll never be able to keep still enough to unfurl the flower petals if I’ve got the—hic—hiccups!”
And, with that, a fat tear trickled down her snowy-white face and landed—splat!—into her empty acorn cup.
Text copyright © 2014 by Houthouse Fiction Ltd
