As I walked up the hill, I saw the bunnies scattered helpless on the grass. Patches of fur were spread across the ground. In an instant my mood changed from curious to distressed, but there was nothing I could do. I stared angrily at the crow perched on a nearby tree, waiting for his next meal. My eyes turned to the deep hole nearby, and I poked around inside. There was one life left; a baby bunny curled up in a ball shaking nervously. I would be the one to save his life.

The bunny lay cradled in my arms as I stroked back his soft fur. His large ears were not in proportion to his petite body; his glossy brown eyes stared directly up at me. My family knew he would have no chance of survival if we left him in the hole, and we could not let that happen. “You’re gonna be all right,” I reassured him, and as if he believed what I said, his shaking stopped. We placed blankets in a small shoebox for him to sleep in, and I watched as his eyes slowly closed. I smiled at his large ears, one perked up, and the other flopped down. When my sister suggested the name Flopsy, I knew it fit him perfectly.





***
As days passed, Flopsy began to grow. He grew into his large ears, and he wasn’t so small anymore. But he still had the same large innocent eyes. His fur slowly turned from a light brown, to specks of beautiful browns and grays. He moved from the shoe box to our spare bathroom, because he was very adventurous and needed space to run around and explore. Every time I would open the door, Flopsy would hop towards the door begging for attention. Although we loved having him, and he seemed to enjoy staying at our house, we knew he would soon need to be released into the wild. I tried not to let that thought cross my mind. And the next night, I made a terrible mistake.

I slowly cracked open the door, not realizing there was a curious animal standing beside me. My cat Fluffy had wanted to get the bunny all along, his instincts telling him Flopsy was a living toy. He was waiting, any chance he could get to pounce, and now was his chance. As I entered the room, Fluffy darted through the door. It was too late; there was nothing for me to do. “Mom!” I screamed as I tried to capture Flopsy. I shoved my cat away, and held Flopsy close, his heart beating fast. I started to cry when I saw the scratch across Flopsy’s leg, why would my cat do this? We called everywhere, emergency vets, wildlife havens, anywhere we could possibly think of, but most places would not take in a wild animal. We rushed off to one emergency vet, who said they could help us. They bandaged up his leg and said it would heal. I knew what a trooper he was, and was sure he would make it through. I hugged him, wanting nothing to ever happen to him again.





***
Flopsy’s leg healed in no time, I was delighted to see him back to his usual self, running around throughout the bathroom. I held him in my arms and looked up at his big eyes and sweet face. He was ready to go back to his home; he needed to be set free, and after calling lots of places we found one who could safely introduce him back into the wild. I walked into the bathroom to pet Flopsy knowing there would not be many more days to do this. I watched him hop around, wanting more room to explore; I couldn’t wait for tomorrow, when he would go back to his real home. If only it would have gone as we planned.

“Hannah, wake up,” I jolted awake. My mom stood in front of my bed, her face blank. I could see the red around her eyes, fighting back tears. I followed her to the bathroom where we had been keeping Flopsy, and when I saw, I began to cry too. A pool of blood surrounded the carpet; his body lay motionless in the center. “What happened?” I uttered, wishing this was all just a dream. My mom told me how Flopsy had tried to get under the bathroom door not knowing that Fluffy was waiting on the other side. Flopsy had become like another pet, and I really cared for him. Tears were streaming down my face, how could something like this happen? But as I thought about it, I knew we had done everything we could to save him.