Hello Spring
It was the first day of spring. And that meant that Tabby Longfoot had to leave her warren. The previous night she had celebrated the coming spring with the whole fluffle of bunnies. There had been carrot cake and music and the little bunnies had put on a play. Admittedly the “play” consisted mostly of them jumping in circles and sometimes into each other, but much fun had been had. Afterwards, most of the fluffle had gone to their respective homes. Diego and Bonks had stayed, kissing and cuddling on the big swing until they'd fallen asleep. And Mommy Longfoot had stayed to get a head start with the cleaning. She was gathering together the crumbs and fixing the decorations that had come down in the whirlwind of celebration. Tabby had also stayed. She had hidden in the old stump. She had a big lump in the throat. Not just now that the festivities were over, not now that she could hear the terrifying calls of the owls in the distance. No, from the beginning when old Jollywig Earwag had held his opening speech Tabby had felt terribly lonely and scared. The worst part had been that she had nobody to talk to about it. It would have been extremely ungrateful to bring down everybody's mood with her feelings, especially when they were doing it all for her. The “Hello Spring”-celebrations weren't for anybody specifically, but over the years it had become custom to especially highlight and celebrate those bunnies of the fluffle that had come of age and would be leaving the next morning. This year Tabby happened to be the only one. Most of her friends had already left last spring. And of those younger than her she had only befriended a few. And then everybody had been celebrating her! There'd been “Tabby carrot cake”, some of the very young bunns had made a floral crown for her, Zippy had been her personal waiter and the play had been titled “The Fearless Tabby Longfoot.” She was the centre of it all, laughter and displays of joy all around her. And all she wanted was to cry. To throw up. To drown herself in the river. Now, sitting alone in the old stump she permitted herself to start slow and began sobbing. It was tough, after a long evening of keeping up a façade, to finally let her guard down. At first there were only a few sniffles. Her throat tightened and the first tears rolled down the grey fur of her cheeks. Finally she was able to let go. It wasn't dramatic crying, it wasn't loud. But she sobbed, sniffled and cried her heart out. She grieved the friends and family she would leave behind. She grieved the place she would leave behind, the burrows, the river, the trees and the old stump. She cried for a long while until she finally fell asleep exhausted. When she awoke a couple of hours later she found the community area completely empty. Her mother must've finished cleaning and Diego and Bonks must have also found their way home. The only thing she spotted was a knapsack directly outside the old stump. Mommy Longfoot must have prepared it for her. Tabby briefly checked the contents—some leftover carrot cake and a piece of soap. Then she swung the bag over her shoulder and set off eastwards, towards the rising sun.