The
Runaway Bunny (Almost!)
by Roanne Lim
A true account of my naughty bunnies and me…
 It
was around eight plus in the evening... all dark outside...
my bunnies were out hopping around the house... with
the balcony doors open... I took my attention off them
for a few minutes... and when I returned... I couldn't
spot either of them anywhere... I got a little worried...
but quickly checked out all their favorite spots...
only to find... no bunnies!?
I became even more worried... got on all fours peeking
under tables and chairs... behind the fish tank... behind
the curtains... calling out their names... no bunnies!!
I was starting to get a little hysterical when I spotted
the white male bunny 'Wang Wang' loitering in the dark
garden... sniffing the gate... and that is when 'a little
hysterical' developed into full fledged hysteria...
the two rabbits are so well bonded that they don't usually
wander far away from each other... they like to hop
around together... and so if one is out in the garden...
then the other one must be somewhere out there too.
I switched the lights on... but only managed to see
the white bunny at one glance... the brown girl 'Dou
Dou' is nowhere in sight... and to my horror... the
wire mesh covering the lower parts of the gate is slightly
bent at a corner... creating a hole just big enough
for my 'Dou Dou' to squeeze through... I thought to
myself... 'oh s**t... that's it... she's escaped'...
 My
family members and me rushed out of the house... and
began searching around the many bushes outside me and
my neighbors' places... my mom was yelling at the top
of her voice... my brother kept mumbling 'die already...this
time die already'... a house-boarding family friend,
for some reason... found the whole incident very amusing...
and kept laughing and giggling... and for me? I alternated
between trying not to cry... and trying not to slap/snap
at that giggling family friend... just WHAT is so funny
about a pet that has gone missing?!?!... I don't understand...
Anyway... it was very dark outside... and 'Dou Dou'
is a brown bunny… almost impossible to see among
the bushes... unless she comes out into the open...
our house sits on top of a slope... then right at the
bottom of the slope is some swampy area... then the
river/drain... I can't tell you how desperate I felt
... how terribly worried and upset I was when I imagined
that I can't find this bunny forever... she's so tame...
so trusting... so defenceless... and when I think about
all those big dogs that gather near the construction
site not so far away... I honestly didn't know what
to do with myself...
The search went on for ten whole minutes... even though
the process seemed to have lasted much longer... horrible
scenarios flashed through my mind... and with each passing
minute... I found it more and more difficult to hold
in my tears... curious neighbours and bemused strangers
stopped in their paths to watch and to enquire... and
that is when my brother shouted the best thing I've
ever heard coming out from him ... "THERE SHE IS!!!!"
... a tremendous sense of relief flooded me as I swung
around to check out my bunny's location... and true
enough... the naughty little girl is staring at me cheekily
from under a bush outside one of my neighbors' garden...
After establishing that she's still in our vicinity...
we started a 'game' of 'police and thief'... my goodness!!...
I never knew this bunny of mine could be so agile...
and so fast... everybody started helping to catch 'Dou
Dou'...and I mean... EVERYBODY... my brother and mummy...
my boyfriend... the family-friend... my maid... my neighbours'
kids... the passer-bys' kids... all chased after my
rabbit... and oh yes... I was darting madly after her
too... the other adults who felt it was too undignified
running after a cheeky (and very frightened) bunny stood
around pointing and yelling instructions... "TO
THE RIGHT!! TO THE LEFT!! FASTER FASTER!! UNDER THE
BUSH".... it didn't strike me at that time how
funny the whole episode was... I was more intent on
rescuing my runaway bunny... but upon recollection now...
I realize how dramatically most of us have reacted...
my brother and maid were like playing American football...
launching themselves off like rockets at the errant
rabbit... catching only air... I was running around
bare footed... slipping a couple of times on the slope...
the family friend was chasing along and laughing her
head off at the same time... etc...
 We
didn't manage to catch her in the end... Dou Dou got
fed up with so many people yelling and chasing her...
putting an effective end to her adventure outside the
house that she high-tailed it back to the safety of
our very brightly lit house... and straight back into
the comforts of her cage... where her bewildered fellow-bunny
Wang Wang gave her a very disgusted look... almost as
if he's saying... "what's with all these trouble
and commotion you've caused?"...
Some cheered... some applaused... and a round of mad
+ relieved laughter rose I slammed the cage doors shut...
with BOTH bunnies inside... I didn't know whether to
cry or to laugh with gratitude and relief that I've
gotten my runaway rabbit back again... *thank god*...
to reassure myself that she didn't hurt herself in the
mad run earlier on... I carried Dou Dou out... battling
tears, and hugged her close to me... her little heart
beating fanatically against mine... and she snorting
hot air through her nose at me...
I am really really REALLY thankful that I've gotten
her back so quickly... I don't think I can live with
myself if she goes missing on me like that ...after
all... she's my bunny... and I am the one charged with
her safety and well being... *gosh* I don't even want
to think about the possibility of not finding her again...
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