by Darren Lewis
With her eyes closed she could tell the white light was getting brighter still, and just when she thought she would have to scream “Stop!” there was a loud clap, like a bang of thunder directly over her head. It made her jump and fall to the ground. The wind died down and the white glow disappeared, though the light still danced across Ellie's vision.
Ellie was breathing heavily on the ground, her head resting in her hands. She felt okay, just a bit different. She felt a paw on her head.
“Are you okay?” Rox asked.
Ellie sat up quickly, shaking off Rox's paw.
“No! Don't touch me! It's dangerous!” she exclaimed. Rox smiled at Ellie.
“I know, I know. But that applies to humans only.”
Ellie sat back puzzled. She became even more puzzled that after sitting she was now the same height as Rox. She looked down at her hands, except they weren't hands. She now had two grey furry paws. Startled she stood up and realised she was standing on her hind legs, which were long and also covered in grey fur. Ellie raised a paw to her head, grasped an ear and slowly bent it down in front of her face.
“I have long, brown ears.” Ellie said quite calmly.
Rox nodded.
“I have grey furry paws.” She added.
Rox nodded.
“Do I have a furry tail?” she asked.
Rox looked and nodded.
“And these are whiskers.” Ellie stated, pointing to her face.
Rox nodded once again, brushing her own whiskers.
“Rox?”
“Yes, Ellie?”
“Am I a rabbit?”
“Yes, Ellie.”
Chapter 3
Cast leaned in close to Rox.
“How long are you going to let this go on for exactly?”
Rox smiled and shrugged.
“Just let her enjoy it a little while longer.”
Enjoying herself at that moment was Ellie, who was racing in circles around Rox and Cast. Laughing and whooping with delight at her new found speed. She would've loved to go to her school's sports day like this, she would win every race!
Ellie ran past Cast, he put up a paw.
“Ellie……” she raced past around them again.
“Ellie, we have to…..” Ellie sped past once again. He sighed and stepped into her path.
“Stop!” he shouted.
Ellie dug her front paws into the ground but forgot about her other two legs which were still charging forward and she somersaulted and landed in a heap in front of Cast laughing.
“Oh this is wonderful!” she laughed. She stretched out on the ground and looked up at the sky. “And I can hear so much more, smell so much more.” Her eyes went distant as she perceived this strange new world in a world she had always known.
Rox hopped over to stand above Ellie.
“I'm sorry we don't have time for you to enjoy all this properly, but we…” Rox stopped suddenly, ears pricked and nose twitching. She had crouched down, making herself very small but the muscles in her back legs were tensed and ready to run. This brought Ellie out of her daydream. She looked at Rox and then at Cast, who was in a similar stance to the black rabbit. Ellie knew they were in danger. She slowly rolled over and looked around the wood. From her now shorter height she couldn't see as far as she used to, but then remembered her ears and nose. She heard a crackling sound in the woods to her left where Rox was looking. Ellie sniffed the air and thought she could smell fur, not rabbit fur though, fur mixed up with what smelled like rotten chicken. She shrivelled her nose in disgust.
“Rox, what is it?” she whispered. Rox didn't move.
“There's a fox out there. Cast where's Plume?” she said quietly.
Cast grimaced. “I sent him back to the warren.” Rox nodded.
“Okay. Ellie, we're going to run, but not until I say. You don't know where our warren is so just follow me. Stay as close as you can and we'll give that fox a merry chase.”
Rox, never taking her eyes off the wood, spoke to the older rabbit.
“Cast, you go first on my shout.”
The crackling in the wood grew louder and then stopped. Although still a bright sunny day the woods had grown darker to Ellie, as if the trees themselves could sense the danger. The breeze once again blew the smell of rotten chicken into Ellie's nostrils. There was silence except for a faint rustling of leaves in the trees. Ellie stared hard at the bushes she had heard noises coming from. This time she thought she saw something moving. Rox must have seen it too as she tensed a little more. Then all of a sudden she shouted.
“Run!”
Cast sped off, followed barely a second later by Rox. Ellie's legs were shaking from being tensed up, waiting for Rox's signal, but now she released them and shot off, once again enjoying how quickly she could move, even in this awful situation. To her left the bushes seemed to split apart in an explosion of leaves and earth, as parts of the bushes were uprooted by the fox crashing through them. The chase was on.
Cast led them down a small track through the woods. The trees, roots and surrounding bushes had almost created a tunnel for the rabbits to run down with ease. But that also made it easier for the fox. The rabbits went left and right, another right and then left, swerving and jumping, in a mad dash for survival. Ellie lost track of where she was and simply concentrated on following Rox as fast as her four new legs could carry her. It was a moment later, after a sliding turn to the right that Ellie began to realise the problem. She noticed she wasn't running as fast as she could and that Cast, being much older and leading them, was actually slowing the three rabbits down. Ellie could now also hear the `thud, thud, thud, thud' of the fox's paws upon the earth behind her. A few seconds later she started to hear the fox's loud pants as it drew breath to catch its prey. A part of Ellie's mind thought wildly, `this is like being chased by a train, except this train will eat me!'
Ellie couldn't spare a second or a breath to tell Rox that she was close to being caught. The thud of the fox's paws grew louder and Ellie imagined that any moment she would feel the fox's teeth clamping down on her legs. She knew she had to do something. She looked past the two rabbits in front of her and up the track ahead. Luckily the track had straightened out and she could see a tree stump off to her left that was taller than herself and the fox. As they ran closer Ellie made a decision. She launched off her right hind leg and swerved off the track towards the stump. The fox had to decide which rabbit to chase.
*
Rox was very scared. Not so much for herself as she had outwitted foxes before, but for Cast and Ellie. As Cast was older she had made the decision to let him go first, then she would lead Ellie back to the warren. Rox had been afraid that Ellie would get lost amongst the trees and bushes of the wood. She now thought this was a mistake. They should've split up. She and Ellie could've easily led the fox away from Cast and then made it safely home. Instead she had placed them all in danger. Cast was slowing down, which meant the fox was gaining on them and Ellie was in immediate danger. Rox whimpered in fear, knowing that she had placed this young girl, who had trusted her so completely, in a situation where she could lose her life.
Rox stumbled and nearly fell into Cast's hind legs. That quick scare snapped her out of her guilty thoughts. She shouted to Cast.
“Just keep running!” and she came to a sliding stop just off the trail so Ellie wouldn't crash into her. However, instead of Ellie running past with the fox behind her, the trail was empty. Alarmed, Rox used her ears and could hear the sound of the chase to her left. To get there quickly Rox would have to leave the trail, so she set off.
Rox started running through the bushes. She sped over and under gnarled tree roots and fallen logs. She jumped left and right and slid to avoid these obstacles. The bushes didn't slow her down. She plunged straight through the centre causing a loud crash in her ears and scratches on her face and body from broken branches. She had to speed up! She had to be faster! Ellie was facing that fox all alone. Panicked slightly, Rox missed a
half buried tree root, her right hind leg caught it and she went sprawling into the earth. She fell sideways and rolled into the base of a tree, her head glancing off the rough bark before coming to a stop in a furry ball. She lifted her head slowly, as it ached a bit from hitting the tree. Then a loud scream came from up ahead. Rox whispered.
“No.”
*
Ellie didn't have to worry about speed anymore, so as soon as she left the main trail for the tree stump she dug her paws harder into the earth floor and managed to get further ahead of the fox. She knew she would need those vital seconds for her plan to have a chance of working. She reached the trunk, slowed and ran around to the other side.
*
The fox came to a quick stop when it realised the rabbit had not run past the tree stump. Turning slowly, it began sniffing the ground to pick up the scent of its prey. Its ears twitched and its eyes flashed when it found it back near the stump. The rabbit must be hiding on the other side as the fox hadn't heard it run off again. It followed the scent round the trunk, sure that it would find a rabbit cowering in fear just a little further on.
One game that Ellie enjoyed playing at school or in the park was tag. She loved running, chasing and the thrill of being chased. She wasn't always the fastest though, so had learned that if her speed couldn't help her from being tagged she would have to be smarter than the others. Her best trick was the roundabout. When being chased by someone faster than her, she would head to the roundabout and position herself on the opposite side of the person chasing her. When they tried to run left around the roundabout, she would also run left. This kept the roundabout between them. She would carry on doing this until her chaser got bored or too tired and went to tag someone else. Ellie was quite proud that making someone tag her was hard work.
With that in mind, Ellie was slowly edging around the trunk towards the fox's tail. What she planned on doing would've gotten her in serious trouble if she tried it playing tag. The fox continued to circle the trunk and Ellie cleverly kept the trunk between herself and the fox. What the fox would never have expected was the rabbit it was chasing to start creeping up behind it. Nothing in its experience, or that of any fox since the dawn of time could prepare itself for what was going to happen next. Ellie moved quicker now, eventually coming up behind the fox. Its tail, long, bushy and red, swished, nearly hitting her in the face. She would have to time this just right. Ellie bunched her hind legs and with one twitch of her whiskers launched herself at the fox's tail. She caught it between her front paws and shoved it as quickly as she could into her mouth. Then she bit down as hard as she could.
By her best guess Ellie thought the fox, accompanied by an ear splitting scream, shot about five feet into the air. The tail was wrenched from her mouth and paws and she lurched forward, her nose hitting the dirt. She sniffed out, producing a small dust cloud from her nose and spat some fur from the fox's tail from her mouth. It tasted like wet dog smelled. The fox landed a few feet away from Ellie. It whimpered and curled its tail protectively around its body and looked in shock at this rabbit who had taken a clump of fur from its tail. It simply stood there staring, not daring to show its back to this rabbit as it had no idea what was going to happen next. Ellie felt a little sorry for the fox, but she didn't want it to regain its courage or allow hunger to overcome the fear of being bitten again. She raised herself onto her back legs. Standing tall she put her paws in front of her body, swung a paw at the fox and said.
“Come on then, Mr. Fox. Let's fight!”
Ellie knew that fighting wasn't a way to resolve a situation, but reasoned these were special circumstances, as the fox would eat her if she lost this fight. Just as the fox was deciding what to do Rox burst through the bushes. She accidently kicked a pine cone that sailed through the air and smacked the fox between the eyes. The fox jumped backwards and yelped. Its eyes jumped from Rox to Ellie and decided enough was enough. Rabbits were food and shouldn't be able to fight back. It turned quickly and dashed off into the woods.
Rox came to a sliding stop, kicking up a big cloud of dirt and sat breathing heavily. Ellie slumped to the ground. Her heart was hammering so fast she couldn't count the beats. She began to tremble. Rox laid a paw on Ellie's back and felt her trembling.
“It's okay now.” Rox said quietly.
Ellie took a big swallow.
“Rox?” Ellie's voice shook. Rox continued to comfort her by stroking her back.
“Yes, Ellie?”
“I really need to go to the toilet.”
Chapter 4
When Ellie and Rox arrived at the entrance to the warren, Cast and Plume were waiting anxiously outside for them. Cast let out a shocked breath when he saw the scratches on Rox's face.
“Rox! I was so worried! When I realised you'd both left the trail I thought I'd never see either of you again!” Rox smiled tiredly and shook her head. She was about to reply when Plume spoke angrily.
“I knew she was trouble! Look at your face! And a fox almost kills you all!” Plume waved his stick in Rox's face and then swung it to point at Ellie. “You should leave before you bring about anymore danger!” Plume punctuated each word with a jab of his stick into the ground. Plume stared hard into Ellie's eyes. She was confused, why was she being shouted at after surviving an encounter with a fox?
Rox stepped over to place herself between Plume and Ellie. She leaned forward towards Plume and spoke quietly.
“Plume, I suggest you do not rush to such quick judgement. If it wasn't for Ellie, then Cast and probably I would be dead now. She saved us all with her quick thinking and bravery.” Ellie hung her head, a bit embarrassed at Rox's praise. She hadn't felt brave at all at the time, mostly scared. Rox sat back and still looking at Plume she asked. “Cast, are you okay?” The older rabbit nodded and sighed.
“I guess these old legs of mine aren't up to the chase anymore.”
Rox looked at him.
“You did fine, the mistake was mine.” She turned and lifted Ellie's chin with her paw, “So did you. Come, we have things to do.”
Rox, followed by Cast and Ellie entered the warren, leaving Plume alone with his thoughts.
*
Rox led Ellie and Cast through the passageways of the warren. Though they were underground and the tunnels should be pitch black Ellie could see perfectly fine. She hoped she didn't suddenly turn back into her normal self, firstly she wouldn't be able to see and secondly she would be stuck underground in a rabbit hole. The path Rox took them on led down and always curved slightly to the left. It reminded Ellie of a helter-skelter she had been on at the fairground. She giggled at the memory and heard her laugh echo around her. Ellie looked up ahead and noticed the tunnel was getting larger and seemed lighter. A few seconds later an opening appeared and strange dancing lights shone through, creating flickering shadows on the earth walls. Rox stopped and motioned for Cast to continue, then held up her paw signalling Ellie to stop and said.
“I know it's been a very strange day for you so far.” Ellie nodded in agreement. “Well, it's about to get a little stranger and quite likely will keep doing that.”
Rox walked slowly through the opening and Ellie followed. What Ellie saw took her breath away. She was standing in a large cavern in the shape of a giant circle. The cavern didn't have rough rocky walls but smooth earth slopes had been built up on all sides. It was like being in the inside of a bowl. This bowl contained something quite amazing. The slopes were half filled with rabbits, all waiting patiently, eyes upon Rox and Ellie. The lights Ellie had seen were coming from what looked like large crystals suspended from the curved ceiling. Each one was shining in a different colour of the rainbow, illuminating areas of the cavern in their particular glow. The crystals swung slightly creating the dancing lights she had seen.
As in the woods, when Cast had placed the glowing stones around her, these crystals guided you towards the centre of the cavern. Here was a single bright white light, a focus for the crystals and the rabbits.
; Rox walked slowly into the cavern with Ellie close behind. Ellie felt quite nervous being stared at by so many rabbits. Just before entering the white light Rox paused and signalled Ellie to wait outside the glow. She then smiled and entered the light. Rox stood on her hind legs and made a slow turn, making sure each rabbit present saw her. Ellie's best guess at their number was perhaps three hundred, and then Rox began speaking. Ellie immediately recognised a change in Rox's voice and then she understood, this was the voice of a leader.
“My family, you have all gathered here from around this land at my request. The moment grows close for us to perform our most crucial task that was given to our kind. To make the world turn.” Rox paused while the rabbits nodded and murmured in agreement. Rox continued, her back straight and eyes bright, “But our numbers are lower and continue to be less with each passing season. Warren leaders from around this world have told us they have fewer numbers than us!” There were gasps of shock from the assembled rabbits. Voices were raised in disbelief, followed by worried cries. Rox raised her paw for silence, the rabbits obeyed.
“We all know the legend of The White and The Grey. The ones who made this world turn with one single jump and then made us to keep it turning. Legend tells us this power was hidden away until it was needed.” There were calls of acknowledgement throughout the cavern. They all knew the legend of course as every rabbit was taught the story. Rox continued. “As clan leader of all tribes I shall travel to this place to seek this power.” The rabbits seemed to calm down. Pleased that something was being done they began talking to each other.