Bigby Bunny's Secret Garden

• Published March 8th, 2010 by
• 1 Comment

 

Episode Five

                                                                                                                                                                                                          

It is getting very close to Bigby's Secret Garden Portraits, and once again he is not here.  His closest friends, Pookie, Eeyore, Jockamo and Snickers, haven't heard from him in months, and, again, they are beginning to worry that he may not make it back in time.  The last they heard, he was in the North of England visiting his relatives.

Last week, Eeyore got himself so worked up with worry that he hippity-hopped to the airport, all alone, and headed to England to try and find Bigby, again.  Eeyore wasn't at all sure he would succeed in finding Bigby.  Jockamo was sure that Eeyore went to England just to get out of work here.  Snickers was nervous about it all.  But Pookie, who as you know can be quite persistent, said:  "If at first you don't succeed . . . ."

Now, while waiting for word from either Bigby or Eeyore, the bunnies are at Evergreen Studios, getting ready for all the portraits that will be taken, by practicing their posing.                                                                           

"Don't slouch - sit up straight,"  Pookie warned the other two.                                                                               

"Stop fidgeting," Jockamo scolded Snickers.                                                                                                   

"Be sure to clean your paws and face,"  Snickers gulped, as he licked his.

Just then, the bell on the front door jingled, and in walked the postman.  "Special delivery," he explained, handing a postcard to Pookie, and added, as he walked back out of the door jingling the bell again, "from overseas . . . ."

"Overseas?"  Pookie asked, of no one in particular.  Then he looked at the card, then he looked at Snickers, then he looked at Jockamo, then he looked at the card again, and then he gasped, "I don't believe it!"

"What?" asked Snickers and Jockamo together.  "What don't you believe?"                                                                

"I would never have guessed . . . " Pookie said, shaking his head.                                                                                      

"Guessed what?"   Jockamo and Snickers pleaded, in unison.  "What would you never have guessed?"

Slowly, Pookie began to read the postcard out loud.

                                                                                                                                                                                   

 
   

 

 

 

                       

Episode Six

 

 

Pookie coughed to clear his throat.  “Ahem.”  Then he coughed two more times to make sure his throat was clear. “Ahem, ahem.”  Then he swallowed, and began reading from the very top of the card.  “March 3, 2010, . . . Paris, France,”  and then “Dear Friends.”

“Paris France?” thought Snickers.   “Dear Friends?” Jockamo thought. “ Who do we know in Paris, France?” they asked out loud, at the very same time.  Pookie ignored them.  “I hope this finds you well, and that you are in good spirits,” Pookie read on.  “I myself am very well, and my spirits could not be better.”

“In good spirits . . . ,” Jockamo puzzled,  “Who talks like that?  It almost sounds like . . . .”  But before Jockamo could finish his sentence, Snickers blurted out, “Who is it?  Who is writing us from Paris, France?”  Pookie raised one eyebrow and stared at the two of them over the top of his reading glasses, in silence, for a long time.  Then he continued reading.

“I’ve been here for a week now, and am having the adventure of a lifetime.  I climbed the Eiffel Tower, smiled at the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, said hello to the gargoyles at Notre Dame Cathedral, and took a boat ride on the Seine at sunset.”

Jockamo waved his front paws to get Pookie’s attention, and then mouthed one word: “Who?”  Snickers nervously nodded in agreement.  “Be . . . . patient,” Pookie said, “I’m almost to the end.”

Pookie read on.  “Tomorrow is the biggest day of all – tomorrow I start cooking classes at Le Cordon Bleu!  By the end of summer, I’ll be a great chef!”

“Who is going to be a great Chef ?”  Jockamo and Snickers almost shouted. Pookie held up his left paw, and continued reading.  “Must hop now, much to do.  My deepest apologies for not writing sooner.  I promise to do better.  Let me hear from you.  Yours, very truly . . .”  Then, Pookie stopped reading, and slowly turned the postcard around so the other two could read the signature themselves. . . .  There, at the bottom of the card, they saw the name.

 

                                                Bigby Bunny, Esq.

 

Snickers’ jaw dropped.   “Bigby’s not in the North of England – he’s in Paris.”  “Apparently so,” Jockamo responded, “and apparently until the end of summer.”

Pookie thought for a moment, sat up on his hind legs, rubbed his paws together, and said, “Well, we’re on our own again.  Let’s get ready for the Secret Garden.”  With that, they hopped off to get to work.  Suddenly Snickers stopped, and said “Wait!”  After the other bunnies stopped too, he asked, “Where’s Eeyore?”