I’ve had a lot of surprising things happen in my life. A lot of unexpected twists and turns, a lot of times where what was happening was really strange. But by a long shot, nothing was quite as shocking as being transformed into a bunny rabbit.
I stayed crouched in the bushes in my bunny rabbit form, staring around in bewilderment. What the hell had just happened? I lifted a hand- well, paw – and put it gently back down on the grass. It was fluffy and white. I tried to speak, to see if my words would still come out in english, but the only sound I made was a tiny squeak. I tensed up as something came charging past me, and I felt my claws unsheathe. I slowly crawled from my shelter, feeling my fur on my back stand up, and peered down the path. A tiger was racing through the trees, its paws pounding on the ground as it sprinted. Was it a real animal, or another tribute? That was a question I probably would never get the answer to. With my small size now, there was no way I could take on the other tributes.
I hopped out from the shadows and sat up on my hind legs, my small nose twitching as I took in the scents around me. I could smell other bunny rabbits. A lot of them. I grinned, although now that I was an animal it probably looked strange. Some food for me.
Wait. I couldn’t eat bunny rabbits. I was a bunny rabbit. Dammit.
I heard light padding steps behind me, and I whipped around with a squeak of surprise. Behind me were a large group of rabbits. I use the word ‘group’ lightly. There were dozens of them. Grey ones and black ones and ginger ones and brown ones. They were more like a clan. I looked down at my furry pelt, and realised I was the only white rabbit there.
The rabbit at the front hopped forward towards me, it’s keen eyes staring me down. It sniffed at me, then something curious happened. I could hear its thoughts. Almost as if it was telepathically communicating with me.
‘Join us.’ The rabbit’s thoughts seemed to say. It stared at me with its large eyes. I stood up on my hind legs once more and gazed over the other bunny rabbits.
“I your leader now!” I declared – err… mind-declared… boldly. Is mind declared even a word? I wouldn’t know, but it was the only way I could express exactly what happened.
The bunny rabbits stared dumbly at me for a few moments, their dull eyes uncomprehending. Wow. Stupid rabbits. Then, all of a sudden, all the rabbits twitched their ears at the same time, and ducked their heads to me ever so slightly. Although they weren’t speaking, I immediately knew what that meant. I was their master now. I had a whole tribe of fluffy little bunnies at my command, and I could make them do whatever I wanted. I could probably command them to jump off the edge of the island and they wouldn’t object. And if they didn’t do what I said, then I would eat all of the carrots and lettuce in the world and make them watch.
I twitched my nose at my clan and then began to hop through the path the tiger had taken, sniffing to pick up the scent of the oversized feline. I detected it easily, and began to follow the smell, taking the path in bounding strides. I heard my clan behind me, and continued to merrily hop along.
Soon, my nose picked up anotehr scent. I stopped as the smell of monkey wafted through the air, and nearby, I heard the screeching of the creature. I heard a tigers roar and the sound of slashing claws, and immediately began to follow the noise, my long ears tingling with excitement. I stopped at the edge of the clearing looking down the small slope at the sight before me. My bunny tribe stopped around me, forming a circle around their leader.
A tiger was ripping viciously at a monkey in the clearing. The monkey was jumping out of the way, swinging around the trees, but the tiger wouldn’t let up. I could see blood splattered on the ground of the clearing, and a large gash was torn into the monkey’s chest. As the tiger took the final pounce, its claws outstretched and it’s mouth wide open, I knew that the monkey was as good as dead. The monkey was clamped into the tigers jaws, and it jerked around wildly as blood splashed from its wounds. Blood quickly coated the tigers muzzle, dribbling down its front as it dropped the lifeless monkey at its feet.
BOOM!
The tiger knelt over the monkey and began to eat, munching on the flesh. I watched, fascinating.
Suddenly, one careless little rabbit – a small brown one with ginormous eyes, let out a tiny squeak as his little paws slipped over the edge of the slope. He began to slide down the hill, his little paws scrambling as he fell down. I heard squeaks of alarm from the clan, and I stood up taller. That little bunny was in danger! And as leader of the pack, it was my duty to save him!
I leapt from the top of the slope, taking the leap down the hill in strides. The little bunny rabbit squeaked and wriggled towards me, one little paw stretched out. I reached the little bunny and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, quickly dragging him back up the slope. He was heavy. Heavier than I expected. The little rabbit squirmed in my grip, but I didn’t dare hurt him. I hated hurting animals.
Finally, I reached the edge of the clearing. I dropped the little bunny rabbit, making sure not to injure him, then turned back to the tiger. Only then was I aware of my grumbling stomach. Judging by the low little rumbles around me, my fellow rabbits were just as hungry as I was. I looked at the tiger, then at the monkeys corpse, then back to the tiger. I stood up on my hind legs once more, and I ordered my little bunny tropes.
“CHARGE!” I screamed. My voice came out as a long, drawn out squeak, but my clan knew exactly what I meant. My fellow rabbits and I charged forward with tiny battle cries, bounding toward the tiger with long strides.
The tiger glanced up, then its eyes widened as it saw the horde of fluffy little bunnies angrily charging towards them. The tiger let out a low growl and skittered backwards and away from us rabbits, then turned around and ran into the trees. I let out a loud squeak of victory, and my rabbit clan joined in, dancing around the carcass of the monkey as we merrily cheered. I flicked up my ears, indictating that I wanted silence. The rabbit tribe before me sat still, waiting for the signal to begin eating. I dipped my head down towards the corpse of the monkey, indictating the beginning of the meal. I quickly dove at the monkey and began to eat at the flesh, reveling in the taste. The blood tasted metallic, but I liked it. My fellow rabbits joined in, ripping off small portions of the carcass to eat and enjoy.
About 20 minutes later, we were left with a pile of monkey bones, little pieces of meat scattered around the area, and about 100 very fat rabbits. I wriggled up on the ground, content with my new home in the rabbit tribe. I was their leader, and I finally belonged here. I didn’t belong with humans. I never did. But with my fellow rabbits by my side, I was happy.
Suddenly, the anthem began to blare. I looked up at the sky to see the faces of Cherry, Elaine and Devlin. Only 4 of us were left now. For some reason, the sky began to move weirdly. It was as if the trees and rabbits around me were suddenly growing smaller all of a sudden. I sat up from my position, and put my paws to my head. My human, blonde, curly hair was back, and was wild and crazy like always. I put my finger to my nose. It was no longer a tiny pink nose, but a normal sized human one. My ears were no longer long and floppy, and my fluffy little tail had disappeared. I huffed out a breath, the disappointing realization of what had just happened taking over. I wasn't a fluffy little bunny anymore. I was no longer the fearless leader of the bunny clan.
I was Noelle again.