Buffy Bunny and the Easter Emergency

Late one April evening, Buffy Bunny was relaxing on his front porch. He had just had a delicious dinner (not cooked by him of course, you remember what happened the last time Buffy tried cooking) and was now enjoying the sunset over the trees near his home. He put his big feet up on the stump in front of him and sighed. He was on holidays, which meant that he had nothing to do except relax for the next few days. As he closed his eyes, ready for a little nap, his long ears twitched. He thought he heard someone calling his name. His ears twitched again. He was sure he could hear someone calling his name. First one, and then the other stood straight up. And suddenly, around the corner, came his cousin, Buster Bunny.
Buffy was very surprised to see Buster, because although Buffy was on holidays, the next few days would be the busiest of the year for Buster. You see, Buster was an Easter Bunny! Every Easter, Buster worked very very hard delivering chocolate and gifts. He never took time off, and Buffy was confused. Why was Buster here?
“Hello Buster!” called Buffy. As Buster got closer to the house, Buffy noticed that he didn’t look so good. His ears were very droopy, his eyes looked tired, and his nose was very red and sniffly.
“Hi Buffy”, said Buster, sounding miserable. Buster flopped down in the chair next to Buffy.
“What’s wrong Buster? Are you ill?” asked Buffy, concerned for his cousin.
“I am Buffy, very ill. And I have only managed to make a small start to delivering my Easter gifts. My basket is still mostly full! I don’t know how I am going to manage” Buster sneezed, “Achoo!”.
“Oh no Buster! But everyone will be waiting for their chocolate and gifts!” Buffy frowned. He didn’t want anyone to miss out because Buster was sick. “Buster”, he began quietly, “what if I helped you by delivering the Easter gifts? I might not do it quite as quickly as you, but at least it would get done”. Buster smiled at Buffy.
“That sounds like a brilliant idea Buffy. All you need to do is take the basket. It is a special Easter Bunny basket, and when you hold onto it you will know exactly where you need to go to deliver the chocolate and gifts. Now, is it alright if I go lay down on your bed? My head is aching”. Buffy settled Buster down in his bed (“Why does your bed smell like pizza dough?”),  and left him some water and carrots in case he needed them, then walked back outside and looked at the Easter Basket. It was big. Very big. Buffy was a little worried that he wouldn’t be able to pick it up, let alone carry it around.
“I will have to use all of my strength” Buffy said to himself. Buffy planted both of his big feet on the ground. He stretched his arms and got a good grip on the basket. Bending his knees, Buffy took a deep breath and pulled with all his might! The basket, which was not actually heavy at all, flew up into the air and over Buffy’s head.
“Oh no!” Buffy cried as the basket sailed over his head. He watched, dismayed, as every last glittering egg flew out of the basket and smashed onto the ground. It was raining chocolate eggs! He tried to catch some, but missed.
“What am I going to do?” thought Buffy Bunny, looking at the mess on the ground in front of him.
“I know. I'll just get some more” he said. “I'll go and visit the hens, they lay eggs. Surely they can help me”. He picked up the basket (which interestingly weighed the same now as it did when it was full of eggs) and headed off down the path to see the hens.
When he got to the henhouse, Buffy hopped up to the door and peered in.
“Hello? Anyone home?”
He was answered by a loud chorus of clucking and then hopped inside. There were two rows of hens sitting in their nests, about twenty of them. The biggest hen looked at Buffy.
“What are you doing in here?” she asked.
“I need your help. I accidently ruined all of the Easter eggs and gifts. Could you please give me some eggs to use?”
The hen looked at Buffy’s sad face and down at his empty basket.
“Hmm...I’ll have to consult with the girls.” She turned and for the next few minutes, all Buffy heard was loud clucking and feathers flying as the hens talked it over. Buffy kept his paws crossed. Finally, the biggest hen turned back to Buffy.
“We will help you”, she clucked, “however! You will need to help us in return. We need more flour for our baking. If you bring us flour, we will give you the eggs”.
“I can do that! Thank you. I’ll be right back” cried Buffy as he hopped out of the henhouse. He stood outside thinking.
“Flowers….flowers….there are some nice flowers growing out in the wood. But it would take me too long to get there and back”. He frowned, and looked around him. Over on the far side of the henhouse was a paddock, in which he noticed lots of yellow flowers growing. Buffy quickly hopped off to the paddock.
As he was climbing over the fence, a big spotted cow came wandering over.
“Can I help yoooooou?” the cow asked Buffy. She snorted slightly in his face.
“Yes please. I need your help. I accidently ruined all of the Easter eggs and gifts. The hens will give me some eggs, but only if I give them some flowers for their baking”. The cow looked a little confused.
“Flowers for their baking? That is strange. Well you can pick some flowers from my paddock, but you must bring me something in return” the cow said. “I get tired of always eating grass. I would like some berries”
“Sure thing. I can get you that I’ll be right back” said Buffy, and he climbed, or fell, back over the fence. As he brushed himself off he thought.
“Now the cow needs….Barry did she say? As in Barry the farm dog? She can’t eat Barry, maybe he is going to cook her something” he shrugged and hopped off towards the farmhouse. He could see Barry the farm dog laying in his kennel.
“Barry!” he shouted as he came nearer to the dog. “I need your help please!”. Barry opened his eyes and lifted his head to look at Buffy.
“Buffy Bunny. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen you down here. What can I do for you?” Barry asked.
“Well, I need your help. I accidently ruined all of the Easter eggs and gifts. The hens will give me some eggs, but only if I give them some flowers for their baking, and the cow will give me the flowers, but I have to get her...well….you!” Buffy said in a rush.
“Me?” Barry said startled, “What does the cow want me for?”
“She said she is tired of eating grass, and asked for you” Buffy replied. Barry the dog looked confused.
“Well, I’m not sure what I can do to help her. But I will try my best. But first I need you to do something for me Buffy. I get so bored laying around here all day. I need something to keep me busy. I would like a tale, a really good one, about something exciting perhaps.” Barry said.
“A tail? Ok. I can get you a tail. I’ll be right back” said Buffy and hopped off. Barry wanted a tail. Buffy wasn’t sure why, he had a perfectly good tail already. It was long, and it wagged when Barry was happy. Where was he going to get a tail from? Buffy stopped hopping and put down the basket.
“The only way I will be able to give Barry a tail is if I…..if I....if I give him mine” Buffy thought sadly. He liked his tail. It was fluffy and fun. It was part of what made him who he was. A big tear slipped down Buffy’s cheek. And another. And another. Very soon he was crying, fairly loudly. So loudly in fact that he didn’t hear two people coming up behind him on the road.
“Buffy!” cried a voice. “Whatever is the matter?”. It was his two best friends, Rella Rabbit and Samson Squirrel. They came up to Buffy and he explained the whole story.
“My cousin Buster Bunny is an Easter Bunny. But he is sick. So I volunteered to help with his delivery. But I accidently ruined all of the Easter eggs and gifts. The hens will give me some eggs, but only if I give them some flowers for their baking. The cow will give me the flowers, but I have to get her Barry the dog because she is tired of eating grass. Barry will go to the cow, but only if I get him a tail because he gets bored during the days. But I don’t want to give him my tail!” Buffy wailed to his friends. Rella and Samson looked at each other, then smiled at their friend.
“Buffy,” Rella said softly, “I think you might have gotten a little confused. The hens would need FLOUR for their baking, not flowers. And the cow was probably asking for BERRIES to eat, not Barry”
“Yes, and Barry was probably asking for a tale, as in a story, if he is bored in his kennel” Samson smiled at Buffy.
“Oh!” said Buffy, wiping his nose. “I did think the things they were asking for sounded a little strange. Well what am I going to do? I already promised everyone that I would bring them what they asked for”. Rella patted Buffy on the shoulder.
“It's ok Buffy. I have some flour and berries at home. Why don't we go get them and give them to the cow and hens?” she suggested.
“I will go and tell Barry the dog a story. I know a funny one about a bunny who tries to cook pizza for his friends”, Samson winked at Buffy and wandered off towards the farmhouse and Barry's kennel. Buffy couldn't believe he had been so silly and gotten so confused. He and Rella went and got the flour and berries from her house. They delivered the berries to the cow, who was very thankful. Then they hopped into the henhouse and delivered the flour to the hens. The hens were very happy with the flour, and they filled the Easter basket to the very top with eggs.
When they got back to Buffy’s house (where poor Buster Bunny was still fast asleep), Buffy put down the basket and scratched his head.
“Well, now we have a basket full of eggs. But they are not chocolate eggs are they? I'm not sure what to do with them” he said. The two friends stood looking at each other, thinking. Samson came up the path, having finished telling Barry a tale.
“Oh Buffy! I thought you only had chicken eggs to fill the basket up with. Where did all those Easter Eggs come from?” he asked. Buffy and Rella looked down at the basket, amazed. The basket was fill of glittering chocolate eggs!
“I did put chicken eggs in. I don't know what happened! It must be a very special Easter basket to change chicken eggs into Easter eggs” Buffy said, feeling very happy. His friends agreed to help him deliver all of the eggs. When Samson reached for the basket, Buffy stopped him.
“It's ok Samson. It's not a heavy as it looks” he said. The three friends delivered eggs to all of their friends. When they got back to Buffy’s, they discovered four glittering eggs in the bottom on the basket. They sat down at the kitchen table, along with Buster who was feeling better, and ate their Easter eggs. Buffy thought that this was the best way to spend his holiday, helping his family, giving his neighbors things that they needed, and eating a yummy egg with his best friends.