Gerry was asleep, warm, the little girls hand gently stroking his fur. She'd talked to him about the games they'd play when she got better. How they'd go back out in the backyard and have fun again. But she hadn't gotten better. She'd been in this bed for months now. Gerry flopped onto his side, relaxed, allowing her fingers to stroke his tummy when the bedroom door opened and within a flash Gerry was put into a cardboard box and whisked out of the bedroom, as some people huddled around the little girl. He could see out of some airholes they'd poked in the box and watched as they carried the little girl out of the room, her hands limp. Gerry tried to escape the box, but no matter what he did, he couldn't escape. There was no escape and he'd left her side. He'd let down.
Gerry woke suddenly, breathing hard, his ears perked right up. Gerry quickly got to his feet and hopped to the water dish in his cage and took a long, refreshing drink. After he finished, he stood and stared at his reflection in the water dish, feeling so old. Feeling like that life was so long ago now. "You alright?" Six asked from her cage, but her presence didn't even startle him anymore. "Not these days," Gerry mumbled, lowering his ears, "...anything happen today?" "Not really. Still only late morning though, so who knows, the day could hold some surprises," Six said and Gerry nodded, murmuring. It'd been months since The Incident. Dodger had never come back, and every single day Gerry couldn't help but let his eyes wander to the spot where Fern used to lay on the floor and talk to them, her spot now empty and devoid of her presence. THEY never brought a new dog in, so it wasn't like they had a new friend to compare her to. The lab just felt...empty these days. Just then the lab door opened and both Gerry and Six hopped to the edge of their cages, waiting with baited breath to see what or who came in. It was just one of THEM of course. It was always just one of THEM. Gerry started to hop away, to go cozy back up in his little warm straw nap hole, when he heard the sound of a childs voice. Gerry felt his ears perk right up, and he turned back around to see a little girl with a backpack on coming in behind THEM. "Do the bunnies like it here?" she asked, and THEY shrugged. "They'd probably be happier in the wild, but what they're doing is good for everyone," THEY said, a lie which Gerry had come to not even flinch at anymore. THEY continued on, "They're helping everyone, and in the end, they'll be remembered for it. Now, stay here while I get some work done, and I'll bring you some lunch in a bit and then we will go to the doctors, okay?" "Okay, momma," the little girl said, climbing onto a stool overlooking a long metal table, putting her backpack on it. THEY exited the room, leaving the little girl unattended. At first she opened up her backpack and took out an mp3 player, plugged her earphones in and then slid out a book, apparently choosing to pass the time just reading and listening to music. Gerry couldn't take his eyes off of her. She looked exactly like her, but...it wasn't her. "Pssst!" hissed a voice, and Gerry looked across the room to Kevins cage. "What?" Gerry whispered back, and Kevin nodded to the end of his cage. He hopped to it, burrowed under the hay and vanished. Gerry and Six did the same in their own cages, and escaped through the bottom hatches Number Two had rigged up for them one afternoon. The three of them met under a table in the back of the room, far out of view of the little girl. "So now we're a babysitting service?" Kevin asked, annoyed. "Disgusting how THEY don't even care about their own litter," Six said, "THEY leave everything they deem below THEM in this lab. I'm appalled. Not surprised, just disgusted." "Hey," Number Four said, coming over with Number Two, "Is this a secret meeting?" "Not if everyone knows about it, it's not," Gerry said, "Anyway, THEY'RE not abandoning her, she's just staying here for the early afternoon. THEY at least care somewhat about their own..." Gerry allowed his eyes to wander back over to the girl, and for a split second, he swore he saw her. "...Callie," he whispered, beginning to hop over to her when Number Two hopped in front of him. "Whoa, hey, you okay there?" he asked. "...I...yeah...I guess so," Gerry said, stuttering. "It'd be lovely to have some children," Number Four said, "Out there, free, not in here. Not in this pit of death. I refuse to allow any of my offspring to ever become a part of this sick hell." "Understandable," Six said, "That being said, I don't think raising any is right for me. I think I'm too damaged from all of this. I wouldn't be a very fit mother." Number Two, still sitting beside Gerry, looked at the girl and then back at Gerry, who was just staring at her, seemingly entranced. Number Two cleared his throat and cleaned a paw before looking at Gerry outright. "Is there something you wanna talk about?" he asked. "She looks just like her," Gerry said, his eyes brimming with tears, "...I let her down, just like I let all of you down. I just keep failing." "You didn't let anyone down, Gerry, Dodger used us and then threw us to the dogs, literally," Number Two said, "Never forget that what happened was not your fault. He conned us ALL, okay? He didn't charm just you. We ALL believed him. He was a liar, and we're better off to be rid of him now. Good riddance. May he never come back and may his tiny slimy mouse feet wiggle as he gets eaten by a bird." "I was supposed to be there for her. That's what I was for. That's what she kept asking. She didn't want me to leave," Gerry whispered, before starting to hop out into the open lab, Number Two just watching as the others finally noticed their friends clear mental lapse, and hopped to the edge of the safe zone, watching Gerry hop to this little girls feet. Gerry stopped at her shoes and looked up at her, then softly nudged her ankle with his nose. The little girl looked down and smiled before climbing down off the stool and getting on her knees, reaching out slowly and gently stroking the fur on the top of his head. "You're so soft!" she squeaked, clearly excited, "Don't worry, I won't tell on you being out of your cage, because you're too cute and mom might punish you." She then sat crossed legged, and Gerry hopped up on her legs and curled up in her lap, letting her just stroke his back softly. The others sat where he'd left them, almost jaw dropped at this behavior on both ends. All they'd ever been told was that THEY couldn't be trusted, and yet here was a child of THEIRS, an extension of THEM, and Gerry was busy cuddling with her. Number Four remembered the story she'd told Kevin the night of The Incident. Of her owner, the old woman, whom she'd watched slip and die in her kitchen, and suddenly got it. This little girl must remind Gerry of his previous owner. Number Four started hopping forward as well, with Kevin right on her heels, hissing at her through his teeth. "Ellen! Ellen, come back!" he screeched, but she just shook her head and kept right on hopping. Unless you know how it feels to lose the person you called home, then you'd never understand it, was how she felt. That's what the humans they'd lived with, who'd cared for them, really were in the end. They were their home. Number Four hopped up to the little girls side and looked up at her, and the little girl looked down at her, happy to see yet another rabbit. After a few minutes, Six joined in, leaving Kevin and Number Two alone, watching from the sidelines. "Well," Number Two, "No harm, no foul I suppose." "You're not going to join in too are you!?" Kevin asked, annoyed, "She's one of THEM!" "She's clearly not," Number Two said, "THEY never are happy to see us. To THEM, we're tools. To her, we're friends. Children retain a sort of innocence most adult humans lose as they get older. She's not spoiled yet. She's still good, and I don't know about you, but after all the pain we're been through, I think we deserve some fun." Number Two started off after the rest of them, all playing with the little girl now, leaving Kevin alone, just watching, sad and confused. He never joined in. The afternoon consisted of chasing the bunnies, reading stories to them and petting them, giving them the loving attention they ever so craved. Eventually, the little girl knew her mother would be coming back, and it was almost time for her to go, so to spare them the pain of being seen out of their cages, she picked them up, one by one, and put them back on the counters where they reentered their own cages. Kevin reentered his ages ago, of his own accord. Last but not least, she picked up Gerry, and, cuddling him to her chest, she walked him over to the counter, where he hopped into his cage and looked back at her. As she put her fingers through the bars, still scratching gently behind his ear, she smiled at him. "You're a good bunny," she said, "I wish I could take you home with me, but mom says I can't have any pets." After a minute or so, she stopped and went to her book, then tore out a page and came back, giving it to Gerry, and then packed her things up. A moment later, her mother came in and took her out of the room, leaving them all alone once again. Six came to the side of her cage, near Gerrys, and peered through. "What was it?" Six asked, "What'd she give you?" Gerry unfolded the paper with his paws and looked at it, his eyes filling to the brim with tears. "Gerry?" Six asked, but he wouldn't budge, so she gave up and went to lay down. Gerry buried the page under his hay, curled up on top of it, and went to sleep. Gerry didn't have nightmares for a long time.
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The Rabbit Collective follows a group of lab rabbits struggling with their purpose, and hopeful eventual escape. Archives
October 2020
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