Author’s note; I laughed when I went to add this story to the blog. How perfect that on Easter Sunday, I am posting my story about Benjamin Bunny……Enjoy
Benji
Benji was one of the bunnies Patrick rescued from the hill at the end of our street in Creston, early one summer morning. He brought home three rabbits, but Benji was the one we kept. He was the sweetest little caramel coloured rabbit that came as close to stealing my heart as Fudge. Although there could never be another Fudge, he was a special little guy that we all enjoyed playing with.
When I think of little Benjamin I am reminded of the Beatrix Potter tale, Peter Rabbit, because there was a great similarity between them. I love that story and so it follows I also loved Benjamin Bunny.
He would go into the Garden and eat the raspberries off the bushes with Hawk trailing behind, picking up any that fell to ground. I doubt Hawk would have eaten raspberries had he been on his own, but if Benji was getting a treat it must be good, and Hawk was not one to miss out on his share of food.
One afternoon while hanging clothes on the line, Benji hopped into the flower bed in front of me, with Tiffany close behind, and Hawk following Tiffany: a pet version of follow the leader, or was it the food chain? In any case, Benji seemed completely oblivious to his entourage, giggling to myself as I watched, knowing that these three were friends and no one would get hurt. Mostly Hawk followed behind to pick up what we called bunny raisins, but I can’t be sure why Tiffany followed along, perhaps she didn’t even know herself.
When we moved from Creston to Lemon Creek, near Slocan, we were able to bring Benji along with our other companions. He even got to ride in the front seat of the moving truck with the boys on this this first journey by car and last big adventure. We were living in the country and had a wonderful secluded yard far from the neighbours animals….or so we thought.
Patrick happened to be away overnight during the summer and the children and I were outside on the deck enjoying the beautiful summer day. We often let Benji out of his cage to explore and he would join us when we were in the yard. This particular day, which turned out to be his last, was no different. It was quite hot so we were all enjoying being outside, reading or doing crafts.
I remember thinking at the time how interesting it was that Benji came up to each of us that afternoon and gave us a bunny kiss. Looking back I realize he had been saying goodbye, knowing his time had come. Shortly after this I went inside to prepare supper and do some chores. That night when the children were getting ready for bed I went out to round Benj up and make sure he had food and water for the night, but he was nowhere to be found. Hawk and I looked everywhere. Normally at night time he hopped into his cage on his own, knowing it was the safest place to be, but not this night. I could only hope he had found a nice safe spot to bed down, because in the country the darkness is complete and I was unable to find his hiding spot. There were many places for him to hide, so I went to bed praying he was alright.
That night I dreamt of him, not a long dream, just a sort of re-enactment of what happened in the afternoon. He came up to me and touched me with his nose before hopping away. I was telling this to the children next morning while we ate our breakfast, and before I went to look for him again.
The interesting thing was Lucas had the exact same dream that same night. I certainly had to wonder at the possibility of this happening, never having happened before. But somehow Lucas and I both connected to Benji’s spirit as he said good-bye to us.
It was some weeks later that we found his fur in the Japanese garden belonging to the small resort on the property adjacent to ours. We could not tell for certain if he had been caught by the neighbours dog, or if he had just died of natural causes. Because he said good-bye to each of us that day I believe it was a natural death; rabbits do not live long lives. Also, because I felt if he had been torn apart from an attack the fur would not have been all in one area, most likely not finding any fur. It goes without saying I prefer to believe he passed away peacefully that night.
I think of him often, especially that last day as he made a point of saying his good-byes— even to Hawk and Tiffany. I am grateful to have known this little rabbit with the big heart.
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