A Sheepy and Bunny Are Friends Story
For three days it rained. A wave of heavy rain followed by a lull of sprinkles, then another heavy round would blow through. Everything was soaked. The barn dripped in every corner and along every rafter. Big drops of water fell on the animals. All the sheep were damp in their wool, and their rumps and bellies shivered. Bunny stayed curled up under Sheepy’s chin, tucked between his front legs to stay warm and dry. Then on the fourth day, the dark clouds finally rolled away, and the sun shone, and the day began to warm.
Bunny and Sheepy had to blink their eyes several times when they stepped into the sunlight. The new day was so bright after all the rain. Outside, everything was vibrant green and wet. The sheep’s pond in the little birch grove was overflowing its banks, and even the poor ducks were waterlogged.
All around the barn, the ground was muddy. Bunny hopped on Sheepy’s back because he didn’t like his paws getting dirty. Sheepy trudged through the mud, leaving his hooves caked with muck, as he headed for the meadow to snack on some fresh green grass and wipe his hooves. All the other sheep followed, their hooves trampling the mud. They were happy to get out of the damp barn and stroll in the sunlit meadow. Bunny rode along with Sheepy. They sniffed the fresh clean air.
“It’s so pretty today,” said Bunny.
“The fresh green grass looks so tasty,” said Sheepy. He bent his head down to nibble at the green blades. “You should hop down and get a bite.”
“Bunny doesn’t want to get his paws wet,” said Bunny. “I want to ride around on my friend Sheepy’s back and get warm in the sunshine.”
Sheepy giggled, “Okay, my little friend Bunny, you can curl up in my wool and we’ll both get warm together.”
Bunny laid his head on Sheepy’s wool and dug his paws to get a better hold. Sheepy wandered further into the meadow where lovely flowers were blooming; nibbling on fresh green stems as he went.
As Sheepy was treading through the wet green grass of the meadow, Bunny perked his ears up, lifting them way up high so he could hear better.
“Sheepy, I hear a sound,” said Bunny.
“What kind of sound?”
“I don’t know, it sounds a little like crying,” said Bunny.
“Who could be crying?” asked Sheepy.
“What if it’s a hurt animal?”
Sheepy swung his head back and forth. “Sheepy don’t like that,” he said. “That makes Sheepy sad.”
“We should go look and see,” said Bunny.
“Yes, we should look, in case it’s a crying hurt animal,” Sheepy said. Sheepy’s voice was quivering. What Bunny said made Sheepy feel sad and scared. “Where is the sound coming from?”
“It sounds like it’s coming from that way.” Bunny pointed with the tips of his ears. Then Bunny realized Sheepy couldn’t see which way Bunny’s ear was pointing, and said, “over toward the fields.”
“The fields! We never go near the fields,” said Sheepy. “It’s too scary to go to the fields! We never go there, that’s where Bad Farmer has his crops.”
Sheepy started to feel really nervous now. He wanted to bleat out in sadness.
Bunny saw how upset Sheepy was getting, and patted him on the neck. “It’s ok Sheepy, Bunny will watch over his friend Sheepy, so nothing bad happens.”
Sheepy felt a little better with his friend’s reassurance.
“I don’t know the way, we never left the meadow before,” said Sheepy.
“There’s a little path between the meadow and the field that the rabbits use. I will show Sheepy,” said Bunny. “Just follow my directions.”
Bunny pointed out the directions with his paws and ears. Bunny kept forgetting Sheepy couldn’t see where he was pointing when Bunny was riding on his back. He had to tell Sheepy in his ears which bushes to pass and trees to go under, which logs to hop over, and which rocks to go around.
As Bunny and Sheepy got further away from the meadow, the other sheep wanted to know what they were doing.
“Bunny said he heard something that sounded like a hurt animal crying. We’re going to look,” Sheepy told them.
“We should go too, in case you need help,” said the elder rams.
“What if it’s a wolf or a fox,” cried some of the ewes. “That could be dangerous!”
“What I hear doesn’t sound like a wolf or a fox,” said Bunny.
“We should go look, even though it’s scary,” said Sheepy. “Bunny will be with us the whole time to protect us.”
The rams agreed to go and told the ewes to stay behind with the lambs in the safe meadow.
Sheepy walked down a trail he hadn’t been on before following Bunny’s directions. The Rams followed close behind. The ewes were too curious to stay in the meadow and followed the rams at a distance. Bunny rode high on Sheepy’s neck to keep a lookout, with his ears raised and cocked!
“It sounds like crying and whimpering,” said Bunny. “Not too far ahead.”
“We’re almost to the edge of Bad Farmer’s field,” said one of the elder rams, who had been around for a long time.
“I hear something too,” said Sheepy. He picked up his pace and trotted toward the sound. The Rams quickly followed behind. The ewes and lambs stayed further back in the brush.
Sheepy and Bunny burst from the underbrush into the field and searched for the sound.
Around them were muddy brown fields. Short green shoots sprung up standing between wet rows of water. The green shoots stretched up to the sunlight, waiting for their soggy roots to dry. Along the side of the field was an overgrowth of bushes and trees that provided a break between the sheep pasture and the cornfields. The sheep flock had never been on this side of the break.
At first, all Sheepy could see was row after row of muddy cornfields. He looked around quickly, trying to find the whimpering noise.
Bunny’s eyes were sharper. “Over there, in the field,” Bunny cried to Sheepy.
Sheepy ran into the field, getting his legs all caked with mud. He ran down the muddy rows following the sound, until they saw a cart lying on its side. The moaning was coming from the other side.
One of the wheels of the cart was completely submerged in the mud. Some tools had fallen to the ground and were left abandoned to lay in the rain and rust.
Sheepy ran up to the cart. On the other side, he saw a little donkey lying in the mud and crying. The donkey was attached to the cart by two shafts and a harness that kept him pinned down and unable to move.
The sight made Sheepy feel heartbroken, and Sheepy bleated out a distressed cry of sadness.
“He’s a little donkey,” cried Bunny. “We have to free him.”
“He’s cold and shivering,” cried Sheepy. “We have to help.”
The little donkey was lying on his side covered in mud. His hooves and ankles were buried deep in the mud. His eyes were closed and he made a soft crying sound, with several little “he he he” followed by a long slow “haaaaa.” Sheepy didn’t know how Bunny could hear that from so far away. The donkey’s whimper made Sheepy cry a big tear down his cheek.
Sheepy ran over to the Donkey, nuzzled his nose to the donkey’s cheek, and said softly, “Little donkey, little donkey, we are here to help you.”
The donkey opened his wide dark eyes and let out a soft “hee haw” to say he understood.
Bunny leaped off of Sheepy’s back onto the cart and hopped down one of the shafts. With his strong teeth and paws, Bunny pulled the straps loose and released the harness from the donkey’s back and neck.
“Little donkey,” asked Sheepy, “can you get up?”
The little donkey struggled in the mud, but couldn’t get up.
The little donkey finally answered Sheepy in a weak voice, “I can’t get up; my hooves are stuck in the mud.”
“We’ll have to pull him out of the mud,” said Bunny.
“But how?” said Sheepy.
Bunny was sitting on the donkey’s rump. He turned and made a big hop back to the cart. Bunny looked around and found a rope. He grabbed one end of it and hopped back to the donkey. Bunny then tied the rope around the donkey’s neck, using a special knot so the rope wouldn’t tighten and hurt the donkey when it was pulled.
Sheepy was amazed that Bunny knew how to do all this. Sheepy was always amazed at everything his special friend Bunny could do.
“OK,” said Bunny, “tell the Rams to pull.”
All of the rams had gathered around the cart and the little donkey watched with fascination what Sheepy and Bunny were doing. The elder rams nodded their heads in approval. Off to the sides, at the edge of the field, the ewes and lambs watched from a distance.
Bunny hopped onto Sheepy’s back, and under Sheepy’s direction, all the rams lined up, grabbed the rope, and pulled.
After a few tugs from the rams, the little donkey was finally able to stand up and pull his hooves out of the mud. Once he got his hooves unstuck, he was able to walk on his own, but he limped on his right hoof because it was hurt and slightly sprained. The little donkey shook himself a few times trying to shake some of the mud loose. He really needed a bath to wash it all off.
The little donkey was so happy to be freed from the cart and the mud, he wanted to dance, but couldn’t cause his hurt ankle. The sheep were happy too, and did their own little dance on their front hooves, lifting them up and down, waving their heads back and forth, while shaking their butts and dropping little balls of poop in Bad Farmer’s cornfield.
“We need to get back to the meadow before Bad Farmer catches us out here,” called one of the nervous ewes watching the rams dance from a distance.
“Yes,” said one of the elder rams. “We need to return.”
The elder rams joined the ewes and the lambs and headed back along the trail. The younger rams stayed back and helped Sheepy and Bunny guide the little donkey back to the meadow. The little donkey limped along, happy to be with his new friends.
As they made their way back to the meadow, the little donkey told them his sad story.
“One day,” said the little donkey, “I was at home in my cozy stall in the barn, and my mom and dad were also in the barn, and then men in overalls came and dragged us out and put us into a trailer.”
“Why did they do that?” asked Sheepy.
“I don’t know. The farmer didn’t want us anymore, and sent us off to be sold,” said the little donkey.
Sheepy wanted to hug the little donkey around the neck like Bunny does when Sheepy feels sad.
“They took us to this place that smelled bad. There was pee and poop all over the place, and the animals were all jammed together with little room. Then the people separated us from each other, and that was the last time I saw my mom and dad.”
The little donkey lowered his head and a few tears came out of his eyes and dripped on the drying mud on his face.
Sheepy remembered when his own mommy went away to the new farm, and he wanted to cry too.
“What happened then?” asked one of the sheep.
“Some farmer bought me, and brought me here,” said the little donkey. “He put me in a shed with a tractor, and fed me old hay.”
“How long have you been here?” asked Sheepy.
“A few days, just before it started to rain.” The little donkey tried to shake some more mud off. “At first, he was nice to me. He would come and visit me in the shed. He would pet me over and over. All the way down the little mane on my neck to my tail, then all across my back. He would rub my tummy and under my chin.”
“How did you get stuck in the mud,” Bunny wanted to know.
“I guess the farmer wanted to take some tools to the field and made me pull the cart.”
“Bad Farmer has a tractor. He doesn’t need a donkey to do that,” said Bunny.
“I didn’t want to. No one ever made me do that before,” said the little donkey. “I tried kicking him. I tried shaking him off. I even tried head-butting him. Then he knocked me down and hooked the harness and cart on me.”
“Then he started striking me with a whip. You can see the marks on my back. It hurt so much! And I was crying and braying for my mommy, but he kept yelling at me, saying all kind of mean cruel words.”
The little donkey threw up his head and brayed a long sad “hee haw.”
“I tried to pull the cart to make him stop, but it was heavy and the ground was wet, and the wheels kept getting stuck. I couldn’t pull it any further, and my feet were stuck in the mud. Then he got mad and turned the cart over, and shoved me into the mud, which twisted my ankle. Then he walked away and left me lying there in the rain.”
“It’s Ok now, little donkey, we won’t let Bad Farmer hurt you anymore.”
“I’m so happy you all came and found me, you all will be my new friends,” said the little donkey.
“We will take care of you and get you all cleaned up,” said Sheepy.
“Thank you so much,” said the little donkey. “My name is Jack. All the people at the other farm called me Jack. My dad is named Jack too. I’m named after my daddy.”
“Hi Jack,” said Sheepy. “I’m Sheepy and this is my special friend Bunny.”
“Hi Jack,” said Bunny.
The little donkey smiled at Sheepy and Bunny. “Why does Bunny ride around on your back Sheepy?” he asked.
“Bunny is a special bunny, and he looks after me to keep me safe and protects the sheep and other animals in the barn from Bad Farmer,” Sheepy told him.
“I wish I had a special friend that rides on my back,” said Jack.
By this time, Sheepy, Bunny, and Jack the little donkey arrived back in the green meadow where the sheep flock grazed and frolicked and had their dances and sang their sheep songs.
“I wish I could stay here in your pretty green meadow, but I’m afraid of your Bad Farmer,” said Jack.
“We want you to come and stay,” said Sheepy, “We can nibble yummy grass and play and sing. We will even hide you from Bad Farmer so he won’t find you.”
The little donkey sniffled a few times, and his eyes got watery.
“I feel itchy with all this mud drying on my fur, and my nose, and my ears. Is there someplace I can wash off?” asked Jack.
“You can wash off in our pond. It’s all flooded right now from the rain so be careful when you go in.”
“It’s Ok,” said Jack. “I’m not afraid of the water.”
Sheepy and Bunny lead Jack over to the flooded pool. The little donkey limped his way over. He looked into the clear water and bent his head down to take a drink. He was thirsty.
When he was done drinking, Jack wadded into the water until it was up to his shoulders, then he dived in and splashed around. Sheepy and Bunny stood to the side of the pool. Bunny smiled and clapped his ears and waggled his tail. Sheepy bleated encouraging sounds and danced on his hooves watching the little donkey splashing around in the water, washing off the caked mud. When Jack was done with his bath, he wadded out of the water and gave himself a good shake, slinging water everywhere.
Standing in the sunlight, all the sheep saw that Jack the little donkey had gray fur. He was short and squat, with a short narrow mane standing upright and running down his neck. His long ears with dark tips at the tops stood high over his head. Down his back, a dark stripe ran from his mane to his long thin tail. Another stripe crossed his shoulders. When he dried his fur was soft and fluffy.
Even the wild animals came to look. Mister Squirrel came down from his nest in the Mulberry tree to watch from the top of the barn. Chippy and Chilly the Chipmunks, still playing their silly game of nose/tail sat on a branch of a birch tree bonking each other on the nose with their tails, and then giggling and cuddling each other. The songbirds flew overhead in the sunlight to get a look at the little donkey. One little bluebird tried to land on Jack’s ear, then he twitched it, and the bird flew away.
Sheepy and Bunny took Jack into the barn, where he could sit down in the hay and rest his ankle. All the ewes and lambs who had been curiously watching him the whole time got to see him up close. The lambs snuggled their noses into Jack’s soft damp fur. The ewes bleated about how handsome he was. Chippy and Chilly scampered into the barn to get a closer look. Mister Squirrel hopped on the little donkey’s back and ran his little paws through Jack’s fluffy fur, while Jack lay in the warm hay.
“You want to be my special friend and ride on my back,” said Jack to Mister Squirrel. Jack blushed.
“You have such thick fluffy fur,” said Mister Squirrel. “I could hide my nuts in here.” Mister Squirrel let out a laugh.
Jack let out a “Hee Haw,” the first truly happy sound he had made in days.”
Bunny giggled too, and let out a “Hee Haw” of his own.
“You sound just like a donkey!” said Jack.
Sheepy was amazed at how much Bunny sounded like a donkey. “I didn’t know you could hee haw like that,” said Sheepy.
Bunny blushed and giggled.
The barn became quiet until one of the elder rams spoke up.
“We were discussing among ourselves, the rams and the ewes, about you staying here with us, and we decided that we don’t think it’s safe.”
Hearing this, Jack dropped his ears and let his face droop.
“We would be happy to have you as part of our family, but Bad Farmer would eventually find you, and who knows what he might do. He might be very angry that we freed you, and he might try to harm you or the sheep,” said the elder ram.
The little donkey drooped his head and ears. “I understand,” he said. “Do you have any ideas where I can go?”
“You can go to a chicken farm,” said one of the little white Silkies, who snuggled up into Jake’s warm belly.
“Chicken farms are too noisy,” declared Bessie the cow from the back of the barn. “You just can’t think with all the clucking going on, especially when the roosters start crowing, trying to show off their prowess to their lady friends.”
“We don’t mind that,” said some of the Silkie hens pecking around in the hay.
Bessie clicked her tongue. “You Silkies are so silly.”
“You could go live at a pig farm,” said one of the little lambs, “and roll around in the mud and get all dirty. It’s so much fun.”
“Hush now,” said one of the ewes. “It’s hard enough keeping you clean as it is.”
“No,” said the little donkey, “I don’t want to get muddy anymore.”
“You can go to a dairy farm, where they milk the cows and drink fresh cow milk,” said Bessie “You will like that, with all the cows mooing in the night. I kind of miss it myself.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I would be afraid I might get milked,” joked Jack.
“I don’t think they will mistake you for a cow,” said Bessie, and laughed.
“I know a nice place where you can go,” said Mister Squirrel. “It’s not too far away, but it’s a bit of a walk. I got relatives there.”
“What’s it like?” asked Jack.
“It’s a lot like this one, with a big meadow and lots of bushes and flowers, but no sheep, instead they have lots of horses,” said Mister Squirrel.
“Oh, I like horses,” said Jack. “The farm I came from had horses, but it’s way far away from here.”
“And they also have a pretty lady donkey there, named Jenny.”
“Really?” said Jack. “My mom’s name is Jenny.”
“She is really pretty, and she wears a little pink bonnet.”
“Wow,” said the little donkey smiling. “I want to meet Jenny wearing her little pink bonnet.”
“That sounds like such a good idea!” said Sheepy. “Mister Squirrel can ride on your back and show you the way to the new farm.”
“And best of all,” said Mister Squirrel, “the farmer that owns the place, he’s a good farmer. He hates Bad Farmer, and would never let him come near you.”
At that moment, Chippy and Chilly came scampering into the barn squeaking in their little high-pitched voices. While the animals talked, they slipped out to play more of their nose/tail game.
“He’s coming; he’s coming,” they both said in unison.
“He was looking for the donkey in the field,” said Chippy.
“He’s looking for the donkey in the meadow,” said Chilly.
“He looks mad,” said Chippy.
“Very mad,” said Chilly.
“He’s yelling bad words we don’t like,” said Chippy.
“Very bad words,” said Chilly.
“He has his whip!” said Chippy.
Little Chilly put his little paws over his eyes, sighed, and shook his head. “This is bad; this is bad,” he muttered.
Jack jumped onto his hooves, even though one of them hurt, and began braying in fear. “Hee Haw, Hee Haw. Don’t let him find me. Hee Haw.”
“Be quiet; be quiet,” called Bunny. “We need to distract Bad Farmer, while Mister Squirrel sneaks him out of the meadow.”
Sheepy ran over to snuggle against the scared donkey. Mister Squirrel stroked Jack on his head and neck to calm him down.
“Take Jack out the back door,” said Bunny, “and sneak him through a hole in the fence that takes him out of the meadow into the outside world.”
“This way Jack, come this way,” the sheep bleated and guided him out the back door under the Mulberry tree.
Moments later, Bad Farmer burst into the front doors of the barn, yelling obscenities and cracking his whip.
The terrified sheep ran into the meadow, the ewes with their baby lambs. Even the elder rams were fearful. They had never seen Bad Farmer like this before.
Sheepy ran into the meadow with the rest of the sheep flock, carrying Bunny on his back. Poor Sheepy was trembling all over. Bunny put his paws around Sheepy’s neck and patted his head to comfort him.
“Sheepy,” Bunny told him, “I need my special friend Sheepy to be strong.”
Sheepy nodded his head.
“I want Sheepy to stay in the meadow with the other sheep.”
“Bunny is going to distract Bad Farmer so Jack can get away.”
“Sheepy will come too.”
“No, Sheepy you stay with the flock,” said Bunny.
“Sheepy is scared!”
“Be brave Sheepy. Bunny will be back soon,” said Bunny as he kissed his friend Sheepy on the cheek.
Bunny leaped off of Sheepy’s back and hopped toward the barn.
Sheepy started to cry.
Inside the barn, Bad Farmer was turning over bales of hay, and lashing his whip around at the little Silkies huddling in the corner.
Bunny didn’t like Bad Farmer being so mean. Bunny hid behind the open door of the barn and let out a loud bray.
“HEE HAW.”
Bad Farmer heard the call. He turned around and exited the barn.
Bunny hopped away lickety-split down to the overflowing pond and into the small grove of birch trees and let out another one.
“HEE HAW.”
Bad Farmer followed the sound down to the little grove, yelling all the things he wanted to do to the little donkey. Mean, hurtful things.
By then, Bunny had hopped down to the garden that was growing fat delicious fruits and veggies and brayed again.
“HEE HAW.”
Bunny was having fun with his little game with Bad Farmer. Bunny giggled behind his paws and waggled his fluffy tail.
“HEE HAW.”
Then Bunny decided to lead Bad Farmer way out into the meadow. While Bad Farmer was slashing his whip in the garden, Bunny hopped on his quick little front paws and strong hind legs out to the tall sycamore tree on the hill. Bunny kept himself hidden behind little bushes and tufts of grass until he got to the hill. Then with one big jump, he leaped to the top of the hill and then huddled behind the big rock at the base of the tree.
Bunny cleared his throat, and let out three big “hee haws.”
“HEE HAW, HEE HAW, HEE HAW.”
From the top of the hill, Bunny saw that Mister Squirrel had sneaked Jack the little donkey through a hole in the fence. Mister Squirrel would ride on Jack’s back guiding him to the new safe farm where he could live with the horses and the little lady donkey wearing a pink bonnet on her head.
Now that Bunny knew Jack was safe, he needed to lure Bad Farmer away from the meadow. Bunny headed for the path to the cornfield. He knew which bushes to pass and trees to go under, which logs to hop over, and which rocks to go around. When Bunny got to the cornfield he hopped to the overturned cart. He usually didn’t like getting his paws muddy, but this time he didn’t care. Bunny hid behind the cart and let one long “HEEEE HAAAW,” followed by several short ones: “HEE HAW, HEE HAW, HEE HAW,” and waited for Bad Farmer.
It didn’t take Bad Farmer long to arrive trudging through the mud of the field. Bunny could tell he was in a foul mood and was dragging the whip along in the muck. Bunny huddled behind the cart and waited for his chance.
Bunny stayed quiet and hidden. Bad Farmer looked around the cart and didn’t see anything. He had stopped cursing, but on his face was a big scowl. He walked over to the shafts and kicked them. This was Bunny’s chance.
Bunny jumped from behind the cart and launched himself straight at Bad Farmer. Using his strong back legs, Bunny kicked Bad Farmer in the chest. Bad Farmer fell backward onto the shafts that had pinned the little donkey to the ground and trapped Jake in the mud where Bad Farmer had left the little donkey lying.
Bunny jumped back on top of the cart and left out one final “HEE HAW,” as the terrified Bad Farmer tried to back away while lying in the mud.
Bunny left him there as he hopped away into the bush and back to the meadow where Sheepy was waiting.
Sheepy was so happy to see Bunny hopping toward him that he burst into tears again, only this time happy tears.
Bunny wiped his paws on the fresh grass and leaped up into Sheepy’s back.
“Don’t cry Sheepy. Bunny is here now with his special friend.”
“Sheepy was afraid while Bunny was away, but is so happy now Bunny is back.”
Bunny used his long floppy ears to wipe Sheepy’s tears away, hugged Sheepy around the neck, and said, “I love my Sheepy.”
Sheepy said, “I love my Bunny.”
Note: This is the original version of the story.
A revised and illustrated edition will replace it soon.
Meadow Whisper:
Journeys do not wander lost.
The Meadow keeps them,
and hush rests in laughter and care.