A Sheepy and Bunny Are Friends Story
The sheep flock lounged in the little grove of birch trees down by the pond at the edge of the meadow. Some of the sheep laid in the grass with their hooves tucked under them bleating to each other, dreaming about yummy food to eat and catching up on sheep gossip. The ewes preened over their baby lambs, and the cranky elder rams complained about the effect of the weather on their joints. Other sheep sprawled, lying on their sides with their legs stretched out, snoozing in the shade. It was cool under the shade of the trees even though the weather had already turned warm.
Sheepy and Bunny lay in a cool spot snuggled ear-to-ear and nose to chin. They heard the nearby stream tickling into the clear pool of water. Bunny did a little flop and snuggled into Sheepy’s wool.
“Sheepy is hungry for something sweet and crunchy, but don’t know what he wants,” said Sheepy.
“A yummy carrot would be so good,” said Bunny.
“Or some watermelon,” said Sheepy. “Sheepy loves watermelon.”
“Yup, watermelon would be good too,” said Bunny, adjusting his flop position in Sheepy’s wool.
Sheepdog heard them talking and trotted over. He was bored and loitering around the sheep, after he came to the pool to get a nice drink of water. He gave them a hangdog look.
“Sheepdog you don’t look after the sheep much anymore,” said Bunny.
“I’m too old now, my paws hurt, my sides ache from where Bad Farmer kicks me, and there are no new puppies to train in shepherding.”
Sheepy let out a sad bleat. “That makes Sheepy feel sad,” Sheepy said.
“That’s OK. I know what will make you feel happy.” Sheepdog gave them a big grin with his droopy hangdog face.
“What’s that?” asked Bunny.
“Have you been to the farmhouse to see the Housewife’s kitchen garden?”
“No,” said Sheepy. “We usually stay in the meadow and the barn.”
“The garden is full of yummy fruits and veggies,” said Sheepdog. “You should come and see. There are cucumbers and tomatoes, lettuce, thick carrots, some cantaloupes, and big ripe watermelons!”
“Wow,” said Sheepy. “That sounds so good. Let’s go look.”
Sheepy jumped up and bleated. He shook his head and rump, all excited to see Housewife’s garden.
When the other sheep saw Sheepy getting excited, they started bleating, asking why Sheepy was so animated.
“Sheepdog told us that Housewife’s garden is full of yummy fruits and vegetable to eat. We’re going to see!”
The other sheep got stirred up and bleated they wanted to see the bountiful garden too.
The little sheep flock gathered together, and led by Sheepdog, excitedly trotted down to the farmhouse to see the kitchen garden.
Bunny rode on Sheepy’s back, holding onto his wool. Sheepy loved having his special friend Bunny riding on to his back and snuggled behind his ears. Sheepy started putting little dabs of sweet honey behind his ear for Bunny to lick.
When they saw the garden, they were amazed. They stood there looking over the little chicken-wire fence at all the yummy fruits and vegetables. Sheepdog was right. There were fat red tomatoes, big green cucumbers, crunchy heads of lettuce, thick carrot tops that promised juicy orange carrots below, swelling cantaloupes and luscious ripe watermelons bigger than Bunny!
The sheep licked their lips and did little sheep dances on their front hooves shaking their heads and rumps at the bounty and dropped poop balls from under their tails.
How can we get in to eat the yummy fruits and veggies? There‘s a fence around the garden,” asked Sheepy.
“That’s a chicken-wire fence. Bad Farmer and Housewife are selfish and trying to keep the silkie chickens out, so they can have it all to themselves,” said Sheepdog.
“But what about sheep? Is the chicken-wire supposed to keep out sheep, and rabbits too?” said Bunny.
“Nope, sheep and rabbits can just jump over or knock down the fence and eat what they want,” said Sheepdog with a big smile on his droopy hound dog face.
“Really?” said Sheepy. “All the sweet fruits look so good.” Sheepy did a little dance on his front hooves and shook his head and rump in anticipation of munching on a sweet watermelon.
“Look at all those yummy fruits and vegetables. Don’t you want to eat them?” said Sheepdog.
“Yup, sure do,” said Sheepy, “but we don’t want to do anything wrong.”
“Why would you be doing anything wrong? Bad Farmer is the one doing wrong, trying to hoard all the yummy fruits and veggies to himself,” said Sheepdog.
“Yeah, that’s wrong,” bleated one of the ewes. “We should get to eat some too.”
“Yeah, yeah, we want some too,” grumbled some of the rams.
“It’s all there for the taking,” said Sheepdog. He wagged his tail and smiled.
The sheep all bleated together. Then one impetuous young ram charged the fence, trampling it down, and stormed into the garden.
“Don’t eat it all, wait for us,” bleated other sheep, as they rushed into the garden through the gap in the chicken wire fence.
Larger mature rams trampled the fence in other places to get to the fruits and veggies they liked the best. The sheep all rushed into the garden.
Sheepy and Bunny were stunned by the sudden stampede of their friends but they didn’t want to be left out either.
“Let’s get some yummy fruits and veggies too,” said Sheepy.
“Yes,” said Bunny. “I want a crunchy carrot!”
“I see watermelon!” said Sheepy.
Sheepy quickly stepped over the trodden fence and followed the little flock of excited sheep inside.
The sheep scattered throughout the garden. Some were joyfully chewing on green leaves of lettuce and shoots of onions. One ewe pawed up a turnip with her hooves, and some little lambs where happily munching on green beans. The elder rams fancied the ripe red tomatoes that were soft on their aged teeth, which they could pluck right from the stalks. The flock of sheep looked like big puffs of white wool grazing down the rows of ripening vegetables surging from the ground.
Other sheep had a taste for fruit and headed for the melon patches near the house. Vines of cantaloupes and watermelons trailed along the ground, interspersed with trellises of hanging cucumbers, tantalizing the sheep to take big bites.
Sheepy was mesmerized by all the abundance. He trotted right to the melon patch, with Bunny still riding on his back.
“Wow, look at those big watermelons!” said Sheepy.
Bunny leapt to the ground and patted a watermelon with his floppy ears. It made a hollow thudding sound. “It sounds ripe,” said Bunny.
“How do we get it open?” asked Sheepy.
“Give it a good strike with your hoof,” said Bunny.
Sheepy did and sweet red watermelon burst out. Sheepy was delighted and dug his face into the flesh of the fruit, gobbling it down as fast as he could.
Bunny was so happy to see his friend enjoying himself that he did several binkies of joy. Sheepy saw Bunny’s excitement, ran over to him, and gave him a big kiss with his wet watermelon lips right on Bunny’s face. Bunny giggled and tickled Sheepy’s face with his floppy ears.
“Is my friend Bunny going to eat some yummy fruits and veggies?” asked Sheepy.
“Bunny is going to get a big yummy carrot!” said Bunny. “Before the sheep eat them all.”
Bunny hopped over to the other side of the garden where ewes were pulling up carrots by grabbing the greens with their teeth. Bunny found a nice big carrot top, wrapped his paws and teeth around it and gave the greens a hard tug. A big orange carrot slid out of the ground. Bunny brushed off the soil and happily munched away.
Sheepy soon finished his watermelon. His belly was hungry for more. He spotted a large cantaloupe. Before Sheepy could get to it, he was distracted by juicy green cucumbers hanging from a vine. Sheepy took big bites out of those dangling fruits, chewing with his eyes closed, swinging his head and rump back and forth.
Meanwhile, Bunny finished his carrot and was nibbling on green peppers. The elder rams finished up most of the tomatoes and the lettuce was almost gone. The lambs cleaned up the green beans and the ewes were working their way through the radishes. Sheepy joined the young rams who were demolishing the cantaloupes and eggplants. The only plants left untouched were the zucchini. Cause, Who likes Zucchini?
At that moment, the sheep flock heard a high-pitched scream. They turned toward the back stoop and saw Bad Farmer’s Housewife screeching at the animals. At first the sheep just looked at her, confused about why she was making those sounds. Moments later Bad Farmer came crashing out the back door carrying a rifle and cursing the most ear shaming obscenities the sheep had ever heard.
The little flock scattered looking for hiding places. Some ran for the meadow; others hid behind the blackberry bush. Some of the sheep ducked to the side of the house to hide were the honeysuckle vines grew on a trellis.
Poor Sheepy was so startled by the screaming and the bad words that he couldn’t move. Bad Farmer yelled something horrible at Sheepy and aimed his rifle at him.
Bunny saw what was happening from the other side of the garden. He felt so guilty about leaving Sheepy alone. Bunny hopped as fast as he could, and with a big lunge, he threw himself in front of the bullet as Bad Farmer fired the gun.
Bunny twisted himself in the air, and with one of his long floppy ears, swatted the bullet and deflected it away from his friend Sheepy. Bunny landed roughly on the ground knocking himself over.
Bunny’s actions broke Sheepy’s trance. Sheepy ran to his little friend. Bad Farmer was surprised. Before he could fire again, Bunny righted himself back on his feet and leapt onto Sheepy’s back.
Bunny stood high up on Sheepy’s neck. He bared his teeth and his eyes began to glow red. Little stars formed around Bunny’s pulsating eyes. Bunny raised and cocked his ears, bending them at the tips.
Bad Farmer fire again: this time at Bunny.
Bunny launched himself forward over Sheepy’s head. He swatted the bullet out of his away with his floppy ears and let fire a laser beam from one of his eyes hitting Bad Farmer on the hand. The pain of the blast caused Bad Farmer to drop his rifle and stick his burnt palm into his mouth.
Bunny turned toward Bad Farmed again. Bunny’s eyes flashed and blazed. He held his cocked ears up, ready to attack. Bad Farmer backed away.
Bad Farmer shouted something at the Housewife who went back inside the farmhouse. Bad Farmer backed in behind her, leaving his rifle lying on the ground.
Bunny eyes cooled as he jumped on Sheepy’s back and snuggled up to Sheepy’s ears.
“Bunny is so sorry he left Sheepy alone,” Bunny said to Sheepy.
“It’s ok Bunny, you came and saved Sheepy. Sheepy will always love his Bunny.”
“Let get back to the meadow before they come back,” Bunny said to the sheep.
All the Sheep came out of their hiding places and followed Sheepy and Bunny as they headed back to the pond of cool clean water by the birch tree grove.
“And someone grab the gun,” Bunny shouted.
One of the big rams grabbed the rifle in his mouth and dragged it out to the meadow to carefully hide in the bushes.
When the flock returned to the shady grove, all the sheep congratulated Bunny on his bravery in defending Sheepy. They all gave Bunny kisses and agreed that Bunny would be their official protector from then on, and he would get the best hay and flowers to nibble on.
Once they all settled down, they compared their gossip, as each retold the story of that epic afternoon. Sheepy and Bunny found a cool spot to lie down and nap.
“Sheepy’s belly feels all full of yummy fruit,” Sheepy said to Bunny.
“Bunny will rub Sheepy’s belly so it feels better,” said Bunny.
Bunny began to rub Sheepy’s belly with his paws and ears. Sheepy giggled and rolled over on his back, as he waggled his head and rump in the grass.
“That feels so good on Sheepy belly,” said Sheepy.
Sheepy kept on giggling.
“Bunny didn’t know Sheepy was ticklish,” said Bunny.
“Neither did Sheepy,” said Sheepy as he waved his hooves in the air and laughed as Bunny rubbed his tummy.
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.