To Amy, food poisoned.<\/p>\n
Simon was trying to sleep.\u00a0 That goes without saying.\u00a0 Simon was a sheep and as you know, sheep are not terribly clever beasts for doing things besides sleeping, and Simon is not to be an exception.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the process of anthropomorphization will no doubt seem to give him faculties of a particularly clever sheep.\u00a0 Ignore this.<\/p>\n
Simon couldn\u2019t sleep though.\u00a0 Bilbo was on the move.\u00a0 The young enthusiastic bunny was the enemy of sleep as much as Simon was its herald.\u00a0 Right now, Bilbo was on the move atop of Simon, bouncing up and down, as young bunnies do.\u00a0 \u201cUp! Up! Up! Up!\u201d Bilbo insisted in time with his bounces.\u00a0 \u201cSleeeep?\u201d murmured Bilbo\u2019s wooly friend, in his slow careful manner, as if every word was his first ever, imagined in the way you might hear a sheep speak, knowing that it should not be speaking at all.<\/p>\n
There was no hope though, Bilbo was on the move.\u00a0 \u201cSnow! Pond! Slide!\u201d syncopated the bunny, just as adorably as you imagine.\u00a0 Slowly but indefatigably, defeat dawned upon Simon and he plodded down the hill to where the pond was shimmering; ice having turned the convenient water hole into a veritable Bilbo the Bunny playground.\u00a0 The walk was short, but Simon was slow, and without a dog at his heels progress was not to Bilbo\u2019s liking.\u00a0 \u201cQuick! Quick! Quick!\u201d hopped the baby rabbit, hopelessly optimistic in his encouragement.\u00a0 Simon plodded; Bilbo oscillated.\u00a0 The pond was reached.<\/p>\n
\u201cWeeee!\u201d squealed the lagomorpha, taking a long leap from the back of his ovine companion.\u00a0 The ice was everything he wanted.\u00a0 His momentum sent him careening into the opposite snow bank.\u00a0 Emerging from the snow, he pushed off again, his quick bursts of speech suddenly elongated to match his new mode of ambulation.\u00a0 \u201cSiiiiiiiiiiiiii\u201d pleaded the bunny as he disappeared into another patch of playful snow.\u00a0 \u201cMooooooon!\u201d He insisted on the return trip.\u00a0 Simon was still on the edge of the pond.\u00a0 To Bilbo\u2019s small mind, there could be nothing stranger in the world than standing next to a pond when the promise of so much fun was a step away.\u00a0 Simon hesitated.\u00a0 He was used to following the rabbit, but something was delaying him.\u00a0 As if, at the back of his mind, he remembered something besides the need to sleep, eat, and drink.\u00a0 Oof!\u00a0 Bilbo continued sliding after his rebound off of the sheep\u2019s head.\u00a0 Back to his senses (or lack thereof) Simon took a few careful steps and was soon sliding slowly across the ice.<\/p>\n
Crack!\u00a0 The fuzzy animal\u2019s heavy hoof descended through the ice.\u00a0 Crack!\u00a0 His front legs were submerged.\u00a0 His head painfully hit the ice, stopping the deadly plunge for a grateful moment.\u00a0 Simon was in danger.\u00a0 Responding immediately in the manner of sheep, he did nothing.\u00a0 Bilbo popped up from a snow bank.\u00a0 \u201cNoooooooo!\u201d he cried as he slid toward his imperiled friend.\u00a0 But what could he do?\u00a0 He was just a little bunny, with no means to resolve such a predicament.\u00a0 He bounded up the bank.\u00a0 \u201cHellp! Hellp!\u201d he shouted; his air time extended as he rushed to find a savior.<\/p>\n
Being a bunny, however; he soon forgot about his friend and continued playing in the snow.\u00a0 No matter, because the ice held Simon only a few moments longer and he was sent to an icy grave.\u00a0 I suppose that\u2019s how nature operates; dismally absent of the rainbows and butterflies of our youth.\u00a0 Not here! Reader, fear not! Your humble narrator has not abandoned those happier times.\u00a0 A simple application of my pen: an optimistic correction . . .<\/p>\n
Bilbo hit Owl\u2019s (who else?) tree with a loud thud.\u00a0 \u201cWhat ails you, my child?\u201d spoketh Owl.\u00a0 Wise and old, he speaks like a kind professor or perhaps your favorite uncle or grandfather.\u00a0 \u201cSi\u2014! Mon\u2014! Pond\u2014!\u201d he chattered, a blur of agitation.\u00a0 \u201cWhen will you two learn?\u00a0 This is the 3rd<\/sup> time this week!\u201d Chastised Owl.\u00a0 With no time left, Owl flew from the tree, Bilbo following underneath.\u00a0 He gathered a rescue squad, motley by most standards:\u00a0 first, the old mare; strong enough for the job and obedient enough to follow directions, next, the white oak Ravens; essential for their flight and precision, finally, the older rabbits of the warren; light on their feet yet a bit more stable than our un-aged Bilbo.<\/p>\n As the group reached the pond, the sad sheep was in the same position his bunny friend had left him.\u00a0 For once, the sheep\u2019s opposition to change served him well in not worsening his predicament.\u00a0 The mare\u2019s ropes were first attached to Simon\u2019s head by the deft Ravens.\u00a0 Next, the elder rabbits carefully distributed the ropes around the submerged, freezing front legs of their young\u2019s cohort. \u201cPull!\u201d commanded Owl.\u00a0 The mare backed up, slowly rescuing Simon from the cold grip of an early death.\u00a0 With one final burst of effort, the sheep was freed.\u00a0 A chorus of cheers rose from the crowd.\u00a0 The ice once supporting Simon immediately collapsed signaling just how dangerous the animal friends had come to disaster.<\/p>\n As the crowd dispersed, each gave a stern warning to the cavalier pair.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t expect much, each day the troublesome duo provided some heart attack inducing problem or another.\u00a0 Alone once again, for once, Bilbo was silent.\u00a0 In position on Simon\u2019s back, his slow, rhythmic hops belied nothing but simple relief.<\/p>\n Simon slept.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" To Amy, food poisoned. Simon was trying to sleep.\u00a0 That goes without saying.\u00a0 Simon was a sheep and as you know, sheep are not terribly clever beasts for doing things besides sleeping, and Simon is not to be an exception.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the process of anthropomorphization will no doubt seem to give him faculties of a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":70,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erekspeed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/77"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erekspeed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erekspeed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erekspeed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erekspeed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/erekspeed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/77\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78,"href":"https:\/\/erekspeed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/77\/revisions\/78"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erekspeed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/70"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erekspeed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}