The Great Bunny Escape

by Holly Anna

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER 1: A SECRET AND A FAVOR

  CHAPTER 2: RABBIT RULES

  CHAPTER 3: SNEEZE ATTACK

  CHAPTER 4: THE MARSHMALLOW FOREST

  CHAPTER 5: IT MAKES SCENTS

  CHAPTER 6: ON THE RIGHT TRACK

  CHAPTER 7: THINGS GET HARE-Y

  CHAPTER 8: HOP-TOPPERS

  CHAPTER 9: CRACKING UP

  CHAPTER 10: MY SECRET IS SAFE

  'A DAISY AT THE BEACH' TEASER

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR

  To Jaida

  —G. S.

  CHAPTER ONE

  A Secret and a Favor

  BRRRING!

  The school bell rings, and my best friends, Lily and Jasmine, and I make a mad dash for the playground. It’s recess! Our favorite time of the day. Obviously.

  We hit the blacktop and run straight to the Hideout—our top secret hiding spot under the slide.

  It’s the best place for telling secrets because it keeps all the snoopy-snoops like Gabby Gaburp and Carol Rattinger out.

  Today Lily has a huge secret. I can tell because she always twirls her hair around her finger when she’s hiding something. And she’s been twirling her hair ALL. DAY. LONG.

  “Spill, Lil!” I say as soon as we’re safe inside the Hideout.

  “Let’s make extra sure the coast is clear first,” Lily says. So Jasmine double-checks the entry to make sure Carol and Gabby aren’t spying on us. You can never be too careful when it comes to those two girls. They want to know everything about everyone.

  “All clear!” Jasmine calls.

  “Okay,” Lily begins. “You may have already guessed I have a secret to tell, and I also have a favor to ask.”

  That sounds like a double-dog secret! I think, scootching closer to her side. And I am double-dog interested.

  “First the secret,” Lily says. She pauses to build the suspense. Then she spills. “I’m going on a cruise!” And we all squeal at the same time.

  “My whole family is going,” Lily continues. “And there’s going to be a pool, a water slide, a movie theater, and dance parties every night!”

  “WOW!” Jasmine exclaims. “That will be awesome!”

  Lily claps her hands excitedly and cheers, “A whole week of awesome!”

  Then Lily takes a deep breath and looks at Jasmine and me with total puppy-dog eyes. “But now I have to ask the favor,” she says. “Can one of you take care of my bunny, Cutie Pie, while I’m away?”

  Jasmine’s already shaking her head. “I better not,” she says. “I’m not good with rabbits, and rabbits are not good with me. One time wild rabbits ate my entire vegetable garden. They’re sneaky little critters.”

  Then Lily turns to me, and I already know my answer.

  “I would love to take care of Cutie Pie,” I say. “But I have to ask my mom first.”

  The three of us wriggle out of the Hideout to go find my mom, who happens to be a teacher at my school, which is pretty handy. Obviously. My mom is in her classroom, so I ask if I can take care of Cutie Pie for a whole week.

  Mom closes her book slowly and asks, “Do you think you can handle it, Daisy?”

  I hippity-hop up and down like a rabbit and say, “I know I can handle it!”

  Then my mom says Y.E.S.

  Lily, Jasmine, and I are all hopping up and down now, because I get to be an official bunny babysitter!

  Ga-boing! Ga-boing! Ga-boing!

  CHAPTER TWO

  Rabbit Rules

  Ding-Dong!

  I peek out my bedroom window, and it’s them! I gallop down the stairs like a wild racehorse all the way to the front door. Lily’s dad holds a huge cage in his arms. Inside the cage I can see a fluffy white bunny with a cotton ball tail. No wonder his name is Cutie Pie. He is so cute.

  I invite Lily, her dad, and Cutie Pie inside. Then I sneak a peek at the cage and see Cutie Pie sniff-sniff-sniffing with his cute little nose.

  Lily’s Dad carries everything to my bedroom. Lily and I hop up the stairs one by one and then scamper down the hall after him.

  When we get to my room, Lily tells me how to care for her bunny. She even gives me a list of rabbit rules, which we go over together.

  Wow, I think. Rabbits are a lot of work!

  Then Lily realizes she forgot Cutie Pie’s snacks and toys in the car.

  “I’ll go and get them,” she says, and sprints out of my room.

  And now it’s time to introduce myself to Cutie Pie. “Hello, little bunny.”

  Cutie Pie watches me with his pink gemlike eyes.

  “Do you want to have fun with me this week?” I ask.

  He twitches his pink nose and says, “I always want to have fun with you, Daisy!”

  Whoa! I jump back from the cage like I got zapped by electricity. Did Cutie Pie just talk to me? I ask myself. Of course not! Rabbits can’t talk!

  So then I look around my room . . . and surprise, surprise. Guess who is standing right behind me?

  Posey! My imaginary friend. I should have known! Obviously.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Sneeze Attack

  “Who is that?” Posey asks, peering over my shoulder. He watches Cutie Pie scamper into a tunnel.

  “That is Cutie Pie the bunny,” I say. “And I’m taking care of him while Lily’s on vacation.”

  Posey races toward the cage to get a closer look. Then his face squinches like he might sneeze.

  “That sounds like a lot of fff . . . fff . . . fff . . . fun!” His face relaxes again. “May I introduce myself?”

  “Sure!” I tell him. What harm can it do?

  Posey presses his face against the cage. “Hello, Cutie Pie! My name is Po . . . Po . . . Po . . .”

  Then Posey erupts like a goopy volcano. “ACHOOO!”

  A mist of glitter gook sprays from his mouth and nose and showers all over my room! Whoa, my imaginary friend has glitter boogers! I want to scream Ew! and Wow! at the same time.

  “Sorry!” Posey says as the glittery goo spatters everything in my room. He scrunches his nose again, and this time I duck.

  “ACHOOO!” Posey zooms backward and flies right through the door to the World of Make-Believe, which he left open. A few moments later he peeks back inside my room.

  “Bless you!” I say, even though I kind of want to say Gross, because my room is completely covered in glitter boogers. “What am I supposed to do about all this shiny mess?”

  Posey’s nose is still twitching like he might sneeze again.

  “I said I was sorry!” he tells me as the next sneeze—thankfully—passes. Then Posey trots back into my room.

  I sigh.

  “Well, at least you didn’t glitter-blast Cutie Pie,” I say. Then I turn to look in the cage, and that’s when I do a double take. The cage door has blown wide open! Posey’s sneeze must have unlatched it!

  I check all the hiding spots in the cage, but it is totally empty. I’ve been bunnysitting for five minutes, and I’ve already lost Lily’s bunny!

  “Oh no!” I cry. “We have to find Cutie Pie! Lily will be back any minute, and she’ll never go on her vacation if she finds out her bunny is missing!”

  Posey and I search my room upside down and inside out. We look under my bed, behind my desk, and in between the curtains. But Cutie Pie is absolutely nowhere.

  “Well, at least I’m not sneezing anymore,” Posey says, rubbing his nose.

  And all I can do is roll my eyes, and that’s, of course, when I see Cutie Pie hop right by us.

  “STOP!” I shout, lunging for the bunny. But I’m not fast enough.

  Boing! Boing! Boing!

  Cutie Pie hops right into the WOM!

&
nbsp; CHAPTER FOUR

  The Marshmallow Forest

  “After that bunny!” I shout, running through the magic door. Then I look over my shoulder. Posey is walking in slow motion like this whole thing is no big whoop. But it is a big whoop. It’s a giant big whoop! Because I am responsible for Lily’s bunny!

  Then a sneaky little hopper hops on the path ahead of us. Oh, thank goodness!

  “Come here, you big cutie!” I call after him. And for a teeny-tiny second I think this might just be the easiest bunny rescue mission ever. But then . . .

  “ACHOOO!”

  Posey sneezes another gigantic, glittery sneeze. And before I can even say Nab that rabbit! Cutie Pie hops away into a forest.

  I stare in through the trees and wait for Posey. He stops beside me and sniffle-snorts.

  “I think I might be allergic to your new friend,” he says.

  Obviously, I think.

  “Well, we can’t worry about that right now,” I say. “We have to find Cutie Pie.” As I move to run into the forest, Posey grabs my hand.

  “Wait!” he says. “We better not go in there. I’ve heard it’s not a normal forest.”

  I stop and wonder, Is there anything normal in the World of Make-Believe?

  Then I turn to Posey. “So what kind of forest is it?” I ask a little impatiently.

  Posey’s eyes grow wide, and he says, “It’s the Marshmallow Forest.”

  The Marshmallow Forest? I think. That doesn’t sound scary at all. It sounds delicious. I squint at the trees to see if they’re loaded with marshmallows, but I can’t see any from here.

  I shake my head and say, “It doesn’t matter what kind of forest this is—I have to find Cutie Pie or Lily will never speak to me again.”

  Posey frowns. He is very nervous.

  “Why don’t we just find Lily a new pet?” he suggests. Then Posey stoops down and picks up a swirly purple-and-white rock. “I bet she would love a pet that never runs away . . . like a pet rock?”

  He holds the rock out in front of me, and I push it away.

  “Have you got rocks in your head?” I ask. “Finding Lily a new pet would be like me saying I should just find a new imaginary friend!”

  Posey’s eyebrows shoot straight up. I can tell he does not want me to find a new imaginary friend.

  “Okay, okay,” he says. “Let’s find that bunny!” Then he runs into the Marshmallow Forest. I hurry after him and notice he’s still holding the rock.

  “Posey? Are you going to keep that rock as a pet?” I ask.

  My imaginary friend looks lovingly at the rock.

  “Yes,” he says. “And I’m going to name her Shelly.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  It Makes Scents

  I sniff the air. The Marshmallow Forest smells amazing . . . like honey, vanilla, and maple syrup all at the same time!

  “Where is that smell coming from?” I ask dreamily.

  Posey, who is glued to my side, looks up at me. “The trees,” he says.

  Then I walk up to a tree and look into its leafy branches.

  “And what makes this place so dangerous?” I ask.

  Posey repeats his answer. “The trees.”

  Honestly, the trees don’t look dangerous to me, so I reach out and touch one with my finger. I spring backward. It doesn’t feel like a regular tree. It feels like I just touched a person! That’s weird, I think.

  Then a shadow darts across the treetops, and Posey leaps into my arms.

  “What was that?” he yells into my ear a billion times too loudly.

  I try to regain my balance, but Posey won’t loosen his grip on me.

  “It was probably just a squirrel,” I say.

  Though, I have to admit, I have the strangest feeling we’re being watched.

  Finally Posey lets go of me and slides back to the ground.

  “Okay,” I say, trying not to let this yummy-smelling forest distract me. “Let’s make a plan to find Cutie Pie.”

  We go into thinking mode. Posey taps the side of his head with his finger, and I squeeze my chin.

  “I wonder what smells good to a rabbit,” I say.

  Posey stops tapping his head and snaps his fingers. “I know!” he says. “Carrots!”

  Then he digs in his bottomless pockets and pulls out two carrots that are big and orange. He carries a lot of random stuff in there.

  “Want one?” he asks, holding a carrot in my direction. I take it, and we begin to walk while holding the carrots out in front of us.

  “Here, bunny, bunny, bunny!” we call. “Come and get a crunchy orange carrot!” We wait for an answer and then call again.

  This time somebody answers, but it is not Cutie Pie.

  “Oh, I would love a carrot, I would!” says a voice from the forest.

  Posey jumps into my arms again. At the same time, a branch from the tree above us reaches down and plucks the carrot right out of my hand!

  Posey screams, jumps out of my arms, and sprints away. I freeze and stare at the tree that stole my carrot.

  And right before my eyes, a face forms on the tree trunk.

  Oh my gosh! I think. These trees are ALIVE! And they like carrots! And they can TALK! Then I wonder, Have they seen Cutie Pie?

  “Posey!” I shout. “Come back! We need more carrots!”

  CHAPTER FIX

  On the Right Track

  “I would like to thank you for this crunchy treat, I would,” says the tree standing in front of me. Then the whole tree bends over and bows!

  “Hmm, would you happen to have another carrot, you would?” asks the tree to my left.

  This is mind-boggling. Are all the trees here alive? I wonder.

  Then Posey taps me on the arm. He’s back with a basket full of carrots!

  “I have some more,” he says, offering the basket to me.

  I take it and thank him.

  “Anytime,” Posey says. “And, by the way, I was only pretending to be afraid of the trees before.”

  I wink at my friend because we both know he’s a total chicken.

  Then the trees help themselves to the carrots.

  “OM-NOM-NOM-NOM-NOM!” They munch happily. Flecks of carrot fly from their mouths and, it’s a little bit gross. Obviously.

  Then Posey clears his throat. He wants the trees’ attention. He’s feeling much more comfortable around them now.

  “Since we’ve given you a treat,” Posey begins, “would you please help us with something in return?”

  The trees stop munching to listen.

  “We were wondering,” Posey goes on, “if you’ve seen a white bunny pass through your forest today. He’s fluffy, he’s fast, and he makes me very sneezy.”

  The trees look at one another and shrug their branches. Then the face of the one in front of me lights up.

  “I know something that’s white, fluffy, and fast, I would!” he says. Then the tree rustles his branches. Fluffy white marshmallows rain down on us like spongy Ping-Pong balls.

  I scratch my head, because even though I love marshmallows, I am confused.

  “How can a marshmallow be fast?” I ask.

  But before they have time to answer, a whole new crop of marshmallows has formed on the trees’ branches!

  “Wow!” I say. “Your marshmallows grow super fast! But there’s only one little problem. We’re not looking for fast-growing marshmallows.”

  The trees stare at us blankly. Then I explain how Cutie Pie is a rabbit, though I’m not sure they understand. They are trees, after all. In their world, maybe bunnies are called yowberts? Instead of giving me an answer, they respond with a different question.

  “You must be hungry, you would!” they say. “You would have a marshmallow, you would?”

  Hmm, come to think of it, Posey and I are a little bit hungry—so we accept their offer. Then we pick some marshmallows and pop them in our mouths. And YUMMA-LUMMA-TUMMY-TUM!

  These marshmallows are so light, so fluffy, and oh so marsh-o-wowee-
wow! Obviously.

  I stuff my face until my cheeks puff out. Then I get right back to our pressing bunny mission but with my mouth full so the letter s sounds like th.

  “Th-o can you help u-th find our loth-t bunny?” I ask.

  “We would! We would!” The trees chant. Then they point to the forest floor with the tips of their branches.

  “Just follow the footprints, you would!”

  So Posey and I look at the ground. In between the marshmallows we spy what might be bunny tracks.

  “But how can we be sure they’re Cutie Pie’s tracks?” I ask.

  Posey drops to his knees and sniffs the footprints!

  And before you can say dust bunnies, he supergross sneezes. “ACHOOO!”

  That settles it! These are definitely Cutie Pie’s tracks.

  “Let’s nab that bunny!” I shout.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Things Get Hare-y

  I’ve learned a few new things about bunnies today.

  Number 1: Bunnies do not hop in a straight line—or, at least, Cutie Pie doesn’t. His bunny tracks are curvy like spaghetti or else they go in circles. I’m pretty sure I’ve passed the same Marshmallow Tree five times at least!

  Number 2: Bunnies can hop far. Every time we turn a corner and I think I’m going to see Cutie Pie’s fluffy tail and floppy ears, we just find more bunny tracks. It’s positively endless!