Candy didn’t respond to his question because she didn’t know how to. He wasn’t even supposed to hear her. How did he have such good hearing? She rubbed her face. “Cotton. You said you wanted to get to know each other, so tell me something about yourself already.”
“Well for one, I think your mom is kind of freaky.”
What? Instead of talking about himself he just dissed her mother? “Are you sure you date often? Insulting mothers isn’t first date talk.”
Cotton laughed. “No, probably isn’t. I don’t know, it’s a date, but not.” He shrugged. “Unlike a real date, I’m not looking to impress you. I mean, I don’t even know what you wanted to talk to me about.”
“You do not? Are you really that clueless?” Candy felt her temperature rise. This guy just wanted to tease her for the month before he finally took what he wanted. It would be a long month.
“Oh.” Cotton winced. “This is something basic I should know, isn’t it? I’m not stringing you along to be mean.”
Why was he really doing this? “Is there any remote chance you’d choose to marry me within a month?”
Cotton just shot a surprised look her way as the broccoli stews arrived. “What?”
Candy looked at her broccoli stew. It was nothing she had ever tried before; he’d been right about that. “What if you start to like me toward the end? Is it going to be easy to accept me going to someone else? What is this supposed to accomplish?”
Cotton picked at his stew. “I am confused. I don’t want to jump into anything with someone I don’t know.”
“Would you rather jump in and lose someone you do know?” He should have known the answer to that. Any Vegan should know these answers. Everyone should. Even children knew to a certain degree that Vegan and Sweet were like oils. They didn’t mix. “I’ll take this to go.” Candy gestured toward the food. “Come by Sweet Meats tomorrow. We both need a good night to sleep on this.”
* * *
“Ooooh!” Candy whined as soon as she came through her door. Cotton had beat her home, becoming her beloved Big Bunny. He was right in front of the door waiting for her. She put down a grocery bag so she could pick him up instead. “Big Bunny, I had the worst day of my life so far.”
Cotton enjoyed her caresses as she moved toward the window with him. He knew what her day would be all about.
“I lost Darren Manner.” Candy lied him on his fluffy pet bed next to the window. “Posh stole him, and then she made me kiss a Vegan. A Vegan! I can’t taste sweet anymore until the Vegan changes it. Why is he stringing me along? Do I have the words ‘take advantage of me’ written somewhere?” She checked her clothes.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Candy. Why is the Vegan stringing you along? What does he have to do to make you feel better?”
“I cannot tell you that, Big Bunny.” Candy petted him again. “I will study the books, but Spice should overtake Vegan. From the way he acted, I do not think I can get along with him. However, Darren will have a much bigger hand to deal me.” Candy lifted his ears and they drooped back down to his side. “I may not be able to take care of you anymore, Big Bunny. If I have to, I will have to drive you out far away from the city though so you don’t end up anywhere near a menu.”
Losing Candy’s physical presence? Ever since the day he’d almost been gutted and killed like an ordinary rabbit, she had been his light. Mere minutes away. He got stuck in a cage on his way home, and he had wasted too much power, making him incapable of changing back to a human on that day. When she stole him away, talked to him, and caressed his floppy ears, he couldn’t leave her. Now, she would be taken away if he didn’t do something. He had no idea what she needed from him as Cotton, but himself as Big Bunny couldn’t waste anymore time.
“Everything’s changing.” Candy gestured to her front door. “I went out to get ice cream and a cake to make myself feel better. Then I remembered halfway home what I was doing.” She rested her head on the window. “They are just souvenirs now.” She looked toward him. “Anyhow, you must be hungry.” She slid away from the window and moved back toward the bags. “I have to try this broccoli stew. The other guy, Cotton, he got it for me. At least he’s halfway nice.” She sighed. “Probably not a good thing though. The last thing I need is to get to know some sweet guy and then have to marry Darren. It’s just twisting the knife, you know?” She shook her head. “I don’t even know his last name yet.”
“I know, Candy.” There was only one real choice. “After a good night’s sleep, you’ll know what to do.” Ever since Cotton met her, he knew how she felt about never having control of her life. Well, it was time to let her be in control. She would know the truth, and make her own decision. All they had was a name in the prophecy, but that was going to have to be enough because he had to try.
One more night as her big, fluffy Big Bunny. When she came back over, finally eating the broccoli stew, he nudged against her. Putting down her spoon, she scratched his ears.
One more night.
* * *
Candy wiped down the counters, watching the door. She stayed on the veggie side today, wondering when Cotton would come in already. She heard the front door open, but didn’t see anyone. She figured it was a patron of Sweet Meats that quickly realized they were on the wrong side. Hardly anyone wanted to eat on the veggie side.
Then, she felt a familiar furry feeling beside her leg. Looking down she saw Big Bunny. “Big Bunny?” How in the world did he get there? “You silly boy, what are you doing all the way out here?” He must have followed her to work. Maybe he had caught a ride in her purse? Well, either way, it was too dangerous for her rabbit to be out at Sweet Meats. When she went down to pick him up though, something happened.
* * *
Big Bunny quickly hopped away with her disoriented and falling asleep. He needed to keep her asleep. Seeing him in his human form would complicate things and he didn’t want her to see him change into Cotton. Still, he felt bad about how he had to accomplish his goal and soothed her while she slept. “Its okay, Candy. I would never hurt you.” He patted her left ear softly, they were now as large as his own rabbit form’s had been. He quickly headed out the front door and placed her in his truck.
Shutting the door, he quickly took off. He had already used his magic to make sure she didn’t wake up. What he said was more for his benefit considering she’d never hear it. “I know that wasn’t what you were expecting. Telling you what I have to isn’t going to be easy.”
Candy lied unconscious in her own dreamland. Her fur was a soft white with streaks of blonde, and she had the cutest cotton tail he’d ever seen. Her ears flopped over like his, the tell-tell trait of a cottontail and lop eared rabbit.
Cotton kept his eyes on the road though. “Most times I can change forms, but that day you saved me, it was one of them that I couldn’t. I had spent too much of my power. I know I should have left afterwards, but you were kind to me. I did make a good pet too, didn’t I? I did share that I could talk, it wasn’t completely dishonest, was it?” He stopped though when he saw it had started to snow. Weather used to be more predictable. Those days though, snow even happened in the dead of spring. It made things worse on his family.
Today the snow was really getting out of control. He could already see it piling up on the sides. It would be cold where they were going. He headed out of town up into Bunny Hills. He drove to the top before opening the door. He changed back into his original appearance as a rabbit and took the sleeping spell off of Candy.
Candy backed up even further, tumbling down below the front seat under the dashboard.
“Candy.” Candy tried to hop back up on the front seat, but she only managed to hop a little on her back paws. Cotton jumped down to her and gestured toward the opened door. “Don’t run away, this is temporary. When it’s finished, you’ll still have a big choice up in the air.” Cotton jumped down first. He knew the car was a little high but Candy would need to jump at some point. It’s what rabbits did. “Come on,
Candy.”
Candy made a small squeak and jumped down. “You drove a car, Big Bunny?”
“Yes.” He hopped away slightly, trying to get her to follow. “I have to warn you, my family and our business is unique. Come on.”
Candy didn’t budge though. “My Big Bunny? Drove a truck?”
Cotton hopped over to her. “I’m more than a bunny. I know everything about you.”
“That’s because I shared everything with my bunny.” She tried to move back, but hopping backward wasn’t easy. “You said you talked, but you never said that you could drive too. How did you drive?”
“Candy, I’ll explain later.” Candy was still far from cheerful, but Cotton couldn’t stay out there that long. It was freezing. “Come on. It’s high time I show you my home.”
* * *
Her Big Bunny. Her talking Big Bunny had turned her into a bunny rabbit. It was strange enough dealing with her sweet big guy when she knew he could talk and communicate with her. But this?
Okay. She had to keep her head on her shoulders, follow Big Bunny, and get through this. She hopped over to a hole along with him. A deep, dark hole. He hopped in like it was nothing.
Yeah, no, sure. Who didn’t live in a hole in the ground? Okay, she wouldn’t whine. She hopped in slowly, hoping nothing came out to try and bite her. They traveled down into the hole farther until she saw light at the end of the tunnel.
When she came out, she was stunned. It was a room full of rabbits working on a conveyor belt. Out popped radishes, celery, carrots, and veggies of every kind.
“This way.” Big Bunny poked at her butt with his nose. She looked back at him unkindly. He may be used to that, but no one poked her butt like that. “Come on, don’t be timid.”
“I’m not.”
Big Bunny just hopped past her. “This way, Candy. I will take you somewhere more comfortable.”
* * *
“This way.” Big Bunny led her straight through some large pathways. “This is home so far. It’s warmer down here, but there’s not much sun. You can go to the surface, but the special amenities you are used to aren’t here.”
Yes, including bathrooms or being human. She figured that out quickly. Candy scratched her head. “It’s different.” Real different. “Okay, you live down a rabbit’s hole and conduct some sort of veggie business?”
“Sort of.”
“Candy!”
Candy heard her name and watched a woman hop over to her. “Candy of legend!”
Candy of legend? Candy looked over at Big Bunny. “What does she mean?”
“Oh, it is an old saying. Our purpose here is unclear,” Big Bunny said. “A sweet person named Candy is supposed to help us find our purpose again to save everything.”
“Is that why you stayed and kidnapped me?”
“Kidnap is such a strong term,” Big Bunny said scratching his neck.
“Yes.”
“Mom,” Big Bunny said to the woman.
“Not complete though,” his mother added. Her foreign accent and incorrect grammar was heavy, but Candy couldn’t place it. “Found Candy in accident. Once we put names together, we figured out.”
Unbelievable. Not only was Candy stuck in the hardest month of her life, she was expected to save some other business.
“It is another option,” Big Bunny reminded her. “Instead of Sweet Meats, you could do something else with your life.”
There was nothing else beside Sweet Meats. She would help her Big Bunny with whatever his business was, but after this, he would be on his own.
She was a pro at business, had several sessions with the best there had been, and had top notch teachers hand-picked for her.
She would save Big Bunny. Herself though? It would be a fifty fifty chance.
Still, it was better than having to release him out in the wild again.
* * *
Of course, she realized that Big Bunny’s situation was extremely different as he opened the door to the next room.
Chicks. Hens. Ducks. All of them about the size of her. All around them were eggs. Several hundreds of thousands of eggs. They were normal sized eggs, but there was such a massive amount of them. “What’s with all the eggs?”
“When a hen likes a rooster . . .” Big Bunny waved a hand through the air.
“Okay, but why so many eggs?”
“My kind does not like eggs.”
“Vegan? I thought unfertilized eggs were okay.”
Big Bunny chuckled. “Candy, if you have not guessed yet, we are vegan, but we aren’t really Vegan. We are not from your world.” He gestured to her. “But, you are connected to us. The regular people with no power were born in this dimension. What you call Sweet, Vegan and Spice users were not meant to be here. Your great ancestors are our great ancestors, and you simply mixed.”
“You mean, magic users were not originally from here?” Candy asked. “Then what was I?”
Big Bunny gestured to the chicks coming over to cuddle. “The saying ‘as sweet as a baby chick,’ is half right. You’d be a hen. Maybe a duck.”
“Vegans are rabbits,” his mother added, “and Spices are-”
“Wolves.” Big Bunny growled. “I hate Spice.”
“No son, love all.”
“Sure, it’s why my great grandparents had rescued the pure Spice over?”
“They not risk their life, be civil.”
Hen. Candy would be a hen. “I would be a hen?”
“Like human is all so important?” A hen nearby her squawked.
“Be nice,” Big Bunny said to the hen. “Candy is what your great descendants will be like.”
The hen didn’t say anything else.
Neither did Candy.
* * *
“We don’t know what world we came from originally. Other worlds gave my ancestor’s names,” Big Bunny began. “The most familiar was Easter Bunny.”
“Easter Bunny?”
“Yes. It doesn’t matter what he was called though, my ancestors all did their part. We hand out baskets to good children. We travel from dimension to dimension, doing this simple deed.” He looked back toward her. “It worked fine here when we came, at first, but then things got rocky. Our special baskets became ho-hum gifts people called fruit baskets. It doesn’t matter what kind of magic we have paired with it.”
“Husband gone, six years,” his mother said, trying to communicate to Candy again. “World cruel. No hire without certify.”
“Oh, I know that firsthand.” Candy nodded, understanding enough of her broken language.
“We mostly live on veggies, so it wasn’t that hard to adapt,” Big Bunny said, “but life could be so much better if we had our purpose back.”
A fruit basket. They were known for a fruit basket. Candy rubbed her head, wondering how a fruit basket could ever seem magical. “How was it magical?”
“Well, we have powers to distribute easily.” He waved his hand and blue sparkles came from it. “Children would wake up and see a special basket just for them.”
“This was your business? Nonprofit, or was there some profit? How do you fund it?”
“With our bare hands. With our bare magic.”
“Okay, then obvious question.” Candy threw her hands up in the air. “Why?”
“Well . . .” He Paused. “Candy, our kind, we have been moved around several different dimensions. Our original world held many more like us. This world is not our first try.”
“For what?”
“Magic. Do you not get it?” Big Bunny asked. “The mystery of magic makes the dimensions tick. Every time more magic is lost, more must be made up for it. It was my ancient great grandfather that chose special baskets for good children. Because children? They believe in the impossible.”
“So you have been to multiple dimensions?”
“Yes, to try and save them.”
“Magic and faith stop apocalypse,” his mother added as glittery waves of magic sprang from her hands in the for
m of a rainbow. “We try.”
“So magic bunnies want me to save their business, that is nonprofit, to save my dimension from an apocalypse?” Candy really tried not to laugh. “Big Bunny, have you seen any signs at all that the end is coming? Fire? Brimstone?”
“We pick a special time to distribute baskets because it is the last time to become affected.” He sighed. “Have you noticed snow outside? It’s Spring.”
Candy had noticed of course. “It is not a big deal.”
“How much did it snow when you were a little girl?”
“Only in Winter.”
“And now?”
“So you mean the snow is the sign?”
“We have seen so much worse,” he said taking Candy’s hand. “It may seem ridiculous to you, but to us, it is important. If we do not figure out how to add the mystery of magic back to this world? It will be gone. This may be the last magic basket day. We may have to leave before it’s too late.”
“But this world does have magic.”
“You have formulas. You have restaurants. Your magic does not act like magic anymore. There is no mystery to solve. Candy, your ancestors were designed to use that magic in a different way. The way you use it now, it will not stop anything.”
“Children must believe,” Big Bunny’s mother said. “No matter what adults say to explain. Children must believe in unexplained. Do you understand?”
It was a hard thing to understand. Magic baskets saved everything? “My ancestors were like you, but you have moved through different dimensions. So, are you coming back around to this dimension?”
“Some of us settle in a dimension and don’t leave. Yes, we are circling around. It has gotten that bad, Candy. Selfishly, we want to at least try to save our descendants.”
Because no one else can. A part of Candy wanted to laugh at the impossible notion. However, she had raised a rabbit who talked. She watched a hen cluck at her. She met Big Bunny’s mom who hopped better than walked.
For Love of Mister Cotton Tail: An Apocalyptic Fairytale (Single) Page 3
