Adventures in Cottontail Pines - Goober's Cousin

by TK Wade

  *****

  After school: a very depressed, brown rabbit was slowly walking home after getting a B-minus on his assignment. His best friend Flopsy–a white, lop-eared rabbit–swiftly hopped up to him. She asked, “What happened in class? I never saw you get anything lower than an A on an assignment. You look really depressed too.”

  Goober made a long sigh. “I really don’t want to talk about it.”

  Flopsy almost laughed, but she was able to stop herself. “Wasn’t it you who always says ‘If you keep your feelings deep inside, they’ll only grow and get worse.’?” She did a fairly good job imitating him and even raised a finger like he always did.

  Goober cringed after seeing an impression of himself; however, she did have a point. He said, “It’s my cousin Waffle from Sugarcane Crossing. He’s only been visiting one day, and already he’s making my life miserable.”

  “You got a little cousin? I bet he’s incredibly cute!”

  “Well, he is a little cute, but he’s more annoying. All he does is mess up things in my room, act totally gross, and he even drew all over my assignment. That’s why I had a poor assignment ready: the good one was destroyed by Waffle.”

  Flopsy tapped her nose for a moment while she thought about it. “Well, little children are rambunctious like that. Even my little brother Lemmy can be a handful at times. That’s just how they are.”

  Goober let out a long, frustrated sigh once again. “But how am I going to last a whole week with him living there? I couldn’t even do my morning exercises.”

  The white rabbit replied, “Goober, sometimes I think you like things to be a little too perfect. You always seem to be worried that if you don’t follow your routines that something bad will happen. Maybe you just need to find a way to relax. Try to enjoy Waffle while he is around. It’s not every day that you get to see him.”

  Goober countered, “I am always relaxed! It’s Waffle that is making me not relaxed!”

  Flopsy hopped in front of him and held Goober by his shoulders. “Goober, listen. Little kids can be a pain sometimes. Just ask Mister Rupert the Possum. He has eight of them. But it’s really just all about allowing yourself relax so you can handle the situation.”

  Goober asked, “How do you stop Lemmy from messing up your stuff?”

  “Well, for one thing, I don’t keep anything out in the open that I do not want destroyed. If you were having so many problems with Waffle, you should have hid your assignment or passed it along to your mother. Remember, you are the older one. That assignment was your responsibility.”

  Goober hung his head in shame when he realized that she was right. Flopsy continued, “You know, for a rabbit who goes around advising people what they should and shouldn’t do, you should be more grown-up about these things.”

  “You’re right, Flopsy. I guess there were things I could have done to prevent this.”

  Flopsy gave Goober a gentle hug because she knew that he did not like being touched. “I’ll be here for you if you need help. I’ve dealt with little kids for a long time. I even help out Mister Rupert once in a while.”

  Goober hugged his friend back and nodded. “Thank you, Flopsy. I guess you’re the one giving me advice this time.”

  “Don’t get used to it. Eventually, you’ll be telling me how to raise Lemmy. I have no idea how crazy he’ll get when he learns how to talk.”

  Goober nodded and said, “I’ll do my best.” The brown rabbit padded off to his home.

  Flopsy waved to him just as Blacky the skunk was walking out to meet her. He asked, “Goober looks really depressed. What’s the matter with him?”

  The lop-eared rabbit replied, “He’s just having problems with his hyper, little cousin. He’ll be okay though.”

  Blacky crossed his arms and huffed. “Ah, cousins. They’re nothing but trouble! That’s why I never had any.” Flopsy stared at him like he said something silly. The skunk just shrugged and walked back to his house.

  *****

  When goober had returned home, he took a moment to look about to see if Waffle was nearby. His mother caught him and nearly surprised him. She said, “Whoa, Goober. It’s just your mother.”

  The brown rabbit tried to relax. “Where is Waffle?”

  “Maple took him to Donut Park to play for a while. How did your rushed assignment go?”

  Goober frowned. “I got a B-minus.”

  Mother pursed her lips for a moment. “Not horrible considering how much time you had.”

  “It could have been an A-plus,” he paused, “but I think I’m to blame for what happened.”

  Mother seemed surprised to hear that. “I thought it was Waffle that messed up your assignment.”

  “I should have hid it better. I should have known that he might do something like that with as hyper as he was that night. I guess as the older rabbit, I should have been more responsible and not blame everything on Waffle.”

  Mother smiled and hugged her son. “You don’t know how happy I am to hear you talk like that. You know, I think Waffle could learn a lot from you. You may be a little obsessive at times, but you do give out a lot of healthy advice.”

  Goober hugged his mother back and smiled. “I’m only trying to help the other animals, Mom. I don’t like it when my friends get hurt or sick.”

  “I know how you feel, Goober. I’m sure they know you care about them.”

  The front door opened up and in walked Maple with her son. Waffle was all smiles until he saw Goober standing there. He frowned, put his arms behind him, and looked at his feet.

  Maple placed a paw to her son’s back and asked, “Waffle, don’t you have something you want to say to Goober?”

  The older boy stayed completely silent. He was unsure what Waffle was going to say.

  The younger rabbit made a sorrowful sigh and said, “I’m really sorry I messed up your assignment, Goober. I didn’t know those leaves were important. Please, forgive me.”

  Goober took a deep breath, walked over, and gave the little boy a hug. “It’s okay, Waffle. I forgive you. Just try and be more careful, all right?”

  Waffle hugged back and said, “I promise. I think your room has a lot of neat things in it. Do you have anything you want to show me?”

  Goober raised a finger and said, “Actually, I have collected many interesting things from all over Cottontail Pines, but you know what the real fun is?”

  Waffle looked on with interest. “What’s that, Goober?”

  Goober energetically replied, “Organizing them!”

  “Really? Is that sort of thing really fun?”

  The brown rabbit started for his room. “Sure, it is. The better you organize something, the more you can fit into one room. Want me to show you how to do it?”

  “Sure! I wanna see it now!”

  Waffle dashed right past Goober in all his excitement, but the brown rabbit was able to stop him before anything happened. “Why don’t we tackle this project slowly this time?” Goober suggested. Waffle smiled and nodded.

  Goober’s mother and her sister Maple watched the two boys enter the room peacefully. Nobody knew for sure, but maybe this night would not be as bad.

  The end.