Kuniklo’s Wolf

The tale of Kuniklo (the littlest of the bunny family) when she was lost, alone in the woods.

The forest floor rustled with the busy little paws of a rabbit family, one of those rabbits was little Kuniklo.  Now Kuniklo was the smallest and the youngest of all the bunnies, her fur was golden and her eyes were big and dark.  This little bunny had five big brothers and four big sisters and she always seemed to have trouble keeping up with them all. 

 

One day, while her brothers and sisters danced gracefully through the trees, grabbing up mouthfuls of berries and grasses as they went, Kuniklo was falling further and further behind.  She pushed her little paws as hard as she could, but the others continued to dash ahead, too busy with their own foraging to notice her struggling.

 

“Wait…Wait for me!” Kuniklo cried, but they didn’t hear her.

 

She stopped a moment to take a breath and when she looked up the little bunny found she was suddenly alone.  Kuniklo lifted her head high; standing on wobbly back paws and sniffed the cool forest air.  But she could smell her family everywhere, they had been jumping and prancing all over the place, it was impossible for her to know which way they had gone.

 

The little bunny sat back down, lost and alone.  Her velvet soft ears fell flat against her golden shoulders and her big black eyes filled with tears.  She tried very hard not to cry, knowing that if she cried too loudly other animals might hear her; and not all forest animals are friendly.

 

“I should never have stopped,” she sobbed, unable to hold it back, “I’m very, very sorry that I stopped running.  Oh please, please someone come back and find me!”

 

Kuniklo stayed in that spot, crying and hoping that one of her brothers or one of her sisters would notice she was not with them and turn around.  But it’s very hard to tell when ten bunnies becomes nine, because there are so many paws and so many noses and so many ears, it’s easy to think that no one has gone missing.

 

As the sun began to sink lower and the sky began to change colors, Kuniklo knew that no one would notice she was gone until her brothers and sisters returned home.  Then their mother would count them all and come up one short and her father would race out of the burrow to search for her.  So the sun sunk lower and sky turned pink and purple, and the clouds turned orange and the little bunny watched, waited and cried.

 

It was nearly dark when Kuniklo heard rustling in the forest and she held her breath and stood on her back paws, trying to see who was there.  She hoped to see her father dashing through to trees, coming to take her home but that was not what she saw.  Kuniklo’s tiny bunny heart began to race and her whole body quivered in fear at the sight of a great gray head and big, powerful shoulders poking out from the brush. 

 

“Oh no,” she whispered, “It’s a wolf!”

 

At the sound of her tiny voice the wolf’s head turned and it’s wide brown eyes landed directly on the little golden bunny.  She sat very still, but the wolf had seen her and as it stepped out from the brush Kuniklo turned and ran as fast as she could.

 

Those little paws pushed faster and harder than they ever had before and for a moment the bunny wondered why she couldn’t have run as fast earlier to kept up with the others.  But for some reason everyone can run faster when something is chasing them. 

 

Like a golden blur Kuniklo flew through the forest with only one thing on her mind, she had to get away from the wolf.  But Kuniklo should have also been thinking about where she was going, because with every step she was getting further from her home and even more lost.

 

By this time the sun was out of sight, only a few rays of pink and purple light were faintly stretching up into the sky.  At the sound of an owl hooting Kuniklo darted under a nearby holly bush.  The bird swooped after her but at the same instant that she pulled herself under the thorny leaves and branches the owl gave a sort of gasp and the night air filled with the sounds of the wolf’s growl.

 

“What luck,” Kuniklo thought, “they’ve stopped each other from catching me.”  And while both the bird and the wolf were distracted she wiggled out the other side of the holly bush and began running again.

 

Kuniklo was just starting to think that she might survive the night, that her father could still find her in time to rescue her when suddenly there was no dirt beneath her paws.  The little bunny had been so caught up in running away that she didn’t notice the ravine or the river inside it.  For only a moment she was tumbling blindly in nothing but air and darkness and then ‘splash!’ she hit the water. 

 

“Help!  Oh please, someone help!”  Kuniklo cried out as she kicked with her tiny paws but the current was quickly washing her away. 

 

Her golden ears and head bobbed up and down in the cold, rushing river and just as she came up for a third or fourth time she saw the wolf leaping down into the water, somewhere not too far ahead of her.  Kuniklo was pulled under once more and just when she began to think she wouldn’t come back up again something grabbed hold of her.

 

The little bunny coughed as she was lifted above the water and her eyes opened and she nearly fainted when she saw that the great white teeth of the wolf were clamped down on her. 

 

“Oh no, no, let me go!” Kuniklo pleaded but it held on all the same.

 

Finally the big paws of the wolf landed on the river bank and pulled both herself and the bunny up the ravine wall and back onto the safety of the forest floor.  Kuniklo quivered and cried, terribly afraid and terribly sad that she had not made it home… but the jaws that held her opened and she tumbled out onto the forest floor, unharmed.

 

Kuniklo looked to see the paws that stood in front of her and her wide black eyes followed up the length of the leg and the shoulder, and nearly looking straight up she found the wolf’s head. 

 

“Oh my,” she whispered in amazement.

 

“You…you aren’t…aren’t hurt…are, are you?” the animal asked, panting hard and half out of breath.

 

“I don’t think so,” said Kuniklo, very quietly and very fearfully, “but why would you care?  Wolves…” and she swallowed hard, “e-eat rabbits.”

 

“Wolves?”  The animal repeated, as if she was confused.  “But I’m not a wolf.”

 

Kuniklo gave the creature a funny little look, with her nose wrinkled and her head tilted to one side, “You sure look like a wolf.”  She said, still quietly but just a little less afraid.

 

“No, no I’m a dog.” The creature replied.

 

Then for the first time Kuniklo noticed the silver buckle of the dog’s collar and the sliver tag that hung from it, both shimmering white in the moonlight. 

 

“But some dogs eat rabbits too,” the bunny whispered, still afraid.

 

“I already had you in my teeth,” the dog said softly, “and I didn’t hurt you, I pulled you from the river.”

 

“You did, didn’t you,” Kuniklo gasped, “you jumped in after me and saved my life.  You also chased away the owl and you followed me all the time I was running, you followed me and kept me safe.  But why?”

 

“I heard you crying and you asked for someone to help you, so I went to do just that, but you ran away.  I knew that you would get into trouble out here all alone so I followed after you.”  The dog explained in a voice that was soft and gentle, “I knew it was seeing me that made you run and I didn’t want to be the reason you were hurt.  I am sorry for scaring you… what was your name?”

 

“Kuniklo,” the bunny replied and she took a little hop towards the dog, “and who are you?”

 

“Peli,” the dog said, “Kuniklo, would like it if I walked with you and helped you find your family?”

 

The bunny shivered, more from the cold water and the cool night air than fear and nodded her little golden head and replied, “Yes please, and thank you Peli for, well for saving me.”

 

“Before you go anywhere, you really should dry off.”  Peli insisted, and without another word her great muzzle dipped down and she began licking the water from the bunny’s coat. 

 

Slowly the bunny’s golden fur was dried, it became fluffy again and she felt much warmer, much safer and when the job was done the dog lifted her head saying, “Now let’s see about finding your family.”  Then they began walking back the way they’d came as Peli searched for the scent of the other rabbits.

 

When the big gray dog did find the rabbit home the entire family was standing outside, calling for Kuniklo.  But all nine bunnies and their mother dashed into the burrow to hide when they spotted Peli, leaving only the father, a big brown rabbit, to meet the dangerous stranger.  He stood tall on his big back paws and trying to sound as tough as he could he demanded, “Who are you?  What do you want?”

 

“I do apologies for disturbing you,” Peli began, bowing her head down to the rabbit’s hight, “but I found something that I believe belongs to you.”

 

The father stood perfectly still only his eyes turned to see the fluffy golden bunny bouncing out from behind the dog’s great paws.  Suddenly he forgot that he was afraid and leapt to his little daughter and nuzzled her and held her close, telling her he had been “worried sick.”  The father thanked Peli for all of her help before she left the burrow and all of the other bunnies came out of hiding to thank her too. 

 

Now Kuniklo tries harder to keep up with her brothers and sisters and they try not to run so fast, but every now and then they still get separated.  When that happens, Peli is always close enough to hear Kuniklo’s cries and she comes to help her friend to get back home.

 

                                     The End