Buttons sat on the grass and overlooked the forest. The forest was once a beautiful and wonderful place to live. As a bunny, she would hop around and nibble on the fresh grass and make friends everywhere she went. When the drought began a year ago, many of the animals of the forest began to worry that they would no longer have the ability to survive in their homes. Slowly but surely, that worry became a reality. Flowers were the first to wither away. But then it was bushes, then trees. The drought took over the forest and stole the homes of all of the animals. Because of this, many of the animals that lived in the forest were forced to move away. Buttons teared up thinking of the fact that she would never see some of her friends again.
The sun began to set, so Buttons hopped to the oak tree where her family had burrowed a hole underground. Because their home was underground, they didn't have to move away, but it made it really hard to find food. They were used to having slim choices during the winter, but it was now April and there was hardly any green to be found. That night at dinner, her parents told her that if the forest didn't start to grow again soon they would have to try and find a new place to live. With tears in her eyes, Buttons laid down next to her sister, Bug, and prayed to God that her parents would find food. She prayed for what seemed like hours until she fell asleep.
The next morning Bug woke her up excitedly. "Buttons! Buttons! Come look!"
Buttons rubbed her eyes and sleepily followed her sister to the foot of the oak tree, where they saw a wicker basket. The two sisters peered inside and saw all of their favorite foods: carrots, broccoli, celery, and all of the leafy greens they could ever ask for. AND it was enough to feed the whole family for at least a week. She wondered if this basket had been the answer to her prayers the night before, and thanked God for giving her family the hope that they so desperately needed.
The sisters brought the food from the basket to their parents. Upon seeing the basket, the parents immediately teared up. An enormous weight had been lifted from their shoulders. The parents knew that the limited amount of food would eventually force them to find a new home, but the little hole they had burrowed in this forest had been their family's home for generations and they wanted nothing less than to have to find a new home. The family treated themselves to more than enough food to fill their stomachs and then decided to save the rest for the rest of the week.
When Buttons woke up the next morning, she left the hole to get a drink of water from the creek, and noticed that the basket was so full that the lid was open. She peered inside and saw that all of the food they had eaten had been replaced and even more had been added. She jumped with joy at the abundance of food that had magically appeared for her family.
For the next three years, the bunny family woke up to a wicker basket full of food. They spent their days nibbling on the foods the basket gave them, hopping in the grass and swimming in the creek. Living without worry of running out of food was the best thing that ever happened to them.
Author's Note:
This story is based on the "Life in the Forest" in Part C of the Mahabharata. In the story, the Pandava princes and Draupadi find themselves in a forest. One of the brothers stops and vents about how they had lost everything and he didn't know what to do. He prays to Surya as well as other gods for help, and they wake up in the morning to a copper pot filled with a never-ending supply of food for everyone to eat. They all live in the forest for twelve years relying on the cement pot.
When I initially read the story I knew it would be a fun story to play with because I thought of the episode of Spongebob where he, Patrick, and Squidward get stranded in a kelp forest and the magic conch "sends them food." I wanted to keep the forest aspect of the story but wanted to make it different somehow. I decided that using bunnies would be a good character change for that reason, and the rest really just went from there.
Bibliography: PDE Epics: Mahabharata, "Life in the Forest"
image: wicker baskets