The Happy Rabbit and Her Unusual Friends

Once upon a time there was born a beautiful little rabbit with the brightest of smiles. Her smile was praised by beings of Heaven and Earth. The little rabbit in the warm embrace of her dear mother always smiled and cooed. Soon all the rabbits grew jealous of her and her smile. "What is in her smile that makes everyone love that little rabbit?" said one jealous rabbit one day. "I'll see why that rabbit is so happy all the time." 

The jealous rabbit hopped in the burrow pretending to be a friend. "Why, little rabbit! you have such a sweet little smile!" said the envious rabbit to the little doe. "Why are you so happy all the time?"

The innocent rabbit naively said, "Perhaps because I have good friends like you."

"Oh, is that what it is? I from now on am not going to be your friend and I'll make sure that none of the rabbits ever come to you to be a friend. I'll see how you can be happy then," maliciously said the jealous rabbit to the doe.

Many days went and truly none wanted to be her friend, The doe went to her mother with tears rolling down her eyes. "Mother, no one wants to be my friend." The loving mother said to the doe, "Child, the outside world is very cruel. It would always want to snatch your sweet little smile. But remember no matter how hard life gets, never forget to smile." The fluffy doe wiggled it's little tail and stared at her sagacious mother with her big red rotund eyes. 

Few years passed and the doe was quickly growing into a rabbit. She became curious about this bright world around her. Everytime she hopped out of her burrow to eat some grass, she saw the bright sky where the birds sang and played with their mates. She saw the ocean where the dolphins danced in joy and enjoyed their frolics. She saw the ants which marched in order and always were so disciplined. She did not have a single friend to play with. She cried every night to sleep but woke up with even a brighter smile each day.

In the silent corner of the wood all the animals knew that there was the Kingdom of the Wood Fairies. But the little rabbit never went there as she was not allowed to hop that far into the wood. One day after her hopping around, she smilingly came back to her home and narrated her mother all she saw everyday. 

Her mother with a loving caress said "All these animals, and many more, make up our wood. They are the reason we can live in a perfect harmony." The rabbit asked her mother, "Can I make all of them to be my friends one day?" The caring mother, not willing to break her little daughter's heart, nodded along with a loving smile. Jovially, the little rabbit now hopped along its burrows length with a bright smile on her face with renewed hope.

After a few more years she was big enough to ponder along the edges of the woods. Innocent as she always was, she hoped to make the animals her friends. 

The little rabbit hopped to the bottom of the trees and shouted to the blue bird, sitting on the topmost branch, twittering with his friends, "Would you make me your friend? I can hop pretty well now," and with that said, she gaily showed her skill in hopping to the birds. But the birds do not hop. What would they know of her skill? 

All of the birds laughed at her. "What? Are you mad? You cannot be our friend," sneered the blue bird, "We have wings," and he opened his magnificent wings, "and we can fly." The bird graciously flapped his wings and started to float in the air. The rabbit saw that she did not have beautiful wings as the birds but she had little feet on which she could hop. She smiled and apologized for disturbing them and happily started to hop, making the tune the birds sang each morning with her feet as she moved. 

"How wonderful!" exclaimed the blue bird, listening to the perfect rhythm that the rabbit created. "What makes you so happy, Rabbit?" 

"Perhaps because you were so kind to me by showing your beautiful skill in flying. I cannot fly but I always watch you all soar in the sky even though I cannot be your friend."

The blue bird flew down beside her and kept his soft wings on her back and said, "What does it matter that you cannot fly like us? You have such a wonderful gift for music. We can always sing together." With the happy thought of being able to sing with the birds she hopped along towards the oceans. 

There she drank a bit of water and sat down on the sandy beach, a bit far from the edge of the water, where the waves were not coming. She was smilingly watching the dolphins splashing, when one dolphin popped its head out and angrily asked "Why are you smiling at us, Rabbit?"

"You can so beautifully dance and hop in the water. I can hop as well, look," and she demonstrated her hopping. "Would you like to be my friend?" 

"Sorry little rabbit. You cannot be our friend. We can swim," and the dolphins dove in the water with synchronisation, splashing the water all around and swam in the water. "You would drown if you come into the water." Little rabbit put her head down but happily raised it back again. Without murmuring a word she hopped her way along the edge of the beach, splashing the water with its tiny feet. 

"What makes you happy, Rabbit?" asked the dolphin, popping her head again. 

"You have been so caring by thinking of my safety. I may not be able to dance in the water like you, but I can always watch you all dance from my burrow."

The dolphin came near the rabbit and said "What does it matter if you cannot come in the water and play with us. You can hop on the beach alongside us." With the happy thought of being able to hop with the dolphins, she hopped ahead to the ant colony.

She smilingly watched the ants march in a line with perfect discipline caring twice their weight in their back. ”Move, move! You are standing in our way," said the ant leader without looking at her. She hopped to a side and asked the ant leader, "I was wondering whether I can be your friend."

The ant leader looked up at her with a frown. "Have you seen yourself? You are so big and weak and we, so small and strong. You cannot be our friend. Why don't you go and make the rabbits your friends?"

She explained to the ants why she cannot be friends with rabbits and hopped ahead with her head held high and with her ever-new smile.

Curiously, the ant leader asked, "What makes you so happy, Rabbit?"

The rabbit said with a charming smile, "I might not be as strong as you but I shall be glad that I got to see your discipline and learn how stronger you are than me." She hopped ahead.

Seeing the innocence and eagerness of the rabbit and remembering that the rainy season was near for which they would need food that they must collect beforehand, the ant leader compromised. "So what if you are not small and strong like us? We would be glad if you shall help our colony find food good for us before it starts to rain." With a nod and smile, the rabbit hopped ahead but now she had come to the silent corner of woods where she had never been to.

She saw the sparkling leaves of the trees, the water of the pond glistening with golden light, the little green houses in which the fairies lived with its little towers and round doors on the highest of the branches where her eyes couldn't reach. With half excitement, half fear, she hopped towards the fairy housings. Seeing no one around she sat and gazed at the majestic beauty of the place. 

As she sat, tears came to her eyes by the overwhelming joyous feeling that the place had. While she was sitting, looking at the pleasant scenery before her eyes, a little fairy floated before her and perched on her nose, asking: 

"While the whole of wood is glad,

What made my little friend sad?"

"Sad? I am overjoyed," said the rabbit. "But what makes me so happy, O little Fairy?" 

With the prettiest smiles, ever seen by the rabbit, the little fairy wiped the tears of the little rabbit and said:

"Perhaps tears alone that you shed,

Has been listened to, and finally paid."

The little rabbit, crying out all the bottled up tears. She confided to the little fairy, "Today I have journeyed through the whole length of these woods that I have been born in. When my fellow rabbits refused to be my friends, everyone in these woods were so kind to make me their acquaintance, but they cannot be a true friend to me. Wish I had a true friend." 

As she said, the fairy sang a beautiful tune which made the woods glow with a wonderful warmth. In a few minutes all the fairies, hidden in the woods, came before her eyes. The hazy vision, blurred with her tears, made the moment picturesque to her. She wiped her tears and saw thousands of fairies were floating all around her. One fairy came to her and sang:

"Over thousand years that we watched,

None so strong, kind, caring has matched,

That one like you proved to possess.

Honour shall it be till the end,

If you'll accept us as your friend,

Keeping us in your kind heart's base."

With her brightest smiles she nodded. She said, politely, "I am so blessed that you all want me to be your friend, but I wish to have someone like me to be my friend with whom I can play and be who I am meant to be."

All the fairies made way for the Fairy Queen. She came before the rabbit's eyes and waved her hands before her, singing in a magical tone:

"Friendship does finds its way,

Wherever be it may.

Kindness wins above all,

Making it a pure soul.

Come my little sisters,

Wish what is rightly hers.

Use powers so unique

To give the friends she seek."

All the fairies joined in the song in chorus and a sprinkle of golden dust covered the rabbit completely. She slowly sank into a deep sleep. As she opened her eyes she found herself cuddled in her mother's arms. She told of her wonderful adventure to her mother and said how she made everyone of the animals her acquaintance. She boasted that the fairies want her to be their friend. The friendly mother with a smile said that she had been dreaming in her arms. But as her hopes were about to go along with her charming smile, a rabbit came into her burrow and asked, "Wouldn't you come and play with us?" She stood for a while and looked at the far corner of the woods, smiling with her prettiest smiles. She thanked the Fairy Queen and along with her friend, hopped to the green field to play.