Donkey and Rabbit

“I’m so bored, Rabbit,” said Donkey, munching on the orange bits with much bliss.

The mellow Donkey and the grumpy Bunny wandered the forest without worry; Sharing a batch of carrots they yanked from Mrs. Elmira’s orchard before running like leopards.

“I don’t know,” groaned Rabbit. “I figure we could play some prank on the big bad wolf.”

“Not that again, Rabbit,” said Donkey. “I still have a wound on my posterior from the last occasion.”

“Well, how about we sing a song?”

“A song?”

“Yah, you know. Like the huntsmen sometimes do,” said Rabbit, spitting out a carrot wad as was her habit. “Do you remember any songs, Donkey?”

Donkey had lived for years as a burden beast, dragging carts and goods from town to town without ease. Slave to a mean old lady about the same age as Elmira, but not as sweet, who was too happy to employ the whip.

“I think I might just know the right tune for spring!”

A worm jumped out of a tree's apple

The owl caught it

And the fox snatched him

Then came the hunter with his bow and arrow

Crafted with the plume of a sparrow.

The pair sang on the path with delight.

“Help, help me, please!” said someone in a yelp.

“That’s not how the song goes, Rabbit.”

“That wasn’t me.”

They followed the voice to a grove of tall apple trees where two huntsmen had caught a small being. One was tall and skinny and armed with a sword, the other short and red-bearded and sleeping with a bow.

“Someone come to my aid before it’s too late!”

“Quiet already, you noisy fairy!” said the tall huntsman, while the short one snoozed like a moose.

“What do we do, Rabbit?” Said Donkey in a panic.

“Not our business, Donkey.”

“But what if she’s got magic?”

“What of it?”

“Maybe she can heal my behind with a rhyme.”

“Fine. Only because I’m tired of hopping all around.”

The red beard talked in his sleep, calling out a lady’s name in a dream.

Simone, Simone, where have you been?

“How do we free her from that cage before his wake?”

Rabbit’s ear pointed at the wand in the sleeper’s belt made of felt.

“Lend me an ear,” said Rabbit, and Donkey lent both without fear.

“Oh, Rabbit, you are ever so clever!”

“I know, ‘Key.”

Donkey approached the tall huntsman, acting like a lost dusky pony, weary and hungry. Holding a carrot as a handout.

Rabbit, meanwhile, sneaked on the sleeping fellow and carefully snatched the wand made from birch with her teeth.

“What's this?” said the huntsman in a fritz. He leaned forward to pick the carrot when the sleeping one woke from a dream involving the princess with skin like cream and hair like a flare.

“What is going on here?” said the huntsman with the beard.

The tall huntsman turned to his friend and as he did, Donkey was quick to kick him in the head, knocking out his kettle helm. He fell and watched dragons dance around his face before dropping almost dead.

The panicked Rabbit shook the wand and turned the man’s bearded face into a cat’s with thick hair, and made him grow tiny wings that lifted him up in the air. He flew up and up, hitting his head against a branch, and fell down like a sack.

Rabbit and Donkey watched the scene they’d created while the fairy spectated, dumbfounded by her luck. Donkey and Rabbit handed her back her wand, which she used to remove the lock.

***

Once free, she introduced herself as a fairy of goodwill.

I am Fredrika, enchantress and the fairy of good manners.

“Pleased the meet you, Miss Fredrika,” said the well-meaning Donkey as always.

“Yes, yes. We know a lot about faeries. Can you heal my buddy’s wound over here?”

“You waste no time, I see,” said Fredrika. “Very well, I’ll do something better still. For your good, chivalric deeds, I will grant you a greater gift.”

She twirled her wand, releasing magic dust that made Donkey giggle and smirk, and Rabbit sneeze.

“It smells like sugar!”

“It smells like coal.”

“By the forces of light, I grant you strength and beauty, I cast this charm to protect others from harm, that is your duty”

Once the dust cleared two forms appeared. Rabbit and Donkey looked at each other with wonder and realized they were girls standing on two legs.

Rabbit’s hair was white daisy and braided like a lady but clad in bright plate armor, ready to fight against dragons. Her ears sprang up when she removed her helmet in amazement.

Donkey stood taller, with copper skin, and dressed in leather gear. Her hair was long and dark, falling down to her waist where she held a mace. Her ears were concealed under a hood that could not disguise her good mood.

“I apologize if my magic arts can’t hide your animal parts.”

“What did you do to us, witch?” exclaimed Rabbit.

“I’ve given you the gift, no, the honor of chivalry, to serve and defend the weak from calamity.”

“I just wanted you to fix her butt.”

“Don’t thank me. You can still go back to your animal lives when you crave just call for my aid. Now I must bid you farewell.”

“Isn’t this great, Rabbit? Now we can be knights together like in legends.”

Rabbit sighed, her plan had backfired.

“I suppose Donkey is happy. And it will be nice not having to run from hunters for a change.”

The fairy turned into a robin and flew away without worry.

“Get back here, how do we find you?!”

Her arm reached out hoping the fairy would return, while Donkey hugged her friend with enough strength to snap a trunk, were she not wearing her new armor, producing a clunk.

“Isn’t this great? We can go anywhere we please in a breeze!”

“Let's get to a tavern first, 'Key. I want some of what men call beer.”

“What about these two huntsmen?”

“Let them sleep a while longer,” Rabbit said as they set out miles yonder.

In years to come, the famous pair would perform many deeds: save a kingdom and rescue a prince, fly on a dragon’s back, and discover a new land. But first Rabbit would drink until morning that’s how we end this story.