Bunny Brothers

 

            Bobby looked down the long row of carrots that he had been working on in their garden. Neat stacks of carrots lay in piles along the row. It felt good to finally see the harvest of all his hard work.

            He looked ahead to what he still had left to do. Only four more rows he thought with satisfaction. He called over to his brother Percy, relaxing in the sun. “Hey, Percy! Is there any chance that you’ll be coming to help me?”

            “No,” Percy said as he idly flipped a page in his magazine, The Jogger’s Digest.

            Bobby wasn’t surprised. His parents had sent them both outside to work in the garden. Percy insisted on supervising while Bobby did all of the actual work. While Bobby planted, weeded, and harvested throughout the summer months, Percy sat in his chair, dreaming about winning the Annual Bunny Race. He insisted on “studying” for the race by reading all the running magazines, so he was always too busy to help.

Percy had won the race last year, and thought that he could easily win again this year. But he couldn’t be bothered with doing mundane work like gardening. So, he left that to Bobby.

            Bobby paused to stretch his back and legs. His long ears helped keep the sun off of his back, but it was hot. He took a break to hop over for a drink. The cool water felt so good in his mouth that he splashed some on the rest of his body. Refreshed now, he got back to work.

            An hour later, Bobby put the last of the carrots into the cellar for storage. He looked at the large stacks with pride, knowing that he had done all of that work. Going back outside, he checked the position of the sun. Still time to go for a quick run, he thought happily.

            Percy may have won the race last year, but Bobby had been running every day to help improve his speed and endurance. This year, he wanted to win. As always, he invited Percy to go with him, but his older brother said he was too busy. Bobby looked at what Percy was busy with. Of course, another magazine, he thought. This one was called Runner Bunny.

            A few days later, it was time for the big race. Percy and Bobby went to register for the race and get their numbers. Percy picked up his number and attached it to his t-shirt, all the while looking condescendingly down at Bobby as he did the same with his own number. “Don’t be too disappointed if you lose today, little brother!” Percy said with a smirk.

            Bobby ignored him and started stretching out his long, powerful legs. He did a few little practice hops to warm himself up.

            Soon, the announcement came over the loudspeakers that the Annual Bunny Race would be starting in a few minutes. Bobby felt ready as he glanced over at Percy. His older brother was built bigger than him, while Bobby was a little more lean. Percy’s face showed that he was totally confident that he would be bringing home the win two years in a row.

            The crowd gathered around as the loudspeaker boomed, “Ready, Set, Go!”

            Bobby exploded from the starting line with a gigantic hop and took off running. The course that they would be following meandered around Bunny Town and ended up being about five miles. Bobby quickly settled in to an even pace that he knew he could keep up over those miles. He had practiced this same route every day for weeks.

            Nearly 50 bunnies had registered for the race this year. Most of them started off at a faster pace, but ended up slowing down as Bobby’s feet easily ate up the miles. He passed other competitors with a friendly wave, and kept running along. Percy wanted to lead the pack and had started off super speedy, but he couldn’t keep up his original breakneck pace. He managed to stay in first position for quite a while, but Bobby slowly closed the gap between them. Breathing easily and evenly, Bobby passed his older brother, who was gasping and panting. Bobby smiled at him as he ran past while Percy shot him an angry, sweaty look.

            The finish line was now in sight, and Bobby was out in front. He put on an extra burst of speed and crossed over with a big grin on his face.

            A few minutes later, Percy crossed the finish line, huffing and puffing. Glaring at Bobby, he asked, “When did you get so fast?”

            Bobby thought for a minute and then said, “It must have been when you were laying back, supervising.” He grinned, then moved away to cheer on the rest of the racers as they crossed the finish line.