Bumpsy The Near-Sighted Rabbit
GoldenView
For a picture of Bumpsy (47Kb) click here.....
Bumpsy had always been Different!
First of all, he wasn't born on a bright spring day,
like most rabbits.
No - Bumpsy was born during a dark winter night!
What's more, he didn't have brothers & sisters.
No - Bumpsy was an only-bunny.
Actually, Bumpsy's real name was Bill. The name "Bumpsy" seemed right for him because, as a little
hoppler, he kept bumping into things!
Bumpsy would take a couple nice hops and then... *Bump!*...He would run into a chair....a few more hops and ....*Bump!*# Ouch! ......he'd trip over someone's foot.
Bumpsy was the right name for him, alright!
As it turns out, Bumpsy was nearsighted. (A nearsighted rabbit! Can you believe it!)
When the Optometrist, Mr. Owl, came for a visit, he said, "Mrs Rabbit, your Bumpsy is so near-sighted, he's
practically blind! For safety's sake, you must keep him at
home. The outside world would be extremely dangerous for a nearsighted baby rabbit. Who knows what he might bump into!?"
"But what about school?" asked Mrs. Rabbit.�
"Teach him at home....at least for now! By next year he
will be old enough to be fitted for a pair of glasses! .. ...THEN he can go to school!"
"That will be fine! I'll keep him home for a year. Thank you Doctor." said Bumpsy's Mom.�
"Swell!" thought Bumpsy! "I don't think it's so 'FINE'!"
"FOR A YEAR"! The words felt like a prison sentence! To a little bunny, a year seemed like a long, loooong time!
"A YEAR!" and Bumpsy's long ears hung down upon his shoulders! His head drooped so low that his whiskers tickled his chest!
Not that he would mind being taught by his Mom. (He knew that would be fun.)
In a way, she had already started their lessons. Every day she would read stories to him. Also, at times he would "read" to himself ..... holding a volume of his
Encyclopedia about an inch away from his whiskers... he'd study the photos, and say the captions out loud. (He'd memorized them!)
"You are so SMART!" his Mom would say, and this made him feel good.
BUT.....He'd counted on being able to go outside! NOW! Not a year from now!� Ever since he could stand on
tip-toe to peer over the window sill, he'd wanted to see that beautiful world OUTSIDE! All he could "see" was a hazy blur of shapes and colors. Yet, he'd decided that one shape, in particular, was incredibly fascinating. It seemed to glow in the daytime, and at night it sparkled!
It was "calling" to him.� He knew it was full of wonders!� "Treasure Mountain!" is how he thought of it.
He knew his Mom went there! She'd return with her shopping basket full of things! Tasty morsels of food.... occasionally, even a trinket which she would lovingly place on a special shelf.
"Ah! Treasure Mountain! Now, I'll never see it!" he cried out in despair, for that was exactly how he felt!
Maybe I have to wait a year to start school, but I am
NOT going to wait a year to see "Treasure Mountain"!
(That's when Bumpsy made his decision to do a very
brave, but very foolish thing.)
I'm going to the mountain, and I'm going tonight! It makes not difference to me if it's dark out! I can't see
anyway! And Mom will be sound asleep!
"Hmm... Let me see....Mom says it's a one minute round trip. In Bunny MPH, that's not very far! Besides, Basically I know where it is!
So that night, with nervous anticipation, and a little
downright fear, he put on his jacket, scampered down the hallway, out the door, and (vaguely) into the direction of "Treasure Mountain".
"Wow! I made it out without waking up Mom! Thank goodness!" he said to himself. "For once, I didn't bump into anything!"
Bumpsy used his nose to steer him. It was not just any� nose. It had compensated for his lack of eyesight, and as a result it had become very sensitive to the slightest smell.�
Bumpsy followed his nose through the darkness. He zigged & zagged ....first left, then right...keeping his nose to the ground... lifting his head now & then to sniff the wind.
He made steady progress! He knew he would be there soon, and sure enough, within a couple minutes, he was at the very FOOT of "Treasure Mountain"!
"This is IT!" I recognize the smell! It smells like Mom's treasure shelf!"�
Now, for the first time, he stopped sniffing the ground long enough to look up.
Bumpsy looked waaay up! He tilted his head waaaay back! ...... He squinted reeeeeal hard.....and he leaned back farther and farther until he almost fell over! .....FROM SHOCK!�
"I KNOW this place!" he said. "I have seen a picture of a place like this in my Encyclopedia! This is a GARBAGE DUMP!
What a let down!� "Hah!" (He sighed.) "I want to go home! YES! ...HOME!"
(So he did! He followed his own scent-trail back to his home, back to his room, and back to his little bed. The
trip back took about 30 seconds. "Whew!" and that was all he said before he was fast asleep.
Next morning, Mrs. Rabbit entered his room. "Time to get up little sleepy-head!�
"Hi Mom!"....."Let's get an early star on today's reading lesson!"
She smiled and something about that smile made Bumpsy uncomfortable...� Does she know? ...Naw! That's impossible! Geesh! What am I thinking?
There's no way she could know! She would have come running after me! She would have stopped me long before I got to the foot of "Treasure Mountain!
(The realization that he had been calling a garbage dump by that name almost made Bumpsy giggle.)
"What shall we read?" continued his Mom ....."I know" she said. "How about 'Treasure Island'!"
"You KNOW!" said Bumpsy!
"I KNOW!" said his Mom!
(But that's all she said.)
They had a nice talk over their breakfast of hot carrot muffins covered with butter and orange marmalade.
He told her the whole story.
(And she told him she had been watching him the whole time!)
"How do you find such treasures in a garbage dump, Mom?"
"It's all in how you look at it, Bumpsy! I'll show you if you can wait for a year."
"What? WAIT FOR A YEAR! ....Just kidding Mom! .....I can wait! Don't worry....." said Bumpsy, with a funny little
smile and a twitch of his nose...... "I can wait!"