Well, I'll tell you. It's an old, old story that my grandfather once told me. And before that, his grandfather told it to him. It goes like this. . .
A long, long time ago, in a far away field, a mother rabbit was curled up in a deep warm hole among the briars. One by one, baby bunnies began filling her small warm home. One, two, three, four. . . twelve bunnies in all.
Beautiful bunnies with deep almond eyes and coats of rich browns and snow whites. Mother rabbit was so proud of the handsome twelve.
Another bunny was yet to be born and the mother rabbit waited impatiently for the late arrival of the last baby bunny.
Finally the 13th bunny was born.
Yet this was no ordinary bunny. He had only one ear, blue eyes, and a course spotted coat of brown and white.
It was not long before everyone knew that a very unusual bunny had been born.
The Mother rabbit did not know what to do. Her youngest bunny was ridiculed by all who saw him. The other bunnies ran here and there in the fields bouncing each other and getting into mischief, while the one-eared bunny lay alone on his back looking into the blue sky.
The white cotton in the sky reminded him of the cotton of a bunny's tale. Some of the cotton puffs in the sky were big and majestic while others were thin and whispy.
Closing his eyes so tight, seeing nothing but the red that the heat of the sun brought, he imagined himself as a cloud. Floating on the breeze among the other clouds. Str. . . etch. "How. . . mmm.", he yawned.
POUNCE! Oof! "What are you doing?", his older bunny brother asked.
"Wishing I was a cloud.", replied the one-eared bunny.
"That's silly. Clouds can't hop or eat carrots. Why would any bunny want to be a cloud!?"
Feeling a little foolish and embarassed the one-eared bunny shrugged.
The older bunny laughed. Soon the other bunnies joined in, mocking him.
The field mice told the squirrels. The squirrels told the swallows. And the swallows flew over the fields, squawking the gossip of the one-eared jack rabbit who thought he was a cloud.
The Mother rabbit saw her baby bunny's sadness as the other animals pointed and whispered as they hopped by. Turning toward a dark green pathch in the field she began hopping towards it.
"Where are you going momma?" asked the one-eared bunny, as he hopped quickly behind her.
She then stopped in the middle of the dark green patch of rich tasty clover. "Yum." proclaimed the baby rabbit, nibbling some sweet clover.
