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Wee Little Pig2,890 words
The Child in the Window2,107 words
Meaning of Friend2,045 words
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The Rabbit Hole

As Sunset and Pooh wandered through the woods, Sunset could feel her stomach build in its grumbling. Her stomach muscles tightened and pulled as it groaned and growled. She put a hand over her belly and held it in a vain attempt to silence the groans of hunger. And yet, despite the embarrassment building from the noisy tummy, Pooh seemed to ignore it. Whether out of kind respect and understanding or that simple mind of his that was just unbothered, Sunset could not tell.

The bear seemed to have his own troubles with a moaning tummy. Sunset could see the discomfort and heard a few soft moans on occasion from his empty stomach. But Pooh pushed on, seemingly determined to satiate his hunger.

They turned a corner of trees and came across a small mound with a hole dug into the side and a tree set on top. Pooh stopped and seemed to eye the mound of earth a moment before walking up and peering into the hole.

“Hallo!” he called.

Only silence replied.

“I say, hallo!” he called again. “Is anyone there?”

“No,” came a voice from the hole.

“Are you sure?” asked Pooh.

“Yes. There is nobody here.”

Sunset could hardly contain herself at the silliness, leaving her hunger all but forgotten about. Although she could not tell who was really inside, she knew it had to be another friend of Pooh. She walked up to try and help coax the friend out.

“I wonder if you might be Rabbit,” said Pooh to the hole. “I haven’t been able to find him but I know he lives in a hole much like this one.”

“Well it must be another hole that he lives in,” the hole replied. “Perhaps he has gone to find Pooh.”

“But this is Pooh.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. And a new friend, Sunset Shimmer.”

A shuffling noise came from inside then a small brown rabbit, one about the size of Pooh, poked its head out and looked at Pooh and Sunset. Sunset was rather surprised to see an actual rabbit rather than a stuffed animal like the others have been. Although, this could be a different character. No telling with the land being what it was.

“Oh!” said the rabbit. “It is you Pooh. I’ve been wondering where you were.” He looked at Sunset. “You must be Sunset Shimmer.”

“Yes,” she replied with a smile. “And are you Rabbit?”

“Of course. Sorry about all of that earlier. I needed to be cautious with everyone going missing.” He looked around. “Have you seen the others anywhere?”

“Yes,” said Pooh. “Piglet and Eeyore.”

“We’ve been trying to find all of the friends,” said Sunset. “I’m glad we found you.”

“Well,” said Rabbit, “they should be found soon.” He looked at Pooh who was once again holding his hungry tummy. “Although I think we should get you something to eat, Pooh. Are you hungry as well Sunset Shimmer?”

On cue a soft grumble came from Sunset’s own aching tummy. She involuntarily grabbed it and gave an embarrassed smile. “Um…Yes, please. If you don’t mind.”

Rabbit turned back to his hole. “Well then, come on in.” But before he disappeared inside, he stopped, as though thinking, and turned back, looking Sunset over. “I suppose you could not fit inside. And Pooh would still be a bit of a squeeze.”

He began to ponder and Sunset felt her stomach tighten and give another moan. “We could eat out here. That’s fine with me if it’s fine with you. How about it Pooh?”

Pooh still held his tummy. “Yes. That is fine.”

Rabbit thought for a second before perking up. “A picnic! Of course. We shall go on a picnic.”

“That sounds wonderful,” said Sunset, feeling rather excited at the thought.

“Then I shall gather what we need,” said Rabbit and disappeared back into the hole.

With Rabbit inside, Pooh turned to Sunset, appearing more worried than excited. “What about the others? Shall we get Piglet and Eeyore?”

“Actually, that sounds great,” said Sunset, now rather excited about the whole idea. “A small picnic to celebrate finding another friend.”

But Pooh still did not seem so excited. He looked down at the ground. “But then, what of the friends we haven’t found yet? I don’t want them to feel left out.”

Sunset could not help but smile at the thought. The little bear really did care about all of his friends, even when he could not quite remember them all. “Alright then,” she said, “We’ll just have some lunch right here. Once we find all of the friends, we’ll have a big picnic with everyone. How does that sound?”

Pooh looked up and gave a small smile. “Yes. That sounds good.”

Their attention turned to Rabbit who reappeared from his hole pushing a blanket and a wicker picnic basket. “Well then, I think we’re all set to go.”

“Hey Rabbit,” said Sunset, “could we just eat right here? Just a simple lunch. We’ll save the picnic until we find all of your friends.”

Rabbit thought for a moment, almost appearing a bit frustrated at the idea. “I suppose.” He looked at Sunset and Pooh. “You really must think of things earlier. It makes things difficult to change plans like that.”

“Of course,” Sunset said, giving an apologetic smile.

The three laid out the blanket and opened the basket, releasing the tantalizing smell of the food within. It was a rather simple meal. A few different leafy vegetables for Rabbit, a jar of honey for Pooh, and three simple sandwiches for Sunset. Everything from the food inside to extra cloth napkins were included in the wicker basket. Anything the three could want or need was included.

“I’m impressed with how well prepared you are Rabbit,” Sunset said after finishing her first sandwich.

“Of course,” he replied as he dotted his mouth with a napkin. “One must always think of things and have a proper plan.”

Pooh turned to Sunset, paw covered in honey. “Rabbit is very clever,” he said as he licked off the honey. “It is because he has a brain.”

Sunset tilted her head as she tried to figure out what Pooh was talking about. Of course a real rabbit would have a brain compared to a stuffed teddy bear. She scratched her head as she thought then shook it. What was she talking about? This was an imaginary world. She had to be overthinking things. But she could not help but wonder.

“Don’t you have a brain Pooh?”

Pooh looked at her and left Rabbit to answer. “Of course Pooh has no brain. It’s why he’s not clever at all.” Rabbit stopped his badgering and thought for a moment. “Although he was almost always with him so I guess he would not need one.”

Once more, Sunset was left to guess about who “he” was. It was obvious the connection, the child who imagined the world and played with the different friends. But it still left her wondering who “he” was exactly. And it only made things difficult that all of the friends, even Pooh who seemed to be the closest friend, could only remember vague bits.

She allowed the thought to linger but never brought it up. She was likely to not get much as usual anyways. Instead, she went back to the meal and enjoyed the company of Pooh and Rabbit.

As the meal went by, the thought of the one who once was friends with Pooh and the others continued to prod at Sunset’s mind. Finally, her curiosity got the best of her.

“Rabbit?” she asked, trying to be as polite as possible. “You mentioned “him.” Who was he and what was he like.” Rabbit looked at her rather confused as did Pooh. “Pooh doesn’t seem to remember very well and we’ve been trying to find him. I was hoping that if we could jog Pooh’s memory a bit, maybe it would make it easier to find him.”

Rabbit thought for a minute before speaking. “Hmm…” he said. “Well…he was very clever. More clever than Pooh of course who has no brain.” Not letting that go for now it seems. “He did seem to know just what to do. I…I don’t really remember much else.”

Rabbit’s ears seem to droop a bit at the thought. Pooh himself seemed saddened along with Rabbit. With the mood shifting to sorrow, Sunset put on her bravest smile and tried to cheer them up.

“Don’t worry,” she said, putting a hand on a shoulder of the two friends. “I’m sure once we find him you’ll remember everything about him.”

Pooh looked at her and was already perking up. Rabbit regarded Sunset and gave what she assumed was a smile. “You seem a lot like him Sunset Shimmer.”

The statement caught Sunset off guard a bit. She thought back to when they had helped Eeyore and remember him being reminded of something by her. Could he have been reminded of the boy by her just like Rabbit just now? Eeyore had mentioned “him” as well so it was not entirely out of the question.

Sunset put the thought aside once more. It was possible she was right but, by the same token, she could also be seriously overthinking. And understanding the relation of the boy and the imaginary friends was hardly helping to find him. At least for now.

As the three finished their respective foods and began wrapping up their lunch, they politely gathered up the used napkins and plates and cups and everything else that Rabbit had packed in the basket. They placed the items to be cleaned back into the basket and neatly folded the blanket and placed it on top. Sunset helped Rabbit get the basket back into his hole and tried to offer to help clean up more. He declined but appreciated the offer.

With everything cleaned up, Sunset and Pooh said their goodbyes to Rabbit and thanked him for the meal. Rabbit went into his home to finish cleaning and Sunset and Pooh continued on their way through the woods. As the two continued their search through the woods, Sunset continued to think back to some of the conversation during lunch.

“Hey Pooh?” she asked, wanting more to discard the curiosity rather than satisfy it.

“Yes?”

“Rabbit said you didn’t have a brain. Does Piglet have one?”

Pooh thought for a moment before answering. “I don’t think so. At least, that is what Eeyore has said once.”

“So he’s not very clever either?”

“Well, he is a small animal. Perhaps he is clever, but not as clever as Rabbit of course.”

“Of course,” Sunset said with a small giggle. The talk of brains and cleverness was rather silly. An odd look into the mind of whatever child imagined the friends and the world.

“Hey Pooh?” she asked once more, curious about one more thing.

“Yes?”

“Is your special friend clever?”

Once again, Pooh thought for a moment. But instead of his regular lack of recall, he answered readily. “Oh yes. Very clever indeed.”

Sunset could hear the cheer in his voice at being able to remember something about the mystery child. Whatever other questions she had now were pushed aside for later. She would let him have this moment of happiness.

“Hey Pooh,” she said.

“Yes?”

“I think it’s okay that you don’t have a brain.”

He looked at her in curiosity. “Why is that?”

She held out her hand to which he reached out to hold. “Because I think you have a very big heart,” she said with a smile.

Pooh smiled at her then looked forward at wherever they were going. “I think I quite like that.”

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