Friendship with a Bug?

Chapter Eleven

A new family of rabbits had just moved into the Blackberry Forest. They found a home near Chips' house, and one of the children in the family was a rabbit near Chips' age. His name was William.

Chips and Charley hopped over to the house of the new family and introduced themselves to William. They asked William if he like to hop, and when he said, "of course", they all took off down the path to Roly-Poly Hill.

William was a fast hopper. Although Chips was able to keep up with him, poor Charley was struggling along behind them.

When they reached Roly-Poly Hill, Charley was very winded.

William sniffed and asked, "Aren't there any other rabbits around here for us to play with?"

"No," said Chips. "You are the first rabbit my age to live in this part of the woods. That is besides me."

"You must have been lonely," William said.

"No, not since I met Charley. We play together all the time."

"Oh. Do you like to explore? I wanted to hop along the path behind my new house. I am wondering where it leads."

"For you it would take all day. If Chips and I go without you, it would take half the time. How about it Chips? Would you like to go there with me tomorrow?"

"I wouldn't want to leave Charley behind," Chips answered.

"But I am sure Charley would get tired on such a long trip. Look how tired he is after the short trip here."

Chips replied, "I usually don't hop so fast when I am with Charley. We could go a bit slower and just make it a day trip."

"No," said Charley. "I wouldn't want to slow you down. You would not have time to play by the pond if I came along. You too go without me and tell me about it later."

William smiled and said, "Good, it's settled. Chips and I will hop to the pond tomorrow. Right Chips?"

"I don't know. Are you sure you wouldn't mind, Charley?"

"Yes, I am sure. I need to clean out my house tomorrow anyway. It sure is a mess."

After making their plans, Chips and Charley spend the rest of the afternoon showing William all the special places on and around Roly-Poly Hill. Whn supper time drew near, they said their good-byes and went their separate ways.

The next morning, Chips and William started hopping along the path to the pond.

As they were on their way, William asked, "Why are you friends with a silly old bug? A rabbit should not be friends with a bug. Bugs are too different from rabbits. Don't you feel ashamed to be with him?"

Chips was silent for a few moments, and then he said, "But Charley is so neat! We have had so much fun together."

"Well, now you can have fun with me," William stated.

"Yes, but when you get to know Charley..."

"No, interrupted William. "I don't want to be friends with a bug. If you want to be friends with me, you should stop hanging around him so much."

Chips hopped along silently. He sure did not want to loose Charley as a friend, but it would be nice to play with another rabbit. He began to wonder what teh other animals thought of him when they saw him with a bug. Maybe he should not be playing with Charley so often. Charley might understand that a rabbit should be playing with other rabbits. Perhaps Charley could find another bug friend.

When they reached the pond, Chips and William had a great time chasing the frogs into the water. William said that he wanted to come back again the next day, and Chips agreed that it would be fun.

After they came back from the pond, William went home, and Chips sat in the clover patch near his house. Charley was sitting on a stone nearby.

"Hey," Charley called. "Did you have a good time at the pond?"

"Yes," Chips answered.

"Well, my house is nice and clean. I was thinking that tomorrow we could fly our kites on Roly-Poly Hill."

"William wants to go back to the pond tomorrow."

"I guess you two want to go without me again."

"I'm sorry. I hope you understand."

"Yes, I see that you two rabbits want to do thing together. A silly old bug would just get in the way."

"It's not that, Charley. It's just that rabbits should play with other rabbits. Maybe you could find another bug to play with when I am with William."

"Do you mean you no longer want to be my friend now that you found somebody better?"

"No, I still want to be friends with you, but maybe we shouldn't spend so much time together."

"I see," said Charley and he sadly hopped away.

"Wait, Charley....I still..." Chips cried, but Charley was already gone.

The next day William and Chips hopped to the pond again. On the way there, Chips started to describe the beautiful part of the forest he discovered with Charley when they followed Spirit. He told him about getting lost and how they were shown the way back the following day by a wonderful family of deer.

William just sniffed and said, "See what happens when you are friends with a bug. I would have known better than to have followed a silly butterfly."

Chips felt bad when William said that. He guess it was a silly thing to do, but it was also a lot of fun."

When they were at the pond, they chased the frogs again, but this time the frogs did not seem to enjoy it.

"Leave us alone pesty rabbits," they cried.

William just laughed and continued chasing them into the water. Chips joined him, and as he went after a big frog, he slipped and fell into the water. The water was cold, but Chips started laughing.

William hopped over to him

"Are you all right?" he asked. "You better get out."

Chips came out of the water and sat in the sun to let his fur dry. He couldn't help but think how Charley probably would have jumped into the pond with him. He also was thinking how Charley would have never let him chase the frogs if the frogs no longer wanted to play.

"Still," he thought, "William is fun in his own way. At least I can hop as fast as I want to when I am with him."

After they came back home and William went to his house, Chips decided to go to Charley's house. He was going to tell Charley that he would still play with him in the late afternoons after he was through playing with William. When he reached Charley's house, he was he was not home. He looked around for Charley, but he wasn't in any of his usual places. Chips was a little worried, but he figured that Charley would show up the next day.

The next morning, Chips hopped over to Charley's house. Once again he wasn't at home. Chips looked around, but there still was not sign of Charley. When he hopped by Grumpy Gophers garden, he saw Grumpy pulling out some weeds. He asked Grumpy if he had seen Charley.

"Yes, I saw he yesterday. He was following this silly butterfly. He said good-bye like he was leaving for good."

"He must have been following Spirit. Oh, I hope he has not run away! I better go look for him."

Chips started his search on Roly-Poly Hill. He decided that he was going to go to the beautiful section of the forest to look for Charley, even though he did not really know his way around. He had to find Charley. He could not bare the thought that he might never see him again.

Chips hopped deep into the section of the wood he has been in before with Charley and Spirit. He kept calling Charley's name and he was feeling very helpless.

"Oh, I will never find Charley," he thought. "Why was I so mean to him? I don't care if he was a bug. He was my best friend!"

Chips kept hopping, and soon he was quite lost. He spent the whole day searching, and it was starting to get dark. He realized he would have to spend the night in the forest alone. How he wished he could find Charley! If Charley were here, it wouldn't be as scary. Poor Chips started to cry.

"Why are you crying, little rabbit?" said a gentle voice.

Chips looked up. It was the deer that led Charley and him back home when they were lost.

"I have come to look for my friend, Charley. I don't know where he is and now I am lost."

"Do you think Charley came way out here?" the deer asked.

"Yes, I think so because he was following Spirit."

"If he is with Spirit, he should not be hard to find. I know the places Spirit likes to go. It is late now. Come stay at my house and we will look for Charley tomorrow."

"Oh, thank you," said Chips.

Chips followed the deer to his house. The deer's family was there, and they treated Chips very kindly. They gave him cookies and milk for a bedtime snack, and they let him sleep in a very soft bed made from feathers. Chips would have enjoyed his stay if he was not so worried about Charley.

The next morning after breakfast, the deer and Chips started off to look for Charley. The went through colorful fields of wildflowers. Then they went to a patch of blackberries. After that they went to a section filled with pine trees. Spirit and Charley were not in any of those places.

Beyond the pine trees, there was a gentle stream. They went along a path beside the stream. It led to a small waterfall. Oh a stone besides the waterfall sat Spirit and Charley!

"Charley!" shouted Chips.

He hopped over to Charley.

"Charley," he cried, "I am so glad we found you. We were looking all over!"

"Why were you looking for me? Why aren't you playing with William? You don't need me anymore. I would just get in the way. I am going to move to this part of the forest and play with Spirit."

"But Charley, I want you to come back home. I want to play with you. You are my best friend."

"Why would you want to be friends with a silly old bug?"

"Because I like you! Listen, I am going to tell William that if he won't play with you, I won't play with him."

Charley was still feeling a little angry and hurt, but he did want to go back to Chips. Spirit wasn't much company. She said very little and was always flitting around.

"Well, I don't know," Charley said. "How about if you want to hop quickly and I cannot keep up with you?"

"I will just slow down like I did before William came. It isn't a problem."

"How about if the other animals make fun of you for being friends with a bug?"

"I will tell them about how much fun it is to be friends with a bug."

"How about if you get bored with me?"

"Oh Charley, how could I ever get bored with you? When I'm with you I have more fun than I ever had with anyone else."

"Okay, I will come back."

"Hurrah!" shouted Chips, and then he gave Charley a great big hug."

The deers smiled and told them that he would show them the way back home. Chips and Charley said good-bye to Spirit and started hopping together side by side.

"I am glad I have my best firend back," said Chips.

"Me too," said Charley.

They thought of all the fun times they had had together and the fun times that were yet to come for them in the Blackberry Forest.