William's Wish

Chapter Three

The next morning, William hopped straight to Rocky and Rhonda's shelter. He had a sack with him containing his most prized possessions. When he reach the shelter, he made an announcement.

"I am running away from home. I am going to stay with you two."

"Why?" asked Rocky.

"Because my mom and dad told me that they are going to send me away tomorrow to go to the Rabbit School."

"The Rabbit School? What is that?" asked Rhonda.

"It's a special school for smart rabbits. They teach you about all sorts of things. I would have to far away from here and live at the school. They make you work all day. I would not be able to play at all, and I would have to stay there until the summer."

"Where is the school?" asked Rocky.

"My dad told me it is the pine section of the forest, miles from here."

Rhonda said, "We have seen that part of the forest. It is very nice there. It smells wonderful."

"Well, I am not going. I want to stay here and play with my friends."

As he said that, Chips and Charley hopped into the shelter.

"Where are you not going?" asked Chips.

"I am not going to Rabbit School. My mom and dad want to make me go there, but I am not going to go. Instead, I am running away from home."

"He is going to live with us," said Rhonda.

"You have to be really smart to go to the Rabbit School. I have heard it is a very good school and they teach you many things you would never learn anywhere else," said Chips.

"Like what?" asked Charley.

William answered. "My mom and dad said they would teach me about other places, how things work, what things are made of, about stars and outerspace, and stuff like that ."

"Boy!" exclaimed Charley. "Wouldnt it be exciting to learn all those things."

"Yes," agreed William, "but I don't want to leave you guys. I would rather stay and play than have tobe in a school all day."

"Yes, in the summer and over holidays."

Chips said, "We would sure miss you if you did go."

"Well, I am not going, so that is that."

"What do you think they would teach you about stars?" asked Charley.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore. Let's go play."

They all took off towards Silver Stream. There was a thick layer of ice on the stream, and it was wonderfully slippery. They had a contest to see who could slide the farthest. Charley won when he discovered he could travel twice as far as the rest of them if he slid on his back. It was lots of fun.

In the afternoon, they had a big snowball fight. It was quite a sight to see all the snowballs whizzing by. The friend delightful laughter filled the air. The fight ended when a snowball accidentally hit Grumpy Gopher as he was passing by on a path.

They all quickly apologized to Grumpy. He yelled and complained for awhile, and then left mutterring to himself about how they were wasting their time playing silly kid's games.

It was beginning to get dark. Chips and Charley were ready to head for home to eat their suppers. Rocky and Rhonda were ready to go through the forest to look for food. William gave Chips a note to deliver to his mom and dad. It announced his intention to run away. After giving Chips the note, he joined Rocky and Rhonda in their search for food.

They decided not to get food from Grumpy's storage after the snowball incident, so they went back to finding their own food. It was hard work. It took most of the evening. When they finally found enough, William was feeling very tired, and was happy to be heading for the shelter where he could rest.

But it was not time to rest yet. They had to build a fire to keep themselve warm for the night. Then they had to fix up a new straw bed for William. When all the work was complete, they sat by the fire and dreamed of waht they would do in the spring.

"Let's go find that lake you can see from the Misty Mountains. Maybe we can even talk Chips and Charely into coming with us," suggesting William.

"That sounds like fun," said Ronnie.

"Look?" shouted Rhonda.

She pointed up to the sky. In a clearing through the trees, they could see a bright star with a long tail hanging from it.

"A comet!" William exclaimed.

"A what?" asked Rocky.

"A comet. I have never seen one before, but I have read about them. I am not sure what they are made of of or where they come from, but I know they are special," explained William.

"Is is a star?" asked Rocky.

William wished he could answer Rocky's question. He would love to know about comets, stars, and all the things outerspace. This new comet fascinated him.

He could only respond by saying, "I'm not sure."

"I bet they would have taught you about comets in that Rabbit School," said Rhonda.

"Yeah," sighed William

They went to bed, but poor William could not sleep. He kept thinking about that comet. He wanted to find out more about it.

The next morning, William had made up his mind. As much as he loved playing with his friends, he knew he had to go to the Rabbit School in order to learn about comets and other such things. He explained this Rocky and Rhonda, and they seemed to understand.

So did Chips and Charley when they showed up at the shelter.

Charley said, "When you come back next summer, you will have to tell us what you have learned, especially about comets."

Charley had seen the comet too. He often sat outside his house at night and looked up at the stars. He knew the comet was something very special.

"The first thing I want to find out is what the new comet is named," said William.

They all took off for William's house. William's mom and dad were on the path looking for him. They were sure glad to see him.

"I've decided to go to the Rabbit School after all," he said.

William's mom hugged him and invited all the friends to her house for some breakfast. After they ate, it was time for William to begin the long journey to the school. His dad was going to go along with him. He gave his mom and hug and said good-bye to his friends. Chips and Charley aid that they were looking forward to seeing him again in the summer, and Rocky and Rhonda promised that no matter where they were, they would come back and visit in the summer.

As William hopped away with his dad, Charley hopped along beside him and told him that he had already given the comet at nam.

"What?" asked William.

"William's Wish."

"I like that," William said and head for his new adventure.