Wrong Way Bunny

         I bolted upright in bed, startled by a loud BANG! outside my window.  What in the world, I thought, throwing back the covers.

         "See anything?"

         "Just an old truck at the intersection.  It must've backfired," I informed my husband after covering a yawn.  "It's almost sunrise and the alarm will go off in a minute, so I'm going to stay up."

         "I think I'll lay here for a few minutes before I jump in the shower.  I don't need a lunch today," he reminded me.  "I have a meeting at 11:30 am at the City Hall."

         "OK."  I slipped into a sweatshirt and jeans and went out on the porch to watch the sun rise.  The few small clouds on the horizon turned pink, orange, red, and finally crimson before the brightness of the glowing ball peeking over the horizon blotted them from sight.

         I turned to go in and start the coffee when a noise beside the porch caught my attention.  Looking, I didn't see anything, yet the sound continued. 

         "You out here?" my husband's voice came across the porch from the front door.

         "Yeah," I answered.  "Come here a minute, Jack.  Something is making noise down here by the crocus flowers but I can't figure out what it is."

         We listened again for the source of the sound.  "Sounds like something scratching on metal."

         I nodded and put my ear to the downspout.  "Whatever it is, it's in here."

         Jack picked up a stick and rapped gently on the pipe and the scratching stopped for a moment.  "Hmmm," he said, reaching into the end of the downspout.  "I don't feel anything.  I'll go get a screwdriver."

         Jack returned with the tools and disconnected the drain pile and looked inside.  "Nothing here," he said, tossing the pipe to me. The scratching continued as he disconnected the next section of pipe. 

         "Ah ha."  He winked at me.  "You're going the wrong way, little fellow," he said softly to the creature within.  "Hey babe, hold out your hands."

         I cupped my hands beneath the pipe and he turned it upright.  The scratching continued.  Jack softly rapped on the pipe again and a baby rabbit tumbled out, filling the hollow of my hands with downy soft fur.  He sat there, trembling, staring at me with his big black eyes.

         "Awww," I cooed as his twitching whiskers tickled my thumb.  "He's precious."  I lowered my hands to the ground, put him down in the dewy grass, and stepped away.  The little bunny looked around and then ran back toward the pipe Jack was reassembling. 

         "You're going the wrong way, baby." I said, blocking the end of the pipe with my hand. 

         The little bunny stared up at me for a moment, then ran for the barn, darting behind a hubcap from the old 1961 Buick my husband was restoring.

         "Run home to your Mommy, little one," I said as he disappeared.

         "Well, that was our good deed for the day," Jack quipped, going up the porch steps.  "How 'bout some breakfast; I have to get to work."


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