Mays the Rabbit: A Tale

Once upon a time, there was a Rabbit named Mays who lived in the forest by himself. Every day, he would run errands for the upkeep of his rabbit hole. Sometimes, he would be sweeping, other times, mopping. At times, he would be cooking, or reading. Mays was a happy rabbit, though, at times he felt as though he could use some companionship.
One day, while cleaning his rabbit hole, Mays heard a knock at the door.
“Hold on,” he said as he walked towards the door.
He had no idea who it could have been. It couldn’t have been his family, as he hadn’t talked to them for more than a decade. They had no reason to look for him, and he was happy about that. As he reached the door, he wiped his hand on a towel that he kept close by. With all this cleaning, it was common to have little bits and pieces still stuck to his fingers whenever he answered the door. Working swiftly, he went to open the door.
“Yes?” he said, looking out into the sunny atmosphere, the fresh breeze lapping at him.
What he saw was not only a rabbit, but the most beautiful female rabbit he had ever seen. Looking at her, he thought she could have been a sculpture, a model: her well-formed cheekbones, her powerful haunches, her perfect brown fur. She even had the most beautiful buck teeth he had ever seen on another person.
Her beauty inspired nothing but revulsion within him. He didn’t want anyone muscling in on his territory. This was his home he had earned it. He wanted to enjoy his time alone. He was about to tell her the business when she opened her mouth and began to speak. Not only did she speak clearly, concisely, and properly, but she had the most beautiful, angelic voice Mays had ever heard.
“Hello, sir, I know you think I’m a beggar, but I was just walking through the forest, and I thought I’d say hi.”
This was preposterous. Nobody just says “Hi.” There had to be an ulterior motive. No one was that friendly. Mays looked at her for a moment, then he spoke.
“Sure, would you like to come in?”
What was Mays doing? He hadn’t had a visitor in years, and that was how he preferred it. He stood there, trying to block her – or himself – from entering. The battle went on inside his mind. In his mind, he knew this wouldn’t end well. But that was the way things went sometimes. As she walked by, Mays noticed that she had a damaged foot and walked with a severe limp.
“So, to what do I owe this wholly unmitigated pleasure?”
“Oh, you know, just out and about in the neighborhood. This is a very nice place. Where do you sleep in a place like this?”
“The room’s on the other side. I live alone.”
“What do you do?”
“Well, eat carrots, do pushups, write, drink water. All good rabbits do it. It’s so in vogue.”
“Have you ever put on a play?”
“No, I don’t have room for a stage.”
“Here, let me show you,” she said. “My name’s Tilea, by the way.”
“Go ahead, Tilea.”
She then stood up straight, set her feet, and took in a big breath. Mays was never big on theater, but he knew of many great writers from times since, like the great rabbit playwright Halbert Barnspheres who had done so much for literature. But that was just dry text. This was a performance! Mays stood there listening.
As she began to move across the room in a slow, rhythmic fashion, Mays wasn’t sure what to think of the act. It hadn’t occurred to him that she could have choreographed this herself. When she began to speak, he was enthralled at the beauty of how she formed her words. It was the highlight of his day so far. She looked at him as if she’d been looking at him with those same eyes for the past millennia. He could feel her gaze in a way that he’d never felt before.
Then came a loud crash at the door. Mays looked over and saw that a gigantic wolf was standing there, his fists bloody, probably from knocking down the door in one blow.
Just then, Mays knew he’d messed up.
The wolf let out a gigantic howl. He must’ve been at least twice the size of Mays, at least of Tilea. Mays had no time to think, no time for remorse. If he didn’t think fast, he’d be dinner.
Mays said without thinking, “She means nothing to me!”
Tilea looked like she had been caught with 24 karat gold. She didn’t know what to say. The wolf moved closer to their position, covering the entire distance in just a few moments – it was just a little rabbit’s hole, after all. He grabbed Mays by the arm, and his arm instantly began to hurt. It hurt in a different way from any way he’d ever been hurt before. Mays was flabbergasted. He stood there, absolutely petrified at the sight of the wolf.
“You would dare to take my love from me? You? A mere rabbit? What would she want with you? I wouldn’t even eat you for dinner!”
“You can’t! You can’t,” said Mays. “You just…I’ll do anything!
The wolf picked up Mays and threw him out of the front door, Mays hitting the doorframe on his way out.
“You would dare to take my love from me. A lot you have taken, from what I can see. It is with perfect jest that I scream, that you are the one who is standing on the beam!”
The wolf walked up to Mays, who was down on the ground, and kicked him. Mays didn’t know what to do, so he just froze. The wolf kicked him again, and this time punched him in the face. Mays was so hurt that he fell asleep. Suddenly, the wolf became even more enraged.
“I know what I’ll do,” said the wolf, grabbing the little rabbit’s foot and dragging him towards the nearest cliff.
“We’ll see who the best is, won’t we?”
As the wolf dragged Mays up to the cliff, Mays began to finally wake up again. He saw Tilea running behind them, trying to free him from the grasp of the wolf. When they got to the edge of the cliff, the wolf threw him over, killing him instantly. That was the end of Mays the rabbit. Tilea followed the wolf away.