Blue Penguin and Bob the Guinea Pig

Blue Penguin and Bob the Guinea Pig One day Bunny ran into the bedroom all excited. "Mugsy," he said, "One of the children has brought the class pet home for the weekend. It is a guinea pig named Bob!" When the family went out for dinner, Mugsy, the big brown stuffed dog, and Bunny went downstairs to visit the weekend guest. Bob was eight inches long with brown and white fur. He lived in a plastic box. It had soft wood chip bedding on the floor on which he could sleep. On one wall hung a water bottle where he drank. There was also a bowl filled with guinea pig food. They had a fun time playing with Bob. Bunny and Mugsy took turns petting him. They found him a round cardboard tube that Bob could crawl into where he could hide. They also took turns feeding him guinea pig treats. When they were done they said good-bye to Bob and walked back to the bedroom. When they got there they ran into Blue Penguin. Blue Penguin was Bunny's best friend. "The children just brought home a guinea pig for the weekend," Bunny told Blue. "His name is Bob. We just finished playing with him. It was a lot of fun!" Blue said, "Do you think he would play with me?" "I don't see why not," replied Mugsy. Blue ran into the closet, grabbed something, and then ran downstairs. "I'm going to play with Bob!," he yelled. A few minutes later Blue came back into the bedroom crying. "Bob doesn't like me! I took my checker board down and set it up, but he won't play with me. I even said he could make the first move!" Mugsy laughed, "Blue, guinea pigs don't play checkers. You can't play that kind of game with him." Blue answered, "Well, what kind of games do they play?" Mugsy and Bunny took Blue down to Bob's box. They showed him how to pet Bob and feed him treats. They also showed him how Bob liked to use the cardboard tube to crawl through. Blue had a lot of fun playing with Bob. From then on whenever Bob came to visit on the weekends, Blue had lots of fun playing with him. He was never able to teach him to play checkers, though. The End Copyright Lee Krystek 2001. All Rights Reserved.

Bunny and the Robot

unny heard the truck pull up in front of the house with his extra-sensitive rabbit ears. When Bunny went to window, he could see a man in a brown uniform climb out of the truck, take a package wrapped in brown paper out of the back, and come up the walk.

"Ding dong!" the doorbell said.

"Delivery for Mr. Mugsy!" the man in the uniform shouted.

"Just leave it on the step. Thank you," Bunny heard Mugsy say.

This really surprised Bunny. The people who lived in the house often got packages or mail delivered, but they were not home. Mugsy was a big, brown stuffed dog. Bunny had never heard of a stuffed animal, puppet, or toy of any sort getting a package sent to them. Bunny decided to find out what was going on.

Bunny climbed down to the bottom of the steps near the front door and peeked around the corner. Mugsy was sitting behind the front door. When he heard the truck drive away, Mugsy opened the door just a crack, stuck his head out and looked around to make sure nobody could see him. Then he reached out with his paws to snatch the package off the step.

The package was rather big, even for Mugsy to carry. It blocked his vision causing him to walk right past Bunny without even noticing he was there. Mugsy then made a turn and went down the family room steps. Bunny followed. Mugsy then opened the door to the basement and carried his box down there. Again Bunny followed.

In the basement, Bunny found a comfortable place on top of a paint can from where he could watch what Mugsy was doing. The big brown dog placed the package up on a workbench at one end of the room and then opened it. Inside were wires, bolts, nuts, metal bars and plastic parts in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Out of the box Mugsy also pulled a thick book with many pages. The title was "HOW TO BUILD AND OPERATE YOUR ROBOT." Mugsy flipped open the book and started reading.

Bunny asked, "Mugsy, are you going to build a robot?"

Mugsy, startled, looked up. "Bunny, I didn't know you were down here. You surprised me."

"Sorry," said Bunny, "So are you building a robot?"

"Yes," replied Mugsy, "I ordered this kit to build a robot."

"Can I help?" asked Bunny, excitedly.

"I suppose so," said Mugsy, "but it will take a long time. First we have to read the assembly instructions, then we need to actually put it together, then we need to learn how to operate it properly."

"That's all right," said Bunny, still enthusiastic, "I'm very patient."

"Good," said Mugsy, "How about taking notes while I read. Now it says here 'Chapter One: Putting Together the Main Drive. You should have two main gear drives, parts 106 and 107. You also need two five-inch springs numbered 345 and 346. Slide the small end of one of the springs over the shaft B on the gear drive number 106. Then use a 30-millimeter wrench to-'"

"Tell you what, Mugsy" said Bunny, yawning, "I'm going to take a little nap, then I'll come down and help you finish the robot. Okay?"

Mugsy smiled. "Okay, Bunny." And with that Bunny went up to the family room and took a snooze on the sofa.

---

Bunny slept most of the day, but when he awakened he remembered about Mugsy and the robot and headed down to the basement to see what was going on.

Mugsy was sitting on the floor reading the instruction manual that had come with the robot kit. Bunny could tell that he was almost to the end of the book. In front of Mugsy stood a gleaming red, white and blue robot with a clear plastic bubble for a head and tank-like tracks for feet.

"So Mugsy," said Bunny, "How is it going? Is the robot done?"

"The robot's name is the FRED 2000. Fred stands for 'Fully Robotic Electronic Droid.' I just finished reading the instructions on how to operate the FRED," said Mugsy, "now I'm going to test him out."

Mugsy addressed the robot in a clear voice. "Well, my mechanical friend, let's try out your motor. Robot, please drive once around me in a circle."

FRED's eyes lit up a soft blue color and blinked. In the dome on his head wheels and gears started to turn. Then the machine's tire tracks moved, and the robot made a perfect circle around Mugsy and stopped where it had started.

"Very good, FRED," said Mugsy, "Thank you."

The robot answered with a beep. Then the lights in its eyes went out and it seemed to go back to sleep.

"Well, said Mugsy, "It seems to be okay. I'm tired after working all day to put that robot together. I think I'll go up to the bedroom and rest."

"Mugsy," said Bunny, excitedly, "Could I play with the robot while you're gone? Please! PLEASE!"

"Bunny," replied Mugsy, "Operating the robot is complicated. Tell you what we'll do. Go read the instruction manual. By the time you finish that I'll be done my nap and we'll play with the robot together."

"Okay," said Bunny. He was unhappy about having to wait.

---

Bunny started to read the manual, but before he finished the first page he was bored. "Why do I need to read the instructions before operating the robot?" Bunny said to himself. "It's easy. I saw Mugsy do it. I'll try just one simple command to see if it works."

Bunny stood next to the robot and said, "Okay my mechanical friend. Go forward ten feet."

The robot did nothing.

Bunny was puzzled. Maybe if he tried it louder. "ROBOT, GO FORWARD TEN FEET!" he shouted.

This time the robot replied, "That does not compute."

Bunny was getting very frustrated. "What is wrong with you, you bumbling bucket of bolts,? I said, GO FORWARD TEN FEET!"

Suddenly, the robot's eyes lit up a bright red and the gears in its dome started spinning. The robot shot forward across the floor and crashed into the side of a trash can sitting on the basement floor. The can went over and trash scattered all over the place. Papers, old cereal boxes and plastic wrappers covered the basement floor.

Bunny, ignoring the fact that he'd told the robot to go too far, yelled, "Now look what you've done! Now I'm going to have to clean up this mess."

The little rabbit had started to pick up some of the papers when suddenly and idea occurred to him. Addressing the robot he said, "Okay, since you made the mess, you can clean it up! Robot, clean up everything on the floor and put it in the trash can."

The robot replied, "That does not compute."

"You bubble-headed bum! I said pick up everything on the floor and put it in the trash can!" The eyes on the robot lit up bright red and again the gears whirred. The robot turned, picked up a paper and then rolled over to the trash can. It dropped the paper in, then went to fetch a box and did the same thing. In a couple of minutes the entire basement floor was clean. Bunny smiled to himself and said, "Who needs the instruction book? Operating the robot is easy. After only five minutes I've got this thing cleaning up for me!"

Suddenly Bunny felt a metal claw clamp around his waist and he was lifted in the air. The robot had come up from behind him and picked him up. "What are you doing, you metal monster?," yelled Bunny. "Stop! Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!" Then the robot let him go and Bunny fell straight into the trash can.

---

Bunny stood up, but couldn't see a thing. Then he realized there was an empty cereal box on his head. Shaking it off, Bunny climbed up the inside of the trash can. He reached the top and yelled at the robot, "Why, you transistorized tin can, you were supposed to throw trash in the can. Not me!"

The robot, ignoring Bunny, started climbing the stairs toward the family room.

"Come back here, robot! I command you to come back!"

Paying no attention to Bunny, the robot disappeared through the door at the top of the stairs.

Bunny, brushing some crumbs off his shoulders, leapt out of the trash can and followed the robot's trail. When he reached the doorway at the top ,Bunny saw the robot rolling towards him. Clutched in one claw was a small child's chair. In the other was an expensive vase.

"No! No! No!" shouted Bunny, "You were supposed to put the things you found on the basement floor into the trash, not things you find on the family room floor! Stop! Stop!"

"Warning! Warning! Danger! Danger! Obstruction in path!" announced the robot.

Bunny stretched out his paws to block the robot's progress. The robot did not stop. Instead it ran straight over Bunny.

---

When Bunny stood up he felt a little dizzy. He snapped out of his daze when he heard the crash of the vase as it broke when it hit the bottom of the trash can. Bunny realized if he didn't do something quick the robot would demolish the house. Bunny thought hard. He remembered a switch he'd seen on the back of the robot. He was certain it must be an off switch for FRED. If he could just throw that switch, the robot would probably stop dead in its tracks. If only he could just be certain that it really was an off switch.

While Bunny was thinking, the robot rolled past him headed into the family room again. Bunny tried to see the writing next to the switch as the robot went by, but the machine was moving too fast. Bunny thought about running upstairs to wake up Mugsy and getting him to stop the robot, but he remembered the big, brown dog's warning not to play with the robot without reading the instructions. Mugsy would be angry at him.

Bunny remembered the instruction manual was still in the basement. If he could look up the meaning of the switch in the book then he would know for sure...

Just then the robot rolled past him carrying a left sneaker and a remote control for the TV. As they crashed to the bottom of the trash can Bunny decided he didn't have time to look up the meaning of the switch in the manual. He hid behind the door and just as the robot came in, Bunny did a mighty rabbit jump after him, throwing the switch on the back of the robot.

The machine came to a sudden stop. Instead of sitting still, however, the robot began to shake harder and harder. Inside the machine there was a whirring sound that got louder and louder, like an engine revving up. Now that the robot wasn't moving ,Bunny could read the words next to the switch he had thrown. The label read "SPEED". With horror, Bunny realized that the switch had been set on "REGULAR" and he had turned it to "TURBO." With a screech of his tracks the robot took off.

Moving much faster than he had been before, the robot circled the family room, picking stuff off the floor and piling it underneath his other arm. A shoe, an umbrella, a magazine, and a chess board all disappeared into the trash before Bunny could even move.

The robot decided it was done in the family room and headed up the steps to the bedrooms. Bunny ran after it shouting, "No! No! Stop! Stop, you nuts and bolts ninny! Stop, I say."

The children must have not cleaned up their rooms before they left for school because the robot came back down the steps with its arms loaded with toys it had found on the floor. Books, tapes, cassette radios, clothes, even a toy rocket ship was in the robot's clutches as he headed for the trash can in the basement. Bunny had just enough time to dodge out of its way and avoid being run over again.

"Oh, no!" thought Bunny to himself as he heard the objects hit the bottom of the can. "What am I going to do?"

The robot shot past Bunny and headed upstairs. It was going so fast now that Bunny couldn't keep up. Bunny was halfway up the steps when the robot started down them again. Clutched in its right claw was Bunny's best friend, Blue Penguin.

"Help, Bunny, help," Blue Penguin called. "This thing has me and I don't know where it is taking me!"

Bunny stood in the robot's path and put up his paws. "Stop you-you supercilious, cybernetic short-circuit. Put my friend down!"

For a moment Bunny thought he was going to get run over again. But suddenly the robot's other claw reached out and Bunny was caught in its grip. The machine carried both of them down to the basement and dropped them with a thud into the very full trash can.

"Bunny," cried Blue Penguin as they climbed to the top of the can. "What is that thing and why did it throw us in the trash?"

"It's a robot," replied Bunny, "and it's-"

They had reached the top of the can and when they looked over the rim they saw the robot approaching. It must have believed it had finished its task because in its claw it held the tightly-fitting lid of the trash can.

"Bunny, if it puts the lid on the trash can we won't be able to get out. We'll go out with the trash," yelled the little penguin in a panic.

"Stop it! Stop it, you idiosyncratic, ill-bred, ignorant automaton," Bunny shouted in vain. The robot, ignoring Bunny's commands, raised the lid to slam it down on the can.

"Robot, PLEASE stop," a familar voice said.

The robot came to an immediate stop and the red lights in its eyes winked out.

The voice belonged to Mugsy. He had arrived at the top of the stairs just in the nick of time. Mugsy came down the stairs and helped Blue and Bunny out of the can.

"Mugsy, am I glad you showed up," said Bunny relieved. "I thought we were going for a ride in the garbage truck."

"Bunny," said Mugsy sternly, "did you start playing with the FRED-2000 without reading the instructions or waiting for me?"

"Well, just a little," admitted Bunny.

"A little?" said Mugsy. "Look at this mess. If you read the instructions you would have known that you are always supposed to say 'PLEASE' when you give the robot a command and never call it mean names. Otherwise it may not do what you want."

"You can say that again," commented Blue looking at the trash can that was now stuffed with valuable items from all over the house.

"Now you take all that stuff out of the trash can and put it back where it belongs," commanded Mugsy.

"Couldn't we get the robot to do it?" asked Bunny. "After all, it was really his-"

"You managed to run the robot's battery down to nothing, Bunny," said the big, brown dog. "It needs a rest. Besides, I think it would be a good lesson for you if you had to make things right."

"Come on," said Blue Penguin, "I'll help you put everything back."

"Great," replied Bunny walking to the trash can, "Let's start over here." After a couple of steps, Bunny turned around to look at the little blue penguin. Blue Penguin was just standing there and hadn't moved an inch.

"What's the matter, Blue?" asked Bunny.

"You forgot to say PLEASE."

THE END

Copyright Lee Krystek 1999. All Rights Reserved.

Bunny and the Haunted House

very year the family took a trip up to visit Uncle Clark and Aunt Donna over the Independence Day holiday. The day before the trip was to start, the stuffed animals and puppets heard the Mommy telling the little boys: "Each of you may take one, and only one, stuffed animal with you tomorrow. Now pack your school bags tonight because we are going to get an early start."

Bunny was very excited. "I bet I'll get picked to go this year," he said to his best friend, the Blue Penguin. "Wouldn't it be great if they picked you, too? Then we could go together!"

Blue, who was a little more practical than Bunny, reminded him, "Now, Bunny, only two stuffed animals are allowed to go on the trip. There are lots of us here and everyone wants to be picked. Not everyone can go. You shouldn't count on going, and you shouldn't count on me being the animal to go with you if you are picked."

"I just know I'm going to get picked," replied Bunny. "You have to go with me. You are my best friend. I just won't have any fun at all if you don't go."

"Bunny," said the little penguin, "you can have a good time with whoever you go with, if you give it a try."

Just then one of the little boys came into the room carrying a school bag. He picked out some toys and put them into the bag. Then he found a little blanket. Scooping Bunny up, he wrapped the little rabbit carefully in the blanket, gave him a hug, made him comfortable in the school bag and zipped it closed.

---

Bunny waited until he was sure that everyone had gone to bed before zipping open the school bag and looking around outside. It was dark, but Bunny could see that the bag was in the hallway along with other stuff to be packed into the van the next day. Another school bag was sitting right next to Bunny's. Bunny whispered, "Blue? Are you there? I told you we would get picked to go! We are going to have a wonderful time."

There was no answer. Bunny called the penguin's name again. A few moments later the zipper on the other school bag began to move. It opened a bit and a head came out.

"Oh, there you are, Blue," said Bunny. "We are going to have such a great time..." Bunny strained to look at his friend in the dark. Something was wrong. The head that was sticking out of the other bag was brown, not blue. Stranger still, it appeared to have antlers. Bunny took a closer look...

"Who are you?" asked Bunny.

"My name is Chocolate," replied the head. "I'm a moose."

"Where is Blue Penguin?" demanded Bunny.

"I don't know any Blue Penguin," replied Chocolate. "I'm new here and I don't know very many toys yet."

"This isn't right!" said Bunny with anger. "Blue Penguin is supposed to be going on the trip. How did you get in the school bag?"

"One of the little boys picked me up and put me in the bag. He told me I was going to visit his Uncle Clark and Aunt Donna," said the little moose.

"Well, get out of there!" commanded Bunny. "My best friend Blue Penguin is going, not you!"

Chocolate's voice began to tremble at Bunny's unkind tone. "I can't. The little boy told me to stay in the school bag."

Bunny was furious, even though deep down inside he knew he was wrong. A little voice inside Bunny was telling him he shouldn't be mean to Chocolate, but Bunny decided to ignore it. Instead, Bunny thought about a way to get rid of the little moose, so that Blue could go. After a few minutes he had an idea.

"Oh Chocolate," called Bunny. "Are you there?"

The little moose stuck his head out of the other bag. "Yes?" he answered timidly.

"Do you know why they are taking you to Uncle Clark and Aunt Donna's house?" said Bunny.

"No," replied Chocolate.

"Well, I happen to know that Uncle Clark and Aunt Donna love moose," said Bunny. "You see chocolate moose is one of their favorite deserts. First they take a moose and dip him in chocolate and then they eat him. That's what they are going to do to you. That's why they named you chocolate. If I were you I'd get out of that school bag and hide somewhere so they don't eat you."

The little moose suddenly started crying. "I don't want to be eaten," he wailed, "but I was told to stay in the bag!"

"Well, you better get out and hide," said Bunny. "Before they-"

Suddenly the door to one of the bedrooms swung open. Out marched Mudsy, the big, brown, stuffed dog. He was one of the oldest and wisest stuffed animals in the house. His big floppy ears were cocked. He must have heard Chocolate crying.

"What's going on here?" Mugsy demanded. "Chocolate, you are going to wake everyone up."

"But Bunny said that when I went on the trip they would dip me into chocolate and eat me. He said I'd be a chocolate moose. He said that's why they named me chocolate."

"Oh, Chocolate," replied Mugsy. "They named you Chocolate because your fur is brown. The type desert they eat is chocolate mousse. That's spelled M-O-U-S-S-E. It's a little like a pudding. You are a moose. M-O-O-S-E. Nobody is going to eat you."

Chocolate wiped a tear from his eye. "But Bunny said-"

"Yes," interrupted Mugsy, "just what did you say, Bunny?"

"Oh it was just a practical joke," replied Bunny. "How could I know he'd be silly enough to think they were really going to eat him?"

"When he started crying you should have realized he was very upset and told him the truth, Bunny," said Mugsy. "Continuing to tease him was very unkind. You should know better."

"Now I want both of you to climb back into your bags and get some sleep," commanded Mugsy. "It is late and you have a long trip tomorrow."

---

It was the afternoon and the family had been driving for some hours. The children were taking naps in the back seats of the van. In the very back of the vehicle Bunny unzipped the school bag to see what was going on. Chocolate was only a few inches, away sitting on the top of the other bag. He was staring at the country-side going by outside the window.

"I never knew the world was so big," admitted the little moose. "We've been driving for hours and we still aren't at Uncle Clark and Aunt Donna's house. How much longer do we have to drive? Have you ever been there before? What's it like?"

Bunny laid back against his bag and said, "No I haven't, but I did talk to Oreo. He went last year and he said-"

Suddenly Bunny had an idea. He was still annoyed because Blue Penguin hadn't been picked to come on the trip. He also felt grouchy because of the lecture Mugsy had given him about playing mean jokes. He remembered, though, that Mugsy was hours away back at home now.

"So what did Oreo say?" asked Chocolate.

Bunny smiled to himself. "He said that the house up there is haunted!"

"Haunted!" cried the little moose. "You mean by ghosts?"

"Oh, yes," replied Bunny. "Oreo told me that they have lots of stuffed animals up there. Not stuffed animals like us, though. Real animals that were once alive. There's a big, real moose head mounted over the fireplace. On the bookcase is a real, stuffed ferret. On the floor is a raccoon that was once alive."

"That doesn't sound all that bad," ventured Chocolate.

"Oh, during the day it isn't," admitted Bunny. "It's just that at night all these stuffed animals that were once really alive come back to life. They moan and make funny noises and walk around all night long!"

It was obvious that this news had upset Chocolate so much that he was about to start crying. Holding back the tears he asked, "Well, why aren't you scared of the haunted house?"

Bunny replied, "Well ,I'm not scared because I know the magic words to keep them from bothering me. Oreo taught them to me."

"Please tell me the magic words!" cried Chocolate. A tear was running down his face.

"Well, I don't know," said Bunny. "It's a secret. Oreo made me promise not to tell."

"Please tell me. Please. Please," begged the little moose. "I'm scared."

"Okay, okay I'll tell you. Repeat after me. WATA"

"WATA," said Chocolate.

"SILLY," said Bunny.

"SILLY," repeated Chocolate.

"MOOS," said Bunny.

"MOOS," said Chocolate .

"SIAM," said Bunny.

"SIAM," repeated Chocolate.

"That's it!" said Bunny. "Now to make them work you have to repeat them over and over again faster and faster. Do it!"

"WATA SILLY MOOS SIAM," said Chocolate.

"Very good, but do it faster and louder," said Bunny.

"WATA SILLY MOOS SIAM!"

"Again and again!" said Bunny.

"WATA SILLY MOOS SIAM! WATA SILLY MOOS SIAM! WHAT A SILLY MOOSE I AM?"

Bunny burst out laughing. "I can't believe you fell for that old joke!"

Chocolate was furious. "You tricked me again! I don't think you are a very nice rabbit."

"Oh, you just can't take a joke!" Bunny replied. "Well, we still have at least an hour to go before we get there. I'm going to crawl back into my bag and take a nap."

---

Bunny had stayed up quite late the night before and he fell into a deep sleep. When he woke up inside the school bag he noticed that it was very, very quiet. Unzipping the bag he realized that it was no longer in the van. Instead the bag sat on the floor in a large dark room.

"Wow!" said Bunny to himself out loud, "I must have slept the whole rest of the trip. This must be Uncle Clark and Aunt Donna's house. But where is everybody?"

Seeing no people anywhere around, Bunny began to look for Chocolate.

"Chocolate? Chocolate the Moose, where are you?"

There was no answer. Where could the little moose have gone? Bunny began to get a funny feeling in his stomach. He didn't like being alone in a dark place he didn't know. He decided to cross the room to where there was a circle of light around a lamp.

As he was walking, he heard a voice from above say, "Who goes there?"

Bunny looked up above his head. Hanging on the wall was the head of a moose. Not a stuffed little toy moose like Chocolate, but a huge real moose. It seemed to glare down at him with anger.

"It's jjjust mmme, BBBunny," said the little rabbit. His voice was shaking. "Wwwho are yyyou?"

"I'm the ghost of the moose," the voice replied. "And I don't like rabbits trespassing in my house!"

Bunny felt knees began to shake. Then he had an idea. "Chocolate, is that you? Okay, it was a funny joke. You fooled me for a second. Come on down."

Suddenly a voice from the other side of the room declared, "We don't like you trespassing in our house either!"

Bunny spun around. The voice had come from a real stuffed raccoon sitting on the floor. Chocolate couldn't be in two places at the same time. Maybe the house was really haunted!

"No, we don't like uninvited visitors," said a lady's voice from behind Bunny. He turned and saw that it had come from a real stuffed squirrel mounted on a log. This was too much for Bunny. He ran away across the room.

Looking for a place to hide, he found what must have been a doll house. This one was shaped like a lighthouse, though. Bunny ducked through the door which was just his size. He ran up the steps. From the little glassed-in place at the top he could look down at the whole room in safety.

As Bunny was watching, he saw something moving in the shadows. It was much bigger than Bunny and had dark fur and a brown face. Bunny thought it must have been some kind of monster. The monster came across the room toward the lighthouse. Bunny felt safe at the top of the lighthouse until the moster started climbing up the side. Bunny backed up till he was against the opposite wall. Suddenly, a giant ape face appeared staring at him from the other side of the lighthouse window. Bunny fainted.

---

"Bunny! Bunny! Are you all right?" When Bunny opened his eyes he found himself staring up at Chocolate the Moose.

"I had this nightmare that the house was haunted and then I saw the big, big monkey..."

"That would be me," said a gentle voice. Bunny looked over Chocolate's shoulder and saw a big, brown furry stuffed ape about the size of Mugsy. She was holding a stuffed baby ape in her arms.

"Let me introduce myself," said the lady ape. "My name is Jay-Jay and this is my son, Jay, Jr."

"Then it wasn't a dream?" asked Bunny confused.

"I'm afraid I played a little joke on you, Bunny," said Chocolate. "I couldn't resist since you'd already played two on me."

"You were asleep when we got here and I realized it was the perfect chance to give you a little scare. The people went out to dinner and I got Jay-Jay and Jay, Jr. to help me. They live here. We each hid behind one of the animals and made it talk."

"When you started running away," said Jay-Jay, "I went after you to explain that it was all a joke, but I guess I just wound up scaring you more."

"Well," said Bunny, sheepishly, "I guess I deserved to have a joke played on me."

Turning to Chocolate he said," I need to apologize to you, Chocolate. I really wanted to have Blue Penguin come instead because he's my best friend and I wanted to have fun with him. I think we can become friends, though, and have a good time too."

"I'd like that!" said Chocolate.

"We can all have fun together while you visit," said Jay Jr.

As it turned out, Bunny and Chocolate had a great time with Jay Jay and Jay Jr. exploring Uncle Clark and Aunt Donna's house. In fact, a few days later when it was time to leave, Bunny felt sad to say goodbye to his new friends.

"Hey, I have an idea," said Chocolate. "The people left their camera sitting over there on the table. I think it has a timer on it so it will take pictures by itself. Let's take a picture of all of us to keep."

---

A week after the family got back home, the Mommy was looking through a stack of photographs she'd just picked up from being developed at the store.

"Hey," she said, "Who took the photograph of our stuffed animals posed with those monkey toys?"

"Not me," said one little boy.

"Not me," said the other little boy.

"Not me," said the Daddy.

Bunny and Chocolate didn't say a thing, but they just smiled.

The End

Copyright Lee Krystek 1998. All Rights Reserved.

Bunny and the Pirates

unny woke up and stuck his ears out from under the warm covers of the big, soft bed. The people were downstairs eating breakfast. He could hear them banging dishes and talking. Bunny didn't worry about missing breakfast. That was the best thing about being a stuffed animal. You could sleep as late as you wanted and since you didn't eat real food you wouldn't be hungry.

Bunny walked to the window in time to see the Mommy putting the two little boys into the car. They were going to school. The house would be quiet for the whole morning, only the stuffed animals, puppets and toys were at home.

Bunny looked for his old friend, Blue Penguin. Blue Penguin was made of terry-cloth. Though he had a yellow beak and feet, he was mostly sky blue. Bunny had always thought this was a funny color for a Penguin, but he'd never said anything about it. He didn't want to embarrass his friend.

"Blue, all the people are gone. How about we go exploring?"

Blue Penguin was ready for an adventure. "Where do you want to go?"

"How about the back of the closet, behind those suitcases," said the little rabbit. "I've never been there before."

"Do you think it would be dangerous? Are there monsters back there?"

Bunny replied, "There are no such things as monsters! Don't be silly!"

They started to walk to the closet and Bunny said, "We'll only be at the back of the closet. If something goes wrong we can always call Mugsy for help. He's sleeping up on the bed."

Mugsy was a brown dog. He was the biggest and one of the oldest stuffed animals in the house. The others all listened to Mugsy. If they got into trouble it was Mugsy who got them out. Like the time Floppy fell into the heating vent. It was Mugsy who lowered his long tail down the vent so that the little rabbit could climb up.

Bunny and Blue walked across the floor and squeezed through the nearly closed closet doors. Above their heads was the first shelf. That was where the toys that were not being played with were stored. All the toys except the stuffed animals and puppets, of course, who got to live on the bed. Blue stared up uneasily at the shelf. It would not have been the first time a plastic hammer or toy car had come tumbling down on his head.

Bunny peered under the shelf at the row of suitcases piled there. The area was almost full, except for narrow places between the bags just big enough for a rabbit or penguin to slip through. It was very dark back there, like a cave, and Bunny wondered if he should have brought the flashlight. The flashlight was twice his size, though, and would never fit between the bags.

"Come, on. Let's go," said Bunny.

Blue looked at the narrow passage. "I don't know. It's awfully dark back there." His voice trembled.

"Don't worry. If anything happens Mugsy will get us out. I'll go first," said Bunny. They squeezed between a garment bag and a valise and were soon at the back of the closet. It was so dark Bunny could hardly see his paw in front of his eyes.

"You go that way, I'll go this way," Bunny told the penguin.

"You mean split up?" asked Blue.

"We can see more that way," replied Bunny. "Yell if you see anything interesting."

"It is so dark I can hardly see anything at all!" replied the little penguin.

They had not gone more than a few inches when the penguin screamed. Bunny ran to his side.

"What's the matter?" Bunny asked. He was out of breath.

"I saw something," said Blue.

"What?" asked Bunny.

"A monster. It was round with a lot of hair. Over there."

Bunny peered into the darkness. He could see something. Was it a monster? A rabbit-eating monster? No, no it was...

"That's just a dust bunny!" He told the nervous penguin. "You know they don't clean back here too often."

Blue was relieved, but still wanted to leave. "Come on, Bunny. We've seen enough. Let's go back to the bed. It is too scary."

"I told you," insisted the little rabbit. "Mugsy will rescue us if we get into trouble."

"How is he going to get back here?," asked Blue. "He is too big to get by those bags. And they are too heavy for him to move. Only the Mommy or the Daddy would be able to do that. If we get stuck back here they might not find us for a long time. Maybe not forever!"

Bunny had not thought of that. "Okay. I guess we will go back."

As they crawled out from in between the bags Bunny saw something. In the pocket of the garment bag was a piece of paper. Not wanting to return to the bed without a token of the adventure he pulled the square of paper out of the pocket. Then he carried it into the bedroom. There he unfolded it and took a look.

"What is it?" asked Blue. The paper had strange markings on it. Bunny did not understand any of them. "I don't know," said Bunny. "Maybe we should ask Mugsy."

"He's asleep," said Blue. "How about asking the Parrot puppet? Maybe he would understand it."

They dragged the paper over to where the Parrot puppet was perched near the window. Bunny thought the Parrot was too much of a know-it-all.

"It's a map," the Parrot told them. "I've seen plenty of them when I lived with the Pirates. They would draw them to show where they buried their treasure."

"You mean this is a pirate map leading to a buried treasure?" asked Blue.

The Parrot took another look at the paper.

"Well, it does have an 'X' on it. Yes, I'd say this was a map drawn by pirates. The 'X' must be where they put the buried treasure."

Bunny scratched his head. He did not know if he really believed the Parrot had ever lived with real pirates. He liked the idea of a treasure hunt, though. "Well, how do we read the map?" Bunny asked.

"It's easy," replied Parrot. "Follow that trail of dots. See it starts in the bedroom here. Then they go down the hall to the stairs. Then on through the living room to the kitchen. Down the other stairs to the family room. Finally across the floor to the toy box. It looks to me the ocean shown on the map must be the floor of the family room. The toy box is the island. The treasure is buried in the bottom of the downstairs toy box."

Bunny nodded. He understood the map now.

"That's a long way to go," said Blue.

He was right. The stuffed animals in the bedroom might be carried all over the house by the children or the Mommy or the Daddy. On their own they rarely wandered out of the bedroom. Maybe they might go down the hall to visit the toys in the nursery, but never further alone. Still, the idea of a trip to find pirate treasure excited Bunny. He was determined to give it a try.

"How about going with us?" asked Bunny to the parrot. "You know so much about pirates."

"No thanks," the parrot replied. "I've been on enough treasure hunts in my day. If you want to learn more about pirates, though, I think there's a book on the desk shelf."

Bunny and the blue penguin found the book. Bunny couldn't read very well, but he did make out the words Treasure Island on the cover. The picture on the front showed a boy standing on an island. Behind the boy, floating in the water, was a pirate ship. They looked through the book at the rest of the pictures. They saw a man with an eye patch and a sword. From the mast of the ship fluttered a skull and crossbones flag.

"He must be a pirate," said Blue.

"I guess if we are going to look for pirate treasure," said Bunny, "we'll need to dress like pirates."

They found some plastic swords, just their size, that had been rescued by one of the boys from a sandwich buffet. With a bit of black paper Bunny made an eye patch for Blue and a pirate hat for himself. On the front of the hat he used a piece of chalk to draw a skull and crossbones.

"Now we are set," said Bunny. "Let's go."

"Wait," said Blue, "what about the shark?"

The shark was another puppet. He lived downstairs next to the toy box. He was a bit ill-tempered and gruff. He enjoyed chasing the other, smaller stuffed animals around threatening to eat them as if he were a real shark. This was impossible since his teeth were only made of cloth, but still nobody liked the idea of being gummed in his wide jaws.

"The family room floor is supposed to be an ocean. That makes sense because that's where the shark lives. To cross it and get to the toy box island we'll need a ship."

"A pirate ship!" exclaimed Blue. "But where do we get one? There are no pirate ship toys in the closet."

"Well," said Bunny, "we'll have to make one. Let's take another look at that book."

After looking at the book, Bunny and Blue began searching for stuff to build their ship. Bunny found an old shoe box while Blue dragged some unsharpened pencils out of a desk drawer. One pencil made a mast for the boat. By putting the other two pencils through the holes poked in the side of the box a pair of oars was made. With some black construction paper they added a flag. With some white paper they added a sail. The sail was just for looks, of course, since there was no wind inside the house. Finally, they stuck a red crayon on the bow to serve as the spar. Just below it they taped a small, rubber Teddy Bear finger puppet as a figure head.

Their pirate ship was complete. They began dragging it through the bedroom and down the hall. At the end of the hall they had a problem. Between the upstairs and the living room was a flight of nine steps. Blue went down one step. With Bunny holding the ship from above and Blue holding it at the bottom they managed, with great difficulty, to get the boat down the first step.

"If we have to carry this ship down the steps one at a time it will take forever!" exclaimed Blue. "We'll never get to the treasure."

"I have an idea," said Bunny. "Remember seeing the kids outside in the snow with sleds? I bet we could use the ship as a sled to go down the steps. We'll just climb in and use the oars to push ourselves over the edge. Then we can ride all the way to the bottom!"

"These steps are steep!", remarked Blue, looking over the edge. "Are you sure this will work?"

"Don't worry," said Bunny, confidently.

They climbed into the boat. With a push of the pencil oars, they tipped the ship over the edge. Bunny hadn't taken into consideration that the hills had been smooth and the steps would be bumpy. With each step the ship hit hard and bounced. Then it flew into the air, hit hard and bounced again.

"I think I'm getting seasick!" cried Blue, several steps into the ride.

"I don't think it's seasick," replied Bunny. "I think it would have to be called stepsick!"

With a final bounce the shoe box ship hit the living room floor. As it did it tipped over on its side sending the two stuffed animals rolling across the carpet.

"Next time I think I'll climb down by myself and let you ride," said Blue.

The ship had lost its oars and mast in the final crash. After taking a few minutes to repair their boat Bunny and Blue dragged it through the kitchen. They decided to carry it down the final three steps to the family room instead of risking another sled ride. At the bottom they put their boat into the blue 'sea' that was really the family room floor. On the other side of the room was the toy box 'island.'

"I don't see the shark anywhere," said Blue.

"Good. Let's get going," said Bunny. "I'll be the lookout, and you row."

"That's not fair!" said Blue.

"Okay, we'll reverse it," said Bunny. "You row and I'll be the lookout."

"That's better! I think..." replied Blue.

The little penguin started rowing. Bunny stood in the front of the ship giving him directions. They made it halfway across the sea. Then Bunny saw a gray shape slide around the edge of the island.

"Here comes the shark!" exclaimed Bunny.

The gray shape slid across the sea toward the boat. As it came closer they could see a fin sticking up into the air. Below the fin were little black eyes. Below those were a wide mouth filled with pointed triangular teeth.

"Lunch time!" yelled the shark.

The shark was twice as long as the boat and just as wide. He bumped the ship with his nose, spinning it around.

"I'm getting dizzy!" cried Blue.

The shark pushed the ship up knocking it on its side. This broke the pencil mast in two and sent Bunny and Blue tumbling out into the 'water.' The little penguin turned to see the large open jaws of the shark's mouth approaching him.

"Look out, Blue!" yelled Bunny.

The penguin tried to get away, but the shark came closer. Quickly Bunny picked up a piece of the broken mast. He shoved it into the shark's mouth propping it open.

"Aghhhhhh," said the shark. He tried to shake his head to get the wooden stick free, but it was stuck.

Bunny and Blue got back aboard ship. With the oars they got it upright again. Then they turned their attention to the shark.

"That wasn't very nice, shark," said Bunny, leaning over the rail to look at him. "You nearly wrecked our ship."

"Aghhhhhhh," said shark.

"What did he say?" asked Bunny.

"I think he wants you to remove the pencil," said Blue.

"Shark," said Bunny, "If I remove the pencil from your mouth do you promise to be nice?"

The shark nodded his head.

"And tow our ship to the island?" continued Bunny.

The shark nodded again.

Bunny grabbed the pencil and pulled it from the shark's mouth.

"Thanks," said the shark.

Blue found an old shoe lace in the bottom of the ship. Bunny tied it to the bow. The shark grabbed the other end in his mouth and began to pull. A minute later they were at the shore of the toy box island.

They climbed up the side of the box and took a rest on the rim. Down below them was a valley made up of a jumble of toys of every shape and size. Bunny took out the map and looked at it. "According to the map the pirate treasure should be buried at the bottom of the box in the back corner," Bunny said.

They carefully climbed down the steep slope of toys until they were at the very back of the toy box. In the left corner they found a mound of miniature cars and trucks.

"It must be under these," said Blue.

Slowly they began to dig through the pile of tiny cars. A shape began to appear. Under the mound was a box. Excitedly Bunny and Blue cleared off the top so they could open it.

"This is it!" exclaimed Bunny. "The pirate treasure! This chest must be filled with gold and diamonds!"

"And all kinds of shiny stuff!" added Blue.

"We'll be the richest stuffed animals in the world!" exclaimed Bunny.

They pried the lid open and stared into the box. Instead of gold or diamonds, the chest was filled with a large, plastic, toy bone.

"Oh, you found it!" exclaimed Mugsy, looking over the edge of the toy box at them. "I thought I'd lost it when I lost the map."

"This is your bone?" asked Bunny.

"Yes, I buried it and drew a map so I'd know where I'd put it. Then I lost the map."

"I guess it wasn't a pirate treasure map after all," said Bunny, sadly. "I guess we made this long trip for nothing."

"That's all right," Blue told him. "We had a great adventure. We also helped Mugsy find his lost bone!"

Bunny smiled. "You know-you are right! Even if we didn't find a real treasure we had a good time. We should ask Mugsy to hide his bone tomorrow so we can hunt for it again!"

And they did.

The End

Copyright Lee Krystek 1997. All Rights Reserved.

Bunny and the Scary Movie

ll right," said Bunny when he heard the garage door shut. "The people are gone. Let's go downstairs and turn the TV on! We can watch a video tape."

Bunny's best friend, the little blue terry cloth penguin, asked, "What kind of movie do you want to watch?"

"Something scary!" replied Bunny.

"Bunny, you know how frightened you get when you see a scary movie," remarked Mugsy. Mugsy was a big, brown, stuffed dog. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Yeah," said Oreo, a black and white toy rabbit, who looked almost real. "Remember when you saw that movie about the mummy's curse? You were up all night shaking with fear."

"I don't get frightened!" declared Bunny. "Just very alert."

Seven animals left the bedroom to make their way down the steps to the family room. Bunny, Blue, Oreo, Mugsy and three stuffed dinosaurs. As they passed the nursery they were joined by the velociraptor puppet. He was another dinosaur. Truggle, a fluffy white dog, also joined them there.

Blue and Oreo stopped off in the kitchen to make some popcorn. The rest of the animals continued down to the family room. When they got there, Mugsy and the Velociraptor went into the office to pick a video tape to watch. A minute later they each came out carrying a tape.

"How about this one?" asked Mugsy. He held up a tape in his paw. "This is the one where Uncle Harry takes the kids to the park. They have to chase that black and white dog the whole time."

"This one is better," said the Velociraptor. "The title is 'The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms'. I think it's about a dinosaur."

"It sounds scary to me," said Blue. He and Oreo were coming down the steps from the kitchen. Between them they held a large pot filled with enough popcorn for everyone.

"Good," said Bunny. "I want to see a scary movie."

"Well, I don't," said Oreo. "I want to see the one about the kids in the park."

"Well, I guess we'll have to take a vote," said Mugsy. "Everyone who wants to watch the dinosaur movie, raise a paw." The four dinosaurs all raised their paws.

"Okay," said Mugsy. "Who wants to see the video about the kids in the park?"

Oreo, Blue, Truggle and Mugsy raised their paws. "Four to four," said Mugsy. "It's even. Bunny, how come you didn't vote?"

"Muummmm?" Bunny replied. He stood up from leaning over the popcorn bowl. His arms were full of popcorn and so was his mouth . That explained why he couldn't talk.

The other animals waited till Bunny finished chewing the popcorn. Then Mugsy asked, "Well, Bunny, how do you vote?"

"I want to see the scary dinosaur movie!" he yelled.

"That's five to four for the dinosaur movie," said the Velociraptor. "We win!"

"I guess you do," said Mugsy. "But remember we get to pick the movie next time."

Mugsy took the dinosaur video and put it into the VCR. Then the animals settled down around the large popcorn bowl to watch the tape. The movie told the story of a prehistoric dinosaur trapped in ice at the North Pole. When the ice melted the dinosaur swam south. He traveled through the sea, sinking ships and damaging a lighthouse along the way. Finally the dinosaur made its way ashore at a big city. There it made a terrible mess knocking over buildings and scaring people.

Halfway through the film, Mugsy looked over to where Bunny sat. The rabbit's paws were in front of his face. He was peeking out between them to watch the television screen.

"Bunny, if you're too scared, I can take you upstairs," said Mugsy.

"Nnnnnnno," replied Bunny, "I'm no-not sc-scared. I'm just very- Ahhhh!" Bunny plunged his head in between his knees and started shaking as the dinosaur appeared on the screen again.

Mugsy shook his head. It was going to be a long night for Bunny.

---

"I'm not scared. I'm not scared!" Bunny told himself. "I'm just very alert!"

It was well past midnight and Bunny was the only one awake in the whole house. The people had come home and now they were asleep. So were the stuffed animals and puppets. They all snored peacefully. Only Bunny sat up. The covers were pulled up so that only his head and ears were exposed.

As he sat he watched and listened. The house seemed to make a lot of noise at night Bunny had never noticed before. There was a low roaring sound. Was it some kind of monster? Like the one in the movie? Suppose it was outside? Suppose it was just about to put its head through the window and eat any little rabbits that were sitting up in bed?

Bunny started shaking Mugsy. "Mugsy! Mugsy! What's that sound?"

The brown dog stirred and opened his eyes. "What sound?"

"The roaring sound!"

The dog listened for a few seconds.

"That's just the heater fan, Bunny," Mugsy said. "Go back to sleep."

The brown dog closed his eyes, rolled over and started snoring again. Bunny continued to sit up in bed. Then he heard another sound. A buzzing. Suppose it was a helicopter? A helicopter chasing a dinosaur through the streets. Suppose the dinosaur ran up the street outside? Suppose it then came up the driveway? Suppose the dinosaur ran right over the house and crushed it?

"Mugsy, Mugsy, wake up! What's that noise?"

Mugsy sat up and listened. "That's just the refrigerator in the kitchen! Sometimes it makes a buzzing sound. Go to sleep and don't wake me up again!"

Mugsy lay down and closed his eyes. Then Bunny heard another sound. A creaking noise. Creak...creak...creak. Bunny was sure it was footsteps. They weren't very loud, so maybe they weren't dinosaur footsteps. Still, they were footsteps. Bunny was going to wake Mugsy again, but then remembered how angry the dog had been. Maybe he, Bunny, had better take a look and see what was making the noise, before waking anyone else up.

Trembling a little bit, Bunny slipped out of bed. Then he looked out the bedroom door into the hall. He didn't see anything so he went to the top of the steps. From there he looked down into the living room. On the wall, from one end of the room to the other, taller than the ceiling, was the shadow of a dinosaur. It was huge! Just like the one in the movie! Bunny ran back to the bedroom.

"Mugsy! Mugsy! There is a gigantic dinosaur in the living room! He's going to eat us all! Quick-get up!"

Mugsy sat up in bed. "Oh, Bunny you're just having a bad dream! There is no giant dinosaur in the living room! You shouldn't have watched that movie!"

By now all the other stuffed animals and puppets had been awakened by Bunny's cries.

"Quiet," warned Blue Penguin, "or you'll wake the people!"

"But it's down there! I saw it!" insisted Bunny. "It was huge! Bigger than the house!"

"Oh, come on, Bunny. Let's take a look," said Mugsy.

All the stuffed animals and puppets climbed off the bed. They walked down the hall to the stairs. Mugsy led the way and Bunny stayed close behind him. When they reached the top of the stairs Bunny ran up next to Mugsy. The little rabbit pointed at the wall. "Look there. You can see his shadow!"

The animals looked at the wall. There was no shadow. Bunny was puzzled.

"But it was there a minute ago! Honest!"

The other animals started grumbling. "Bunny! You got us all up in the middle of the night because of a bad dream!" complained Oreo.

"Gee, and I thought we might see a real dinosaur," said the green and black toy dinosaur with disappointment.

"I say we make Bunny sleep downstairs in the toy box with the shark," declared Floppy, a little white and blue rabbit. "He can wake Sharky up after he has a scary dream."

"Quiet, everyone!" barked Mugsy. Lifting a floppy ear he cocked his head and listened a moment. "I hear something!"

The other animals listened too. Through the silence they heard a slurping sound followed by a crunching noise.

"It's the dinosaur!" whispered Bunny. "I told you!"

"Doesn't sound like a giant dinosaur to me," said Oreo.

"Come on," said Mugsy. He started to creep down the stairs. The other animals followed. As they went down each step the slurping and crunching grew louder. Finally they reached the bottom step and peeked around the corner. Sitting on the brown chair, next to the light, was the Velociraptor Puppet. In front of him was a glass of milk and a chocolate graham cracker.

"Velociraptor, what are you doing down here in the middle of the night?" asked Mugsy. "You're supposed to be in the nursery."

The Velociraptor puppet was startled by Mugsy's bark. He nearly jumped to the ceiling, almost spilling his milk.

"You surprised me!" the Velociraptor replied. "I was thirsty so I came down to get something to drink. When I got down here I found I was hungry, too".

Oreo said, "Is this the dinosaur you saw, Bunny? You got us all up in the middle of the night because of a puppet from the nursery?"

"No, it wasn't the Velociraptor puppet," Bunny said, defending himself. "It was huge. As big as the room!"

Mugsy thought about this. "Bunny, did you actually see the big dinosaur with your own eyes?"

Bunny scratched his head. "Well, no, but I saw his shadow! It took up the whole wall!"

Mugsy turned to the Velociraptor. "Can you lean over as if you are taking a drink from your glass of milk?"

The puppet nodded and leaned forward. As he did his body passed between the lamp and the far wall. "There it is!" shouted Bunny. On the wall a giant dinosaur shadow had appeared.

"Bunny," explained Mugsy, "that's just the Velociraptor's shadow. It's so big because he's close to the lamp and the wall is far away!"

"Oh," said Bunny. Then he was a bit embarrassed. "I guess I did get everyone up for no reason. Sorry."

Oreo looked at the huge shadow on the wall. "Well, I can see why you might be a little frightened. I might be sacred if I was alone and I saw a shadow that big."

"Okay, everyone, let's go back to bed before we wake up all the people," said Mugsy. "If we don't get some sleep we won't be able to stay up and watch a video tomorrow."

"Another one tomorrow?" said Bunny. "Good, let's see another scary one-"

"Tomorrow, it's our turn to pick and we're watching the one about the kids in the park with the dog!" declared Mugsy.

And that was that.

The End

Copyright Lee Krystek, 1997. All Rights Reservered.

Bunny and the Wild and Crazy Sheep

Bunny and the Wild and Crazy Sheep

unny was sitting on the bed one morning, laying lazily in the sun, when Mugsy, the big brown stuffed dog, climbed up next to him.

"Bunny," began Mugsy, "how would you like to help me out?"

Bunny, who always tried to assist his fellow toys, replied, "Sure, Mugsy, what do you want me to do?"

"I have a special job for you. Not everyone can do this. It requires someone who is very sensitive and gentle."

"That's me!" answered Bunny. "Gentle and Sensitive are my middle names. Bunny Gentle Sensitive Rabbit. That's what everybody calls me."

Mugsy nodded, then went on, "Yes, I know you are gentle and sensitive, Bunny. However, this job is also going to require something you might not be so good at-"

"Like what?" interrupted Bunny, "I'm good at everything!"

"Sometimes," continued Mugsy, "you can get to be a little over-excited-"

"Who gets over-excited?" demanded Bunny, "CERTAINLY NOT ME!"

"You're doing it," noted Mugsy.

"DOING WHAT?" replied Bunny, his voice rising in pitch with each sentence.

"Getting over-excited about being over-excited," replied Mugsy.

Bunny caught himself and calmed down. "I guess you're right," he remarked, "I did get a little over-excited. But I promise it won't happen again. Not on this job."

"Good," replied Mugsy, "Come on, I'll show you what needs to be done."

They went to the end of the bed and Mugsy pointed a paw towards the desk. Standing there, side by side, were two white, fuzzy, stuffed animals with four feet and ears that pointed off to each side. "Do you know what those are?" asked Mugsy.

Bunny thought for a second and, still a bit unsure, replied, "Poodles?"

"No, Bunny, they're not dogs at all. They're sheep."

"Oh," said Bunny, "I've heard of those."

"The children brought these home today. They just arrived."

Bunny took a close look at the sheep. They stood side-by-side, not moving.

"As you might know, Bunny," continued Mugsy, "sheep are very timid animals. They scare easily. We need somebody who can be very gentle and sensitive to the sheep to show them around the house and get them used to the place. Introduce them to each of the animals one by one. I'm sure crowds staring at them would make them very nervous."

"I can do that!" exclaimed Bunny.

"You will also be responsible for their safety, too," added the big brown dog, "you need to warn them about Shark, and keep them away from him."

"No problem!"

"Well, go ahead and start then, Bunny," finished Mugsy, "it's up to you. Remember, though, sheep are very timid. Try not to get excited and scare them. Okay?"

Bunny nodded and strode off to talk to the sheep.

---

"Hi, my name is Bunny," said Bunny, in his softest tone, as he stood before the sheep. "Welcome to your new home."

The sheep were small, fuzzy animals. Even on Bunny, who was one of the smaller stuffed animals himself, they only came up to his waist.

"What are your names?" Bunny asked.

There was the most fleeting of glances between the sheep and then one replied, "My name is Whitey," he said, "and this is my brother, Whitey."

A frown passed over Bunny's face. "You're both named Whitey?"

Both sheep nodded in reply.

Bunny scratched his head and turned back toward Mugsy to relay this surprising fact, but the brown dog was gone. As Bunny turned, though, he could have sworn he heard a snickering sound, but when he turned back to the sheep they stood there watching him in perfect silence.

"Well, that seems confusing to me, but I guess we'll find a way to get along. Come on, I'm supposed to show you the house and help you meet all your new friends," said Bunny.

"The first place we'll visit, since it's so close, is the closet here." Bunny and the sheep were standing on the floor in front of the big closet, looking up. "All the toys are on the second shelf up there. Now you have to be careful, especially when you are walking up there. Sometimes the kids don't put them up too well and you can knock something heavy off onto somebody down here..."

Bunny turned around. To his amazement, the sheep were gone. Then he heard a creaking noise overhead. Bunny looked up just in time to have a plastic toy hammer land on his head.

"Ouch! Who did that?" Bunny yelped.

From the shelf two white faces appeared. "Sorry about that," said one sheep. "My brother Whitey knocked it over."

"No! My brother Whitey knocked it over!" said the other sheep.

"Never mind, just try to be more careful, okay?" said Bunny, "and don't wander off by yourselves. You don't know the house or the other animals yet."

The sheep disappeared from the shelf, but Bunny was almost sure he heard just the slightest wisp of laughter as they climbed down.

"Okay," said Bunny, when the sheep were with him again, "Now I'm going to show you the rest of the bedroom. This way."

Bunny took a few steps, then noticed he was walking alone. Whirling around he realized that the sheep had disappeared again. Now he was getting annoyed.

"Timid! Humph!" said Bunny as he searched for Whitey and his brother Whitey. "Those sheep are getting on my nerves."

Suddenly Bunny heard a roar. Out from under the bed shot a sleek, silver, toy car with a bat insignia on the hood. Bunny jumped out of the way just in time to avoid being run over.

"Heh! Watch it!" Bunny yelled.

The car spun around and Bunny could see the driver from behind the darkly-tinted windshield. It was one of the sheep!

Suddenly there was another roar and a jeep raced out from under the other end of the bed. There was no windshield on this toy and Bunny could see the driver easily. It was the other sheep!

"We're just two wild and crazy sheep," yelled the jeep driver as he zipped past Bunny.

The two vehicles spun around Bunny in a tight circle. Bunny, turning his head to watch them, quickly became dizzy and flopped on the ground in a faint.

---

"Bunny! Bunny, wake up!" Bunny opened his eyes to see Mugsy staring down at him. He was laying on his back in the middle of the bedroom floor. With a little help from Mugsy, he stood up.

"Are you all right Bunny? You must have fainted," said Mugsy.

"Yes, I think I'm okay," replied Bunny, not quite remembering what had happened just before he fell down.

Mugsy continued, "It's a good thing the sheep ran right over and told me that you had fainted-"

"Those SHEEP!" yelled Bunny, remembering about the car. "Those sheep are responsible for this! They tried to run me down, and then they got me dizzy..."

Bunny then realized that the sheep were standing next to Mugsy. They stood there very quietly and meekly not saying a word.

"Tried to run you down?" said Mugsy. "With what?" The big brown dog looked about at the empty floor. "There's nothing around here."

"Perhaps he hit his head falling down," said Whitey.

"That would explain his delusions," noted the other Whitey.

"It was no delusion!" said Bunny, his whiskers twitching. "They tried to run me down!"

Mugsy cocked his head to one side and said, "Come on, Bunny. They 're only sheep..."

"But they had a car and a jeep and-"

"All right, Bunny," said Mugsy, "I can see this isn't going to work out. I'll have to get someone else to look after the sheep. Maybe Bear-"

Bunny noticed one of the sheep nudging the other and they both smiled. Bunny decided he was not going to let the sheep scare him off the job.

"Okay, Mugsy, I'll look after them. You don't have to get Bear to do it."

After Mugsy left, Bunny turned to the sheep and said, "Okay, you two, you'd better behave yourselves and listen to me or you are going to get in a lot of trouble. Now come. I'll introduce you to the rest of the toys."

Bunny turned his back to lead them over to the bed, but didn't hear the clicking of their feet behind him. When he turned around Whitey and his brother Whitey had disappeared. "Now where could they have gone!?!" groaned Bunny.

Just then there was a big crash in the next room. Bunny raced over to find a box of plastic construction blocks spilled all over the floor. Standing on the bed were Whitey and Whitey. Bunny realized they had pushed the box of blocks on the floor.

"What are you two doing!" said Bunny. "Get down here and clean this up before one of the children gets in trouble."

"We don't have to do what you say!" announced one of the Whiteys. "We're two wild and crazy sheep!"

The sheep ran out the door, leaving Bunny to clean up the mess.

Bunny was grumbling to himself as he picked up the blocks and he almost didn't here the "Baa-ing" coming from downstairs. "Now what kind of trouble are they getting into!" he groaned.

He would have ignored the sound completely except for the noise that came next: A deep, clear voice the bellowed, "Lunch time!"

"Oh no!" cried Bunny, "I never got a chance to warn them about Shark!"

---

Bunny ran downstairs. From the kitchen he had a good view of the family room three steps further down. In the middle of the room was a pole on a cross-shaped base. The pole stuck up in the air perhaps a foot and a half above the family room floor. Bunny recognized it as part of one of the children's t-Ball set.

Hanging tightly to the top of the pole by their little forefeet were the sheep. Circling below on the family room floor,was the shark.

The shark was a bit of a bully and loved to try and eat some of the smaller stuffed animals in the house. He must have seen Whitey and Whitey crossing the family room floor and gone after them.

As Bunny watched, Shark made a leap up toward the top of the pole. His jaws snapped shut just short of one of the sheep's tails. Then he started rocking the base of the pole, trying to knock it over. Bunny realized he wouldn't have much time to save the sheep. He had to come up with a plan.

"Help," cried the sheep. "Somebody help us."

Bunny spotted a toy missile gun sitting in the living room. He grabbed it and brought it to the kitchen steps. Then he raced to one of the cabinets and found a length of string. After tying the string to one of the missiles, Bunny wedged the gun next to a step so it pointed across the family room toward the sofa. Then, with a mighty rabbit jump, he leapt up into the air and came down on the missile gun's trigger.

The missile sailed across the room carrying one end of the string. It became snugly lodged between the sofa cushions. Bunny then pulled the string tight so it ran right past the top of the pole where the sheep were hanging.

"Grab the string," yelled Bunny. "Hurry!"

The sheep grabbed the string just as the shark managed to send the pole crashing over. Bunny then made another mighty rabbit jump to the kitchen counter. This made the string tilt on a downward angle and the sheep slid along it until they came to rest safely on the sofa. On the floor below the shark gashed his teeth in disappointment.

"I'm sorry, Bunny," said Whitey. "I should have listened to you. I shouldn't have given you such a hard time."

"Me too," admitted the other Whitey.

"Well, everyone makes mistakes," said Bunny, glad that the sheep were no longer acting wild and crazy.

"That was sooo scary," said one of the sheep. "I thought that we were going to end up in that shark's stomach for sure."

"Oh, he wouldn't have really eaten you," said Bunny. "He just likes to pretend. His teeth are really just made out of cloth. Still, I don't think you would enjoy being gummed by him."

"Well, thanks again for saving us," said the sheep together.

Bunny smiled, glad that he now had two more friends.

The End

Copyright Lee Krystek, 1997. All Rights Reservered.

Bunny and the Brave Bear

t all started on a sunny afternoon when the family decided to take a walk around the block. One of the little boys grabbed a stuffed animal to take with him: the terri-cloth bear. Bear and the little boy got a ride in the red wagon while the rest of the family took turns pulling. Bear liked to ride in the wagon. In particular he liked to sit in the back and lean out over the edge to watch the ground roll by under the rear wheels. Bear was doing this when the wagon hit a bump.

"Yeoww!" bear cried as he went sailing through the air. "Ouch," he yipped as he landed on the hard sidewalk. When bear got up and dusted himself off he realized nobody had noticed he had fallen out. He sat sadly on the sidewalk trying not to cry.

It was nearly a half an hour later when the people got home, noticed Bear was missing, and went looking for him. The Mommy found him sitting on the sidewalk near where he had fallen out. She picked him up and gently brushed him off, then carried him home. Bear was very happy to see the house again.

"It was really scary," said Bear, telling the story to the rest of the stuffed animals and puppets the next day. "It was getting dark, and it looked like it might rain. I was worried they might never find me. I even started to cry a little bit."

Bunny shook his ears and said, "Ha! If I got lost like that I wouldn't get scared and cry. I think it would be a great adventure!"

Mugsy shook his head, "You say that now, Bunny, but if you were lost and alone and thought you might never see your friends again, you would have been scared too."

"Bear's just a frady-cat," said Bunny, "now if I'd been there-"

"Bunny!" interrupted Mugsy. "That's not a very nice thing to say. You apologize to Bear."

Bunny hesitated for a moment.

"Bunny!" repeated Mugsy.

"All right, I apologize, Bear," said Bunny, not really feeling sorry. "I shouldn't have called you a fraidy-cat."

"Good," said Mugsy. "I don't want to hear any more about Bear being afraid when he got lost. I think he was very brave."

Later that day Bunny was still thinking about being brave. He wanted to show the rest of the stuffed animals that he would not be scared on an adventure. Bunny wasn't sure about how to do that though.

All the people were at work or school or shopping and Bunny sat alone in the living room. It had been the younger boy's birthday just a few days ago and the living room was still decorated with a dozen balloons of all sorts of colors. They floated on their strings at the top of the room while a breeze from the heater vent pushed them around making them bump into each other.

Suddenly Bunny had an idea. He ran over to the dining room cabinet and opened the bottom door. There he found a small basket. After dragging the basket into the living room he began to hop high into the air. With each jump Bunny grabbed the string of a balloon. Then he took the balloon to the basket and tied it to the handle. After the balloon was secure Bunny hopped after another one. When he was done every balloon in the living room was tied to the basket. The pull from the balloons was so strong Bunny had to find a sack of pennies to weigh the basket down and keep it from flying off. Then Bunny dragged the basket out the back door.

"Everyone, see what I've done," called Bunny. "I'm going to go on an adventure! Come to the deck in back of the house."

Almost all the stuffed animals and puppets were curious about what Bunny was up to so they climbed down the steps and out to the deck behind the house. Sitting in the middle of the deck was the basket and flying above it the many colored balloons. The animals gathered around it to get a good look.

"Very pretty, Bunny" said Mugsy. "What is it for?"

"I'm going to take a balloon trip," replied Bunny as he climbed into the basket. "All I need to do is throw this sack of pennies out and away I go."

Bunny threw the sack out and it landed on the deck with a thud. The balloons, with the basket hanging below, began to rise into the sky.

"That's very clever, Bunny," said Mugsy, "but how do you get it to come back down?"

"Oops," said Bunny, "I forgot about that."

A great gust of wind pushed the balloon up and away into the sky. The stuffed animals started chasing after it, but they had to stop when they reached the fence at the end of the yard.

"Help! Help!" yelled Bunny. "Somebody get me down!"

"Bunny," barked Mugsy. "Untie the balloon strings!"

"I can't," the little rabbit replied, "they're fastened too tight."

"Well, cut them!"

"I don't have anything sharp," answered Bunny.

There was nothing the rest of the toys could do to help Bunny. In a few minutes the balloon was out of sight. Bunny watched the house disappear as he wondered if he would ever see it again, or talk to his friends again, or sleep in the big, soft bed again.

When the house was out of sight, Bunny began to look around at what else he could see. He was flying over the tops of houses and trees. He could see a river with real ducks paddling on it. On the other side of the river he could see railroad tracks and on the tracks chugged a train with lots of box cars behind it. Behind the train was a mountain.

"This isn't so bad," said Bunny to himself, feeling a little bit better. "I knew I wouldn't be scared if I went on an adventure. Now if I could only figure out q way to get the balloon to take me home..."

Then Bunny looked ahead and saw in front of him a very big and dark cloud. Bunny trembled a little bit, because the big cloud looked very unfriendly. Suddenly the balloon reversed direction as a strong, cold wind, from the cloud, rushed by. Bunny started to feel tiny drops of water hit his whiskers.

"Oh, no," said Bunny to himself, "It's going to rain! How could this get any worse?"

Then there was a flash of light and a deep roar from inside the cloud.

"Oh no," cried Bunny, "Thunder and lightning! It is getting worse."

Bunny sank down in the basket to try and hide from the thunder. The wind whipped up in gusts driving the balloon in front of it. As the balloon went the basket swung up and down and left and right. Bunny started feeling sick. "I wish I'd never said that Bear was a fraidy cat!" said Bunny. "Now I'm cold and alone and scared too! It isn't much fun."

Back at the house Bear was standing up at one of the windows watching the sky. Bear remembered how scary it had been when he'd been lost and knew Bunny might be scared too. So Bear was worried about him. Then Bear saw Bunny's balloon. The wind from the storm had pushed it back the way it had come and in a minute it would pass over the house again.

Bear shouted to the rest of the stuffed animals. "Everybody! Here comes Bunny's balloon. I've got an idea about how we can help him!"

Bunny was huddled at the bottom of the basket when he heard his named being called. When he peeked up over the edge he saw the stuffed animals standing in the yard below.

"Bunny" barked Mugsy. "Get ready to grab Bear's hand."

Bear was sitting on one of the swing seats with his feet and one paw wrapped around one of the ropes the seat hung from. Mugsy pushed the swing hard and sent Bear up into the sky. When Bear swung back Mugsy pushed him hard again. With each swing Bear went higher and higher into the sky.

"Bunny," barked Mugsy, "when you go by grab Bear's paw and jump out of the balloon. Get ready!"

Mugsy gave the seat another hard push and Bear sailed way up into the sky. After a few more pushes Bear was going up as high as Bunny's balloon. Bunny leaned out of the basket as it raced forward to where Bear was swinging. He would only have one chance to grab Bear's paw. If he missed the wind would carry the balloon away before Mugsy could give the swing another push.

"This is it, Bunny" barked Mugsy. "Grab Bear's paw this time!"

The big, brown dog pushed and the swing went up. Bear reached out his paw. From the balloon Bunny leaned out as far as he could. Their paws touched and ... missed!

The balloon went sailing past the swing set. Bunny thought, "Oh no, what am I going to do now? I'll never see my friends again!"

The swing came back down and Bear yelled, "Mugsy, push me again! Really hard!"

The brown dog answered, "But the balloon has gone past! You'll never reach Bunny now!"

"Please, just do it!" answered Bear.

Mugsy pushed the swing one more time. It went up carrying Bear. When it reached the top Bear jumped off.

"Bunny, catch me!" shouted Bear. Bunny reached out and grabbed Bear and pulled him into the balloon's basket.

"What did you do that for?" asked Bunny. "Now we will both be lost."

"That's all right, Bunny," Bear answered. "At least you won't be lonely. You'll be lost with a friend."

"Oh, thank you, Bear" answered Bunny.

Then they heard Mugsy bark, "You did it! The balloon's coming down."

Sure enough the balloon was rapidly losing altitude. In a few seconds it made a gentle landing in the back corner of the yard.

"Why did it go down?" asked Bear. He was relieved, but puzzled.

Bunny thought for a moment, then answered," It was your weight, Bear. The balloon could carry one of us, but not both. When you jumped on board your extra weight made it come down. You rescued me Bear!"

The stuffed animals crowded around the balloon. Mugsy plopped the bag of pennies into the basket so it wouldn't fly away again.

"I think we had better get back inside the house," said Mugsy. "It's starting to rain."

"Yes," said Blue Penguin. "If we get all wet the people will have to put us in the dryer machine to get the water out. I don't like going around and around in that thing."

Neither did the rest of the animals, so they hurried back into the house. Once there they disassembled Bunny's balloon and put everything back where they found it so it wouldn't be missed.

Later on, as they sat up on the big bed, Bunny thanked Bear for rescuing him. "I thought I would be lost forever. Thanks for jumping aboard like that, Bear."

"I just remembered how scared and alone I felt when I was lost," replied Bear, "and I didn't want you to feel that way too."

"I'm really sorry I called you a fraidy cat, too," said Bunny. "In my book, now, you are one brave bear."

The End

Copyright Lee Krystek 1997. All Rights Reserved.