For as long as Sally the rabbit could remember, she lived in a tiny cage in the backyard of a family with two children. The boy never talked to her, but the girl with pigtails came with carrots whenever she could.
The first few weeks that Sally the rabbit lived with the family, she lived inside the home, where it was warm, and there were many carrots. Those were the happiest days of Sally’s life, nuzzling in the lap of the little girl. The girl sang songs to Sally and fed her from the palm of her hand. Although Sally tried not to flop her ears too much or leave fluff balls from her tail, the father of the family said it was too much of a nuisance to have a rabbit in the house, and he insisted that Sally live outside.
“But Daddy, it’s cold out there. What if Sally freezes? I love her,” the girl said.
“She’s a rabbit. They live outside. Stop arguing with me,” her father said.
So, the father built a wooden wire cage and shoved Sally inside and never spoke to her again. Her beautiful brown coat became dirty, and her tail became so short that it practically fell off. When it rained, she was sopping wet, like a moldy Raggedy Ann doll, and no one could tell the difference between the rain and Sally’s tears. It was especially troublesome when the rain muddied her drinking water.
Whenever she drank the muddy water, it made her feel sick, and she could only sleep. Sally sat in the cage, peering through the wire and wood at the tall grass. She longed to run through the field and escape from the pen. Whenever the girl came to the cage, Sally rubbed her soft nose against the door. Most times, the girl brought Sally rabbit food and fresh water, even lettuce or carrots, but the girl forgot to hold the bunny, and it broke Sally’s heart.
The girl believed the father’s lies when he told her: “Rabbits are dangerous!” By the wintertime, the food and water that the girl brought froze almost instantly. More often than not, Sally went hungry and tried to think of better days. She chewed on the wood to sharpen her teeth and fill her stomach, waiting for spring.
As the winter grew its coldest, Sally thought she might die, curling up in the back of the crate. She carved out her own cave from the snow that fell into her pen and hid in it for warmth. After that, all that Sally remembered was falling into a deep, long sleep . . .
When she woke up, the girl with pigtails was standing next to her cage. In fact, the girl had a basket full of juicy carrots and lettuce. It was almost a perfect spring day, with a shining sun and a blue sky with few clouds. The girl swung open the pen door, reached for Sally, and held the rabbit in her arms.
“Sally, I’ve heard of a marvelous place called Daffodil Hill. Deer and bunnies live there, and it would be a much better home for you than this cage. I’ll show you how to get there. I was told it’s over the crest of trees. If we follow the stream through the valley, we can be there by nightfall.”
So, the girl with pigtails and Sally the rabbit set off for Daffodil Hill. Sally’s nose twitched constantly, sniffing everything twice. Now and then, the girl fed Sally carrots and lettuce from her basket. She told Sally everything she knew about Daffodil Hill:
“There’s a farmer on Daffodil Hill who plants carrots and lettuce all year long. The vegetables grow up and down the hillside with the daffodils, tulips, and other flowers, and they never run out. No matter how many carrots and lettuce heads bunnies eat, they grow back, even in the winter. The stream of water never freezes or muddies, like it did in the bowl in your pen, and the farmer never gets angry at the rabbits or deer, because he plants the food just for them.”
Sally the rabbit poked her ears high at the thought that there might be a place meant just for her. She wished the girl with pigtails could live with her by the stream at Daffodil Hill. It would be peaceful and pleasant, quite a change from living in a rickety cage.
When Sally and the girl crossed through the last part of the valley, Daffodil Hill appeared. It was the most beautiful place that Sally had ever seen, full of butterflies and honeybees. The sun shone so brightly that it almost blinded her eyes. She squinted back tears of joy. Sally ran through the field, feeling freer than she had ever been in her entire life. She grabbed a green carrot top from the field and gobbled an orange vegetable.
Not only did Sally eat her fill of carrots and lettuce, but she and the deer also enjoyed tulips. The stream gurgled as the deer panted next to it. The water ran over the rocks in the pond.
“I think I’ll stay for a while,” the girl said, sitting down next to the pond. The girl picked a handful of daffodils and braided them into her pigtails. She stuck a single red rose through the front of her hair, like a priceless jewel.
After a while turned into a longer while, the girl stayed at Daffodil Hill with Sally the rabbit. Of course, someone needed to help the farmer plant the flowers and the vegetables, and the girl decided that it would have to be her, because Daffodil Hill could never change. As long as the girl lived, she needed the comfort of the hillside as much as Sally the rabbit.
Copyright 2014 Jennifer Waters
Dedicated to Sally the Rabbit, my brown little bunny, who died when I was in the seventh grade.
"And then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils."
https://soundcloud.com/jen-waters/daffodil-hill-spoken-word
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