“Enough!” cried Fox.
Rabbit skidded to a stop. She had never heard Fox’s voice before.
“What did you say?”
“Enough, I say. I spend all this time chasing you. I am tired. Give me a chance to win.”
Rabbit thought about Fox’s proposition.
“How about we make a wager? If you win, I will let you eat me. If I win, you will leave me alone. Deal?”
Fox was eager for such an agreement, “Deal. What is the wager?”
“Well,” Rabbit walked in circles thinking, “if I can jump and touch the lowest branch of that tree, then I win.”
“Okay,” said Fox.
Rabbit took two hops and jumped high into the air and hit the branch with her paw.
“I win,” she cried happily.
“No fair,” Fox protested. “That obviously was too low. I bet you do that for fun. This time you have to hit the top branch of the tree.”
Rabbit looked at the top limbs, looked back at the field behind, and decided she could make the leap.
“Okay, but you have to uphold the deal.”
“Yeah, yeah,” said Fox.
Rabbit took four hops and jumped high into the air and hit the top branch with her paw.
Fox kicked the dust all around.
“You obviously made me a bet based on something you knew you could do. But I don’t think you can touch the clouds.”
Rabbit looked concerned. She had never jumped that high.
“No, we made a bet and you need to uphold the bet.”
Fox said, “Double or nothing. If you make it, I won’t bother you or anyone in your family.”
Rabbit knew she had to make the deal.
She backed up twenty paces into the field. With each hop she bounced higher and higher until with the last hop she sprang towards the cloud flying just above. Her ears barely missed the fluffy mass. She tumbled to the ground landing with a loud thud.
The Fox was ecstatic. “I knew you would miss! Now hold still so I can eat you.”
Images of Rabbit’s sons and daughters flashed through Rabbit’s mind.
“Please, oh please, give me one more chance. If I lose you can eat all of my family. If I win, you will leave this part of the country.”
Fox laughed. Rabbit had just missed the cloud so why not give the little one another chance.
“Sure, I’m a kind fellow,” with a sinister grin he said, “Touch the moon and I’ll pack up.”
Rabbit’s heart almost broke. She could hear her little children’s bones crunching. But she had to try. She stuck out her paw and shook Fox’s paw, “You have a deal.”
Rabbit walked all the way to the back of the field. She counted the steps she had to make. With a big breath she bounded her first jump, and then another, each becoming higher and higher. On her last step, she launched herself into the sky. Rabbit soared past the clouds. She saw the moon become bigger and bigger until at last she landed squarely on its surface.
Thrilled with her success, Rabbit jumped all around. She leaped head over heels without the gravity of home. Yet, sadly, she found he could not achieve enough momentum to return home. So, she settled down on the moon. She watches over her family still to this day. Fox held up his bargain and left the county. But when the moon is full, he looks up and knows Rabbit beat him at the game.
Lori Thompson | About the Author
I'm An Overqualified stay-at-home mom persistently trying to write her first novel while cuddling a pampered pug.
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