The Story of Wobbie Wabbit
One cold, cold winter there was a little bunny who was only four years old. He had a hard time because he couldn’t say some of his sounds. For instance, when he tried to say, “Easter Rabbit,” it always came out, “Eastewah Wabbit.” This got him in a lot of trouble with his friends because every time he would say “Eastewah Wabbit” they would all giggle and point at him.
Well, the worst thing of all was that his name was Robbie. But, of course, he couldn’t even say his own name. Whenever he would try to say, “My name is Robbie,” it would always come out, “My name is Wobbie.” All the other bunnies would make fun of Robbie, the rabbit.
Well, as you might suspect, this went on for many months until spring came. All the colors came back to the meadow. The snow melted and green grass started to sprout. On all the trees you could see the leaves coming back to life. Small green buds were on each branch. The sun was getting warmer day by day. Sometimes rain would sprinkle the meadow and more and more flowers were blooming everyday. There were baby rabbits. There were baby foxes. There were baby squirrels, baby chipmunks, baby robins, baby starlings, and baby larks. It seemed like the whole world was filled with new life.
As you might guess, Easter was coming along. And, as you know, it is the job of all bunnies to deliver eggs for the children on Easter morning. All the little bunnies were busy preparing their baskets, filling them with eggs, and counting as they filled, “One, two, three.” But when poor Robbie filled his basket, the words came out, “One, two, fwee.” All the other bunnies pointed and laughed at Robbie.
Soon it was time for the bunnies to line up in front of THE Easter Rabbit to show him their baskets were ready. First was a little bunny named, Danny. THE Easter Rabbit said, “What’s your name, bunny?” And the bunny said, “My name is Danny.” THE Easter Rabbit asked, “How many eggs do you have in your basket?” Danny said, “One, two, three.” THE Easter Rabbit said, “That’s just fine. Are you ready to deliver?” Danny said, “Yes, I’m ready,” and hopped on his way.
The next bunny to go before THE Easter Rabbit was named Alice. She hopped up with her pink basket and said, “Good morning, Mister Easter Rabbit.” THE Easter Rabbit said, “What’s your name, little bunny?” The bunny said, “My name is Alice.” Then THE Easter Rabbit asked, “And how many eggs do you have in your basket?” Alice said, “One, two, three.” THE Easter Rabbit said “Are you ready to deliver your eggs?” Alice said, “Oh yes, I’m ready,” and she hopped on her way.
Well, as you are probably wondering, the next bunny to come before THE Easter Rabbit was Robbie. Robbie hopped up and said, “Hewwo, Mistewah Eastewah Wabbit.” All the other bunnies pointed and laughed. But THE Easter Rabbit didn’t laugh. He just smiled, patted Robbie on the head, and said, “What is your name, bunny?” Robbie said, “My name is Wobbie.” All the other bunnies were rolling on the ground with laughter as they pointed and made fun of Robbie. But THE Easter Rabbit didn’t laugh. He just smiled, patted Robbie on the head, and said “How many eggs do you have in your basket?” Robbie said, “One, two, fwee.” The other bunnies were screaming with laughter.
THE Easter Rabbit turned to the other bunnies and said, “Excuse me but I can’t hear Robbie. I am talking to him about delivering Easter eggs which is a very important job. Now if you could all be quiet for a minute, I would like to finish my talk with Robbie.”
The other bunnies were ashamed to have to be told by THE Easter Rabbit to be quiet. They were very embarrassed that they had upset THE Easter Rabbit. They sat down and got very quiet.
THE Easter Rabbit went on, “Well, that’s just fine, Robbie. I’m glad you have three eggs in your basket. Are you ready to deliver your eggs?” Robbie said, “Yes, I’m weady.” Not a single snicker came out of the rest of the bunnies when Robbie said “weady” instead of “ready.” THE Easter Rabbit just smiled, patted Robbie on the head and said, “You know what Robbie? You’re a fine bunny, indeed. Next year at Easter when you bring your basket of eggs, you will be able to make all the sounds just the way you want.”
That Easter went just fine. All the bunnies delivered their eggs. All the children found the fancy Easter eggs and everyone was happy. Everyone, except for Robbie.
Well, as you might suspect, time went on. The summer was a beautiful summer with bright sunshine. The fall was a beautiful fall with all the leaves turning orange, red, brown and yellow. It was a cold, cold winter with lots of snow. All the bunnies cuddled down in their rabbit hutches to stay warm. It seemed to Robbie that Easter would never ever come again.
The only bright light that broke up the boredom of the cold and snow was Christmas. Since they were so busy on Easter, Christmas was a special time for the bunnies. Since they gave all their eggs away on Easter, it usually worked out that for Christmas they gave each other fancy decorated eggs that they called “Christmas eggs.” They would open their packages and see the brightly decorated eggs on Christmas morning. They would hang them on the forest trees and call them “Christmas trees.”
Well, as you probably guessed, Christmas passed. All the bunnies stayed warm. They all found plenty of food. And everyone was happy. Everyone, except Robbie. Everyday he would practice counting, “One, two, fwee, one, two, fwee, one, two, fwee. Oh deawah, I just can’t say that wowad.” Everyday he would practice saying his name over and over again, “Wobbie, Wobbie, Wobbie. Oh deawah, I just can’t say my name.”
Robbie’s mother was beginning to worry. She knew how sad Robbie was. She came to him one evening by his bed while he practiced, “Eastewah Wabbit, Eastewah Wabbit.”
She said to her son, “Robbie, you don’t need to practice. You don’t need to worry. You don’t need to try so hard. Many little bunnies have trouble making some sounds when they’re young. But when they get older, like five or six or seven years old, they can naturally make all the sounds they need. They don’t have to practice and worry and try. Why don’t you just forget about it until Easter and see if everything isn’t all right then. Remember what THE Easter Rabbit said.”
Robbie said, “OK, Mom, I’m so tiwed of pwacticing anyway.”
Well, as you might suspect, spring finally came. A few drops of melting snow fell on Robbie’s head one morning and he woke up with a start to realize that spring had come. New grass started to peek out from the brown ground. On the tip of every tree branch was a new green bud. The meadow became a rainbow of blossoms as flowers bloomed everywhere; reds and oranges, yellows and greens, blues and purples and lavenders.
Robbie was so happy that Easter was on its way. He worked harder than ever on his Easter basket this year. He put bows everywhere and decorations all over it; sparkly glitter, squiggles, curly cues, and zig-zags. You should have seen his eggs. Why, they were golden in color with special letters that spelled “Happy Easter” in cursive writing. They were covered with stripes, patterns, and fancy shapes. It was amazing to see his eggs. You could look at one of his eggs for hours and still not see everything he had put on it. He plopped all three eggs into his basket and hopped down to see THE Easter Rabbit.
Well, as you might be wondering, this year Alice was first in line. THE Easter Rabbit said, “What’s your name, little bunny?” She said, “My name is Alice.” Then THE Easter Rabbit asked, “And how many eggs do you have in your basket?” Alice said, “One, two, three.” THE Easter Rabbit said, “Are you ready to deliver your eggs?” Alice said, “Yes, I’m ready,” and she hopped on her way.
Next came a bunny named Alex. THE Easter Rabbit said, “What’s your name, bunny?” Alex said, “My name is Alex.” THE Easter Rabbit asked, “How many eggs do you have in your basket?” Alex said, “One, two, three.” THE Easter Rabbit asked, “Are you ready to deliver your eggs?” Alex said, “Yep, I’m ready,” and off he hopped.
Well, as you might suspect, the third rabbit was Robbie. Robbie stepped up to THE Easter Rabbit and smiled. THE Easter Rabbit smiled back and said, “What’s your name?” and Robbie said, “Wobbie.” It still didn’t come out right! THE Easter Rabbit said, “How many eggs do you have in your Easter basket?” and Robbie said. “One, two, fwee.” Oh no! He still couldn’t say “three.” THE Easter Rabbit asked, “Are you ready to deliver your eggs?” and Robbie said, “Yes, I’m weady.” OH NO! It still came out “weady” when he tried to say “ready.” Robbie started to cry. One big tear dropped out of his left pink eye. One big tear dropped out of his right pink eye.
THE Easter Rabbit knew what was wrong. He patted Robbie on the head and said, “Don’t worry, Robbie. I know that when you come back next Easter you will be able to make all the sounds you want.” It didn’t help this time. Robbie cried and cried.
THE Easter Rabbit took a look in Robbie’s basket and saw how hard he had worked on his eggs. “What a beautiful basket of eggs!” he said. THE Easter Rabbit picked up one of the golden eggs. It shined with a beautiful light almost as bright as the sun. THE Easter Rabbit said, “Robbie, this is the most beautiful Easter egg I have ever seen!”
Robbie said, “Oh thank you, Mister Easter Rabbit!” Ooooh! He said it. He said, “Easter Rabbit.” This time it didn’t come out “Wabbit.” Robbie was so happy that he hopped and hopped and hopped. THE Easter Rabbit was so happy that he hopped and hopped and hopped. All the other bunnies cheered.
Robbie kept hopping and saying, “Easter Rabbit, Easter Rabbit, Easter Rabbit,” and not once did it come out “Wabbit.” And the next thing you know, he was singing, “My name is Robbie, my name is Robbie,” and not once did it come out “Wobbie.” And the next thing you know, he was counting, “One, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three,” and not once did it come out “One, two, fwee.”
Robbie was so happy he delivered his eggs as fast as he could and spent the whole summer talking and talking and talking. And he found that he mother was right. As he grew older, he could make all the sounds without any trouble at all, without practicing or worrying or even trying.
Just goes to show you, Mother Rabbits are pretty smart cookies.
Wobbie Wabbit by C. Walker ©03