We 4 Some: Part I of My Quartet

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It was another dark and cold night. The shutter of the garage (my room) went up and a gust of a chilly wind passed through the whole room. I felt the freezing wind slicing through my bones. The land lady entered like a robot and added some food in my bowl. I needed some hay to keep me warm, but before I could say anything she closed the hutch and left. She never bothers to look at me. I have even forgotten to speak. This routine had been going on for the last 3 years and I am not sure why they keep me in their house. Anyway it is better here than roaming around in the bushes with many predators on the loose.

This place is so dark that I do not even come to know when the sun rises and when the sun sets. Suddenly today I heard the shutter go up and surprisingly a bright sun ray filled my room. I had become so used to darkness that I was finding it difficult to keep my eyes open in that bright a ray of light. I heard two more voices today. Normally the lady comes alone and never speaks. The two people stood in the middle my room, looking at me. The land lady; a young girl and a man who was probably the father of the little girl were discussing something about me. The land lady was telling the girl that no one bothers about me anymore because we bought a dog three years ago and the dog only gets all the attention now. It was so insulting to listen to her and that too in front of strangers. Then they talked a few good things about me and the lady bought my bag of hay and dry food from the garage and handed it to the little girl who was quiet most of the time.

Then my land lady brought a towel and threw it on top of me. I was feeling suffocated. She told the young girl, listen Raina, when I need to hold the guinea pig I throw the towel over her and then she becomes scared and stops moving and I catch her like this. She gave them a demonstration, by holding me along with the towel in her hand. Oh! This cruel lady! Then she handed me to the little girl. I was scared but suddenly I felt softness in her hand unlike the land lady who holds me as if she is holding a thorny bush. The girl stroked me and I liked her touch.

I felt like a guinea pig again. You can take her with you, the land lady said to Raina. My heart jumped with joy. I do not believe this. Now I will be able to live with this friendly family. At least, instead of dumping me in the bushes they are offering me for adoption! Again life may not be perfect in the new family but at least I have new hope in my life. At most, the new family may not be ideal but they will not be as bad as my present horrible family.

Anyway, the land lady packed my food, hutch, water bottle and hay and I was guided out of the house with out any good byes or any farewell speeches. Who cares? I also wanted to be out of their life. Any place would be better than this place.

Finally I was placed in a cardboard box and I was traveling in a car towards my new home. The car stopped in an open car port and my heart sank. These guys do not have a garage! Oh no! Am I supposed to survive the harsh winter in this open car port without a proper roof over my head?

The little girl picked me up from the box and brought me inside. The atmosphere was looking quite welcoming and everyone was taking turns at holding me. I was enjoying my suddenly acquired attention. I was given food and water to drink. Then I saw a large cardboard box with lots of hay in it being taken to the little girl’s room. Oh my god! What a cozy room! I don’t believe it that I will be living here! It was quite a small room but sufficiently big for me to move around it in. It was beautifully decorated. Slowly I realized that other than the little girl Raina there was also her older sister Sal, her mum and dad. After a while everyone settled down with their chores and I was left alone for sometime. I was feeling as if I was a princess. For the first time after a long, long time I it was a night when I can have a real restful sleep. I always felt scared in that dark and cold garage and I could never sleep properly.

So it was the beginning of my new life and I loved its every moment. A few weeks passed and my happiness was increasing day by day with my newly found family. One sunny day when the sun rays were filtering through the curtains, I felt so happy that I felt like singing for the first time. I said “quenk quenk”. Raina almost jumped from her bed and almost yelled, “Dad! Snoopy can talk! The whole family gathered in Raina’s room. Everybody was curious. I felt so proud so I did it again “quenk quenk” There was applause in the whole room again and everyone was taking turns patting me. These people were not even aware that I can speak. God only knows how a person’s personality can transform to a new standard, just by a little compassion and love. It was another milestone in my life, my newly found happiness and pride. Now I have a family which loves me and I love them. I have also now learned to love and respect even myself.

Sometimes we all went for picnic in the family car. I had a mobile plastic hutch. Every time I was transferred into this hutch, I knew that we are all going out for fun. It was December and Christmas was not far away. One day, Raina gave me bath using a scented shampoo. I felt very good. Then everyone got ready and we went out for a outing. But this outing was different. We all reached a big hall with lots of birds, dogs, cats etc. They all had come with their families. I was a bit scared seeing so many dogs and cats around but all of them were very well behaved. One big man with white hair and beard in red clothes was sitting on a chair in the middle of the room. Everybody was calling him Santa. Then, Raina took me out of the hutch and held me in her hand and both of us sat next to Santa. Raina’s dad took a photograph and everyone cheered for me. I felt so happy and proud.

Days passed by. I had the best life till today. I remember it was holiday time and Christmas was around the corner. My family had gone out for shopping and I was sleeping in my beautiful hutch. They all came back in the evening and I could see a great excitement on Raina’s face. She was very happy! It seems as if something great has happened! She entered with a box looking like a shoe box. So she has bought some shoes which she always wanted, I thought to myself. She opened the box and I almost fainted when I saw a big white bunny come out of it. Although he was very handsome and cute, I was a bit concerned or may be jealous. Now what? As if all this was not sufficient, Raina opened my hutch and let that giant enter into it. Come on! This is my room! How can I live with this giant! He galloped towards me. I was a bit scared but I gathered up all my strength and took a tough stance and scolded him. My god! What a relief! He stopped and I could see that he had gotten scared. Now I have to maintain that distance with this guy. If it comes to a physical fight this beast will defiantly kill me, so I have to dominate him mentally all the time. Raina got some grass and both of us ate without any further accidents.

There was a long discussion in the family and after lots of deliberation they named this bunny “Beethoven”. Days passed by and as summer came closer Raina’s dad made an outdoor hutch for me and Beethoven. It was a large one and we always enjoyed this hutch during the day especially on a sunny day. Beethoven is not that bad, but I always doubted his IQ level. One side of our outdoor hutch had a shade. Many a times when it was raining, I would sit under the shade but this fellow will keep shivering in the rain. May be he only looked big but is still a baby. But sometimes I am jealous of him as now I have to share my family’s love especially Raina’s, with Beethoven. I don’t know whether it is true or not, but I have heard that Raina’s dad has launched a website dedicated to Beethoven. Most probably it is something like http://www.go4sixer.com. Anyway, I should not be jealous as sometime I feel guilty of being jealous.

With time, Beethoven became a bit more familiar. We were not great friends but we had at least started talking to each other. One fine sunny day, we were having an afternoon nap in our outdoor hutch, when suddenly Beethoven came up with the idea that it will be fun if we could get out of the hutch. The green grass outside seemed really tempting. Beethoven has sharp teeth and he started biting the fence to get outside of the hutch. Soon we had a small opening in the hutch so I went outside and started eating the fresh grass. It was a vague feeling outside. It was fun but I was scared as well. It was a sort of adventure for me. Suddenly I looked around to see what Beethoven was doing. What I saw was really frightening, I was all alone in the open garden and Beethoven was still inside looking at me. I went up to him and asked him what is the matter and I then realized that he was too big to fit through the small opening. I was a bit nervous and suddenly the whole garden was looking so much bigger. I felt as if my feet were frozen and I was not able to move. Then I saw Raina’s dad and had a sigh of relief. He was shocked when he saw me out of the hutch. Then Raina came and they picked me up and then started inspecting the hutch. They were really mad at Beethoven. I was sure that he was being scolded but I was not sure if this stupid beast understood anything that they were saying. He was looking at them with that same dumb look on his face.

Time went by and then one day I started to feel a bit uneasy and really tired. Raina came in with my dinner bowl but I did not have any energy to eat anything. I could not sleep in the night and by the morning I was feeling a bit giddy. Raina realized that something was not quite right and she called her dad. They were discussing my condition and finally decided to take me to the vet. I was put in my smaller hutch and he drove me and Raina to the vet. The vet looked concerned when she saw my condition and advised that I should be left in the hospital for a day under the supervision of qualified nurses. Raina and her dad left and said good bye. The vet was a very good lady. She cleaned me and gave me some food. Then I got really scared because she was moving towards me with a needle and I was really scared to death. Have Raina and her dad left me here to be put down? I could not believe it. The vet came to see me and inserted a needle in between my neck and my shoulders. Although I felt a bit uneasy when the lady was inserting the needle inside me, after a while I started feeling drowsy and fell asleep. I woke up the next morning still feeling a bit drowsy but now I realized that the needle had some kind of medicine. I really felt better after a few hours of sleep. I was given food, something similar to what Raina gives me. The whole afternoon was a bit uneventful but I had the same amount of energy as before. Raina and her dad came in the evening. The vet discussed my condition with them and I was again put in my smaller hutch as we drove back home.

On the way home, I don’t know why, but I felt like thanking Raina. My hutch was in the back seat and Raina was sitting in the front seat. I do not know where I got it from but I got a surge of energy and I jumped out of my smaller hutch and ran to front of the car where Raina was sitting. Raina was shocked seeing me in the front. She picked me up. I said “thanks” in my own way. God knows if she understood or not. In normal circumstances they would have scolded me but today they just patted me and laughed. Being sick has its own advantages. Anyway when we got back home they bought me some things from the supermarket. Since I was not able to eat anything I was fed a paste kind of thing from a can which was really yummy.

They put me back in my normal hutch. Beethoven was cleaning himself as always. At least he gave me a “Welcome” look. I lied down on the hay. It was quite warm and I felt as if I was going into a real sleep and I slept. But this sleep was different. I was seeing my body as if I am a different person and I am seeing myself from the outside. It was a strange feeling. Then I saw my body was motionless. Is this what is called dying? Am I dead? I saw Raina and her dad picking up my body and taking it towards the back garden. Raina’s dad was digging the back garden. And now they are putting my food bowl, drinking bottle etc in the whole he had dug. Then they laid my body in the same pit. Lastly they filled it with mud again and Raina was putting flowers at the place where my body was laid.

I felt a bit detached from my body and felt as if I am moving up to the sky with great speed. I turned back to look at the earth one last time. The whole family has encircled around my grave. I gave them my final blessings as this was the last time I was going to see them. I felt a vague kind of peace as I moved towards the sky. It was peaceful here. I was moving towards a cool bright light. I kept moving towards it and I didn’t know when I merged with the light itself. I felt as if I am a part of this light source or I myself was the light. It is peaceful here. An Ultimate Bliss. If this is what is called death I don’t know why people are so scared of it !!

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