The Rabbit, The Duck, and the Waterfowl

Once there was a rabbit that lived on the hillside. Outside her hole lay a huge pond where many fishes swam. There were few frogs and lily pads and vegetation all round. The grass was green on that hillside and up on the hill was an old oak tree which shaded blossoming buds.
         Everyday as soon as the sun was up, the rabbit went out of her hole and hopped around to do her chores. The rabbit did not like routine but she never missed greeting the fish a good morning. She would then hop away to get breakfast and the fish would watch her amazed. She was graceful in the way she moved about and her white fur danced under the soft sunlight.
         Some mornings the rabbit brought vegetables with her on her way back from breakfast so she could have her lunch in her hole. Some times she spent time among the vegetation just to observe. On other days the rabbit cut her breakfast time short so she could go to the hilltop before the sun was high. On afternoons she mused among the butterflies and lady bugs fluttering all around or stayed hoe to do some cleaning or simply stayed home.
         One day, like many other days, the rabbit was up on the hilltop, under the shade of the oak tree, looking up at the sky. The rabbit had one dream in her heart: she wanted to fly. She always thought of climbing up the tree then leaping up to the sky but she was afraid of falling and ending up hurt. Nevertheless she often was on that hilltop dreaming. She touched the tree and tried to build up the courage she needed to climb it. She took a deep breath when something on the horizon suddenly caught her eye. It swiftly landed by the pond down the hill. The rabbit hurried to see what it was. It was a duck and it smiled at her.
         “You can fly?” the rabbit asked, astonished.
         “Well, yes. Yes, I can.” The duck replied. “I just did, didn’t I?” With that the duck turned around to have a drink at the pond.
         “Wow.” At that moment, the rabbit made a decision to be around the duck as much as she can with a hope that it will help her learn how to fly.

“Usually, I run before take off.” the duck said one day. The duck then ran a distance, flapped its wings, and then took off. The duck hovered around the hilltop and over the pond. The rabbit observed the duck intently.
         Everyday the rabbit spent time watching the duck fly, both in the morning and in the afternoon. She never grew tired. Somehow she became accustomed to the duck’s presence. The rabbit never regretted missing out on the other activities she used to do before she came to know the duck. The rabbit did not realize that she was growing attached to the duck and to his astounding flights.
         One day, the duck was feeding on the pond while the rabbit stood by the oak tree on the hilltop. The duck looked her way and she smiled at him. The rabbit thought of how much she wanted to be like the duck. She wanted to fly. She wanted to be like the duck that seemed to be oh so carefree. She wanted to fly alongside the duck. Oh, only if she could. The rabbit went down the hill as the sun set. She found the duck swimming on the pond.
         “Until when is your stay?” the rabbit asked.
         “A few days more maybe…” the duck answered. The rabbit’s eyes lazily followed the duck swimming across the pond. “You know,” the duck suddenly said, “it’s better to forget and smile, than to remember—” the duck stopped between two lily pads “only to cry.” then closed its eyes. The rabbit stayed a while then hopped to her hole. She tried to get rest until late in the night. She thought long and hard about what the duck said, and what it meant for her…and what everything else meant to her.
         Early the next morning the rabbit got up and went to the pond. The fish gathered round to welcome her “good morning” greeting which did not come. The rabbit looked around and appeared worried. She hopefully looked at the sky but she did not find the duck. She sat still tried her hardest to smile.
         “Hey.” called a familiar voice. The rabbit’s eyes lit up. “I got you some lettuce.”
The rabbit turned around. “Why, you’re still here.”
         “Well, yeah” replied the duck “but I wouldn’t take long. I’m a duck. I leave when the seasons change.”
         “Yeah. I’ll be happy for you when you finally get to leave.” And the rabbit meant what she said. She wanted the duck to be able to leave for it was for the duck’s own good. She can stay. She had everything she needed to live on the hillside. “But…you will be returning, right?”
         The duck paused to think. “Well, yes. It may take months or years…it all depends.”
         “Yes, it all depends.”
         There was a short silence then the duck finally smiled. The rabbit smiled back.
         “Well, thanks for breakfast.” she said.
         “You’re welcome.”
         The rabbit went back to her hole and stayed there for the rest of the day. She realized that she needed to get used to being with herself again. After four days the duck left and the rabbit stood on top of the hill to watch the duck disappear on the horizon.
         The next day she returned to her routine that never was. The fish were sad that she appeared glum when she went out for breakfast. Frowns never really suited her but was a frequent companion. But the rabbit did not like feeling blue. In a matter of days she was up on her feet again, enjoying the fluttering butterflies and the soft breeze that brushed her fur. Everyday the rabbit reminded herself that the duck was happy, wherever the duck may be. In a little while the rabbit was again often under the shade of the oak tree, looking up at the expanse of the sky. The sky was truly wide and contained much room. She was reminded of what she told the duck before it left, that by the time they meet again, she’d be flying.

One day, as the rabbit was trying to climb the oak tree, she noticed something flying on the horizon. She tried to see if it was the duck for it certainly looked like it but she wasn’t sure. And it was so soon! It made a slow descent and landed on the hilltop.
         “Hello.” greeted a waterfowl.
         “Well, hi.” replied the rabbit, unsure of what was happening.
         “So, what are you doing?” asked the waterfowl.
         “Uhm…I’m…trying…to fly.”
         “That’s huge.”
         “So I’ve been told.”
         “By who?”
         “By—who are you again?”
         “I’m a waterfowl. I fly.”
         “So I can tell.”
         “You’re a smart bunny.”
         “Oh, thank you.”
         “I’m hungry. Are you hungry?”
         “You can feed by the pond.” The waterfowl simply looked at her.
         “Come, I’ll accompany you.” The rabbit led the way to the pond and the waterfowl followed behind.

“You sure are a big eater.” said the rabbit.
         “I sure am.” answered the waterfowl with a chuckle. “So, you stay nearby?”
         “That’s my hole over there.” the rabbit said, pointing to her home at the hillside.
         “Mind if I hang around here?”
         “What?” the rabbit asked, checking if she heard right.
         “Maybe I can help you in your pursuit of flying.”
         The rabbit was perplexed.
         “I’m full.” said the waterfowl. “You should go home and get rest. It’s getting late.”
         “Uh, yeah.”
         The waterfowl smiled at her. She turned around and hopped to her rabbit-hole.
         The next morning, the rabbit found the waterfowl in the pond, laughing with the fishes.
         “Good morning.” greeted the waterfowl.
         “Good morning.” the rabbit replied.
         “So, are you ready to learn how to fly?”
         “Huh?”
         “Run.” The rabbit stood, unsure of what to do. “Hop.” Still nothing. “Let’s go.” The waterfowl dried itself, and then flew.
         After a few minutes, the waterfowl returned. “Hop.”
         “What?”
         “Come on, bunny.” So the rabbit hopped. “Ugh, you can do better than that. Let’s go; uphill.” And the rabbit followed the waterfowl.
         Everyday they did the exercise up and down the hill. The rabbit hopped up and down and up and down; and round and round the pond. The waterfowl encouraged her to hop higher and longer distances day after day.
         “Okay,” the waterfowl said one day, “are you ready?”
         “I’m not sure,” the rabbit answered quite nervous.
         The two were on the top of the hill, looking at the pond. The rabbit tried to stop her heart that beat hard against her chest.
         “You can do this.” assured the waterfowl. “One last time: we’ll go downhill and then five meters from the edge of the pond, gain up all your speed then leap really high—”
         “—then we fly.” they said in chorus.
         “Okay, you got it. Go.” The waterfowl started running and the rabbit hopped, hopped with all she had.
         Five meters from the edge of the pond, the waterfowl started to flap its wings. The rabbit picked up speed and when she saw the water but a paw away, she leaped. The waterfowl was flying beside her. They were gaining altitude then the rabbit felt that she was starting to descend while the waterfowl flew still. She looked below and saw the water’s surface and there was her reflection on it. Her limbs were spread out and she was there, up in the air. It was finally happening. The fish watched with glee. The suddenly her reflection was no more: she hit the ground. The waterfowl landed beside her.
         “Bunny, you’re across the pond.” the waterfowl said.
         The rabbit looked behind her then softly said “So I am.”
         “You did real well.” The waterfowl put on a very happy, proud smile.

One day, the rabbit was under the shade of the oak tree watching the sun set. The waterfowl came and sat beside her.
         “Would you like to hear a story?” the rabbit asked the waterfowl.
         The waterfowl nodded.
         “There was a flower bud that sprouted under a tree once. Everyday when the flower opened her eyes, she was always left at awe at how tall the tree was and how it could reach up to the sky. AS each day passed, a desire grew in the flower’s heart to be like the tree. So one day, the flower asked the tree for help. ‘So you want to be a tree?’ the tree asked her. ‘Yes, very much,’ the flower said. ‘I want to be able to reach the sky, just like you.’ ‘Very well then,’ the tree answered her ‘you need to always stand tall and extend yourself. Also, you need to expose yourself to sunlight and feed on the nourishment from the soil.’ The flower listened to the tree and did every single thing that the tree told her. Everyday she got stronger and healthier. She didn’t know that the tree didn’t really reach up to the sky. But the tree kept quiet. The tree was waiting for her to realize it on her own. One day, the time came for the flower to blossom. When she opened her eyes and stretched herself, she saw the beauty of the red rose she had become. ‘You knew it all along, didn’t you?’ she asked the tree ‘You saw the potential in me when I didn’t. If it wasn’t for you, I might not have lived up to it.’ And the rose was very grateful to the tree all her life…
         “You know, I’m that flower and you are the tree. You helped me become who I am when I did not have the desire to be myself. You helped me reach my potential. And for that, I am truly grateful.”
         “I’d like to thank you too. You believed in me as well, didn’t you?”
         And the two of them smiled at each other.
         “We are both grateful for knowing each other.”
         “Yes, very, very thankful.”

The waterfowl stayed on the hillside while the rabbit stopped her pursuit of flying and paid more attention to other things on the hillside. As for the duck, he did come back. He visited every once in a while, sometimes after months, sometimes after years. It all depended on the seasons.