Gary and Morris Meet a Bunny Named Roger

Spring was in full force, with cool breezes, lots of sunlight, and snowbanks melting into giant puddles. The property around the Hervey Foundation for Cats was like its own miniature wetland, complete with a few Canada geese floating around in the water where it was deep enough.

Marjorie was working hard with her volunteers to keep the property from getting too wet. They had set up a series of pumps to pull the water away from the property and send it towards the river where Terrance the beaver lives.

Gary and Morris had been watching them with a feverish interest. They couldn’t get enough and occasionally when they would get outside, they’d try to go and help them – digging their paws into the soft mud and jumping through the puddles.  

Gary was up to his elbows in mud when a big rubber boot splashed down next to him. It was Marjorie! She bent down and picked him up.

“Gary, you little goofball, you are full of mud once again,” she said with a laugh. Marjorie then gestured to one of the volunteers to take Gary and bring him inside.

Morris had been watching from the porch where he was grooming himself and enjoying the spring air – clean and dry. The volunteer carrying Gary walked by and Morris looked up at his friend.

“The mud nice and warm yet?” Morris asked.

“No,” said Gary. “But I swear I saw something move and I almost got it, then Mom picked me up!”

“Enjoy your bath,” Morris replied.

“Bath? Oh NO!” Gary started meowing loudly.

The volunteer brought him into the grooming station and gave him a rinse using a nice warm shower wand. Once free of dirt and mud, they dried him off with a couple of towels and put him back on the floor.

Gary looked like he had just lived through a tornado, but he was clean and happy. Time to grab a bite to eat.

Wandering into the kitchen, he noticed Morris now sitting by the water fountain, gossiping with some of the other cats.

“So, she then told me she was going to tell Mittens that her boyfriend was spending time with Marmalade and that they liked each other,” said a cat named Maura. “And that Tinseltoes likes Mittens, so it’s not like Mittens will be alone, but can you believe what Marmalade is doing? It sounds like it’s pretty serious.”

“Sounds like it,” said Morris, sarcastically, with a bit of an eye roll. “Hopefully they find a decent resolution to it all. Wouldn’t want them to… Oh hey! Gary! Over here!”

Morris locked eyes with Gary and moved his head in a way to almost say, “Get over here and help me out of this conversation.”

Gary walked by, and knowing that Morris was looking for an out, ignored his wishes and went straight to his food bowl after quickly saying “Hey guys!”

Morris was stuck talking to Maura for a little while longer, but once she finished all her gossip, he went over to Gary and, with a laugh, gave him a gentle cat slap for not helping him out.

“What’s that for?!” said Gary. “Because I didn’t help you out of a conversation you started?”

“I didn’t start it! Maura will talk to anyone,” said Morris. “She would talk to a bush swaying in the breeze for 20 minutes if you didn’t stop her.”

The two laughed and then agreed to go back outside, but this time they’d both sit on the porch.

“Marjorie! Come see! I don’t know what to do!” said one of the volunteers, loud enough the cats could hear them from inside.

“Coming!” she replied.

The cats ran out the door and onto the porch to see Majorie and the volunteers huddled around something.

“What do you think it is?” asked Morris.

“I have no idea!” said Gary. “Let’s wait and see.”

Eventually, the humans moved back from the place they were standing and Gary and Morris both saw a big bunny rabbit! He was wet, covered in mud, and looked very tired and hungry. The volunteers were all talking about him.

“What a poor boy!” one said.

“I’d take him with me, but my cats would be a problem,” said another.

“We can set up a little place for him to rest right here on the property,” said Marjorie. “He looks hungry and tired for sure.”

Two of the humans ran into the shelter to grab some things for the rabbit, while Marjorie took off to one of the sheds. There she grabbed a big rubber bin with a lid, filled it with some straw and blankets, and then cut a big hole in one of the sides. While she was doing that, Gary and Morris went over to the rabbit to introduce themselves.

 They didn’t want to spook it, so they approached slowly and carefully, avoiding any quick movements.

The bunny looked uncomfortable and a little confused.

“Hey buddy!” said Gary. “My name is Gary, and this is my friend Morris.”

“Everything okay?” asked Morris.

The rabbit looked over at them and spoke softly, “My name is Roger. I was travelling through this area when I slipped and fell into the river.”

“Holy smokes!” said Gary.

“I fell in, and the current took me far away from where I was initially,” said Roger. “A beaver was kind enough to grab onto me and pull me towards land. I’m not hurt, but I am very tired and very hungry.”

“That must have been Terrance,” said Morris.

“Well, our mama and her friends are going to take care of you,” said Gary. “We will do our best too!”

“Thank you so much,” said Roger.

Just then Marjorie came back with her rubber bin.

“Gary! Morris! You two make sure you are nice to that bunny!”

She placed the rubber bin down on the ground and opened up the lid. It had been converted into a nice, warm, soft little place for a bunny rabbit to relax and recover.

Gary and Morris looked over at Roger who looked so happy to see the place.

“This is very nice!” he said to the cats. “I’ve never had a human do something like that for me.”

“Our mama is different. She loves all animals,” said Gary.

The volunteers returned with some food and water in nice little bowls. Marjorie placed them into the bin then gently picked up Roger with a towel and placed him in the bin.

“We’ll put the lid on, give him the night, then come back and see how he is doing,” she told the group.

Gary and Morris thought it was a good idea, but they were so curious! Being cats, they could hardly contain themselves, though they knew it would be best for the bunny if they let him recover on his own.

The next morning both cats woke up right before the sun came up. The house was still dark so they quietly slipped downstairs and outside to check on Roger.

“Roger?” said Morris quietly. “You there?”

They heard a voice from inside, “Hey guys!”

It was Roger! He sounded better!

“Are you okay?” asked Gary.

“I’m doing a lot better, thanks. I needed to warm up and get some food in my system,” said the bunny.

“What brings you this way?” asked Gary.

“Business,” said Roger. “I have a special job that requires lots of hard work, but luckily for me, not every day.”

“I used to do a lot of modelling,” said Morris. “You know 9Lives Cat Food?”

“No. I am but a humble wild rabbit,” said Roger.

“Fair enough,” said Morris.

Gary laughed at the two and their conversation.

“Any plans for today?” he asked.

“Nothing extraordinary,” said Roger. “I’m going to rest up a bit longer and then get to work planning for my next big project.”

“That sounds nice,” said Gary. “We will be around the property, so if you need anything, let us know!”

Morris gave Roger a gentle headbutt then the two cats went back to hanging out on the porch. Once in a while, they would see Roger outside of the rubber bin, stretching his legs and gnawing on blades of grass. They would wave to him, and he would wave back.

At one point Marjorie went to check on him and brought him some more water and a bit more food.

Eventually, the sun started to set, and the cats bid Roger adieu for the night then headed back inside to go to sleep. He went back into his bin and curled up for a nice sleep.

The sun set amongst a backdrop of stars, then once more began to rise in the morning.

Gary and Morris woke up early again so they could go check on Roger, only to find that the entire shelter had been decorated with elaborate Easter decorations. We are talking VERY elaborate. As if a professional decorator had been there overnight. There were chocolates everywhere, special cat treats all over, and gifts for the humans as well!

“Wow. Marjorie must have been working hard!” said Morris.

 “Maybe she hired someone?” Gary said inquisitively.

“Let’s go get Roger and show him!” said Morris.

 Gary gave him a nod and the two cats ran outside to Roger’s bin.

It was empty.

“Roger?”

“Roger!”

The cats shouted his name a few times, but he was nowhere to be found. Feeling confused, they went back to the shelter to find Marjorie.

The cats meowed incessantly at her bedroom door until she opened it up. Still sleepy-eyed from abruptly waking up to the two boys screaming at her door, she wasn’t sure what was going on.

“What… is… all… this?” she said after noticing how ornately decorated her home was.  

Gary and Morris were confused. They thought she had set it all up.

“Who did this?” Marjorie asked a second time.

The cats started to put two and two together. Roger, a mysterious rabbit, turned up at their property, right before Easter, then went missing and now the place looks like an Easter dreamland? What could be going on?

They both started meowing loudly again at Marjorie, making eye contact with her and leading her to the door.

“What is it, boys?”

They took her outside to the bin and when she looked inside, she gasped. Marjorie removed the lid and pulled out a small note, written on a tiny little card, in perfect cursive writing. She read it aloud.

“Your kindness speaks a thousand words,

providing respite for a rabbit, both tired and hurt.

You showed me warmth, and fed my soul,

Proving there are still plenty of good people.  

So, in return for your help and your gift,

I left you something to give your spirits a lift.”

Marjorie stood there, in her housecoat, mouth agape, in total shock.

“Did he…? Was that really the…?” she stood there bewildered, speaking aloud.

Gary and Morris meowed and rubbed up against her legs until she bent down and picked them both up.

They walked back into the Foundation and into the Easter paradise that had been set up. Marjorie, holding the cats, walked around slowly, taking in the whimsical décor; the fully set dinner table with an entire Easter brunch set up; and the little chocolates and other candies hidden around the place.

“Boys. I think it’s safe to say that was no ordinary rabbit we helped. I think that was the Easter bunny.”

The cats looked at each other, shrugged, and then started purring loudly.

Happy Easter!