Fate, Henry and the Enchanted Rabbit

Merry Meet Family and Friends!

So, yesterday morning, I had planned to get to work early. I was pretty well on my way too. I'd gotten up early, got everyone fed and was out the door on time. I was feeling pretty productive!

I work about a mile and a half from my house, so giving myself 15 minutes to get to work is usually plenty of time. As I stepped outside however, I was met by a glorious Fall morning! I made it all the way to my car door, before taking out my cell phone, calling my coworker and telling her I was going to be late. I started walking.

I remembered thinking that there must be some reason why I made the decision I had, but couldn't imagine what it might be. Then I met...

The Rabbit. As I made my way down one of the more busier streets along my walking route, I spotted something small and furry moving along the sidewalk. At first, I thought it was a chipmunk and expected it to scurry away when I approached. As I got closer however, I came face to face, literally, with a tiny baby rabbit. He perked his little ears as I approached, hopped right over and looked up at me. He was breathtakingly cute! "Hi, baby!", I said, as I watch him nibbling the grass along the sidewalk. As I stood there, completely smitten with his cuteness, I realized however, that he was a mere foot or so away from the road and suddenly, my "maternal instinct" kicked in. "C'mon, Rab", I said and scooped him up in my hands. He was so soft, tiny and helpless. I was amazed that he didn't struggle to free himself as I carried him to the house farthest from the street. I deposited him carefully on the lawn. I turned back once more, just to make sure he was safe, when I found that....he was hopping after me! My first thought was, "rabbits imprint on the first person they come in contact with like baby ducks do?" Great! Now what do I do? I couldn't very well take him with me to work, could I? Could I? I must confess....I considered keeping him! I envisioned walking back home, finding a nice safe, comfy cage and.....

Wait, what was I thinking?! This is a wild rabbit! I couldn't keep him!!! Ray would kill me! Still....I found myself powerless against his cuteness! I was seriously enchanted. NO! I'm not his Mother and I am not keeping him!!! So, I picked him up a second time, but this time...he screamed! Really. Loud!! You would have thought I was killing him! "You can't come! I'm already late for work!!" Yes, I had this conversation, in public, with a rabbit! I carried him, once again, up my neighbor's walkway and tucked him safely behind a bush. Then I hurried down the steps as fast as I could, looking back only long enough to make sure he wasn't following me!

Good deed for the day. Check! Still, now I was going to be even later than I expected. I had to really rush if I was going to make it to work by at least, 9:30.

I hurried along, still thinking about my cute baby rabbit, when I saw two things that really disturbed me. Firstly, I saw the truck belonging to the Handy Man service that, if you'd read my last entry, you know I'm not a fan of and then I saw...The Dog! "It's going to be one of those days, is it?", I thought.

He looked like a miniature German Shepherd, sans owner. As I approached, I said, "Are you by yourself?" He looked at me, tentatively approached, smelled my hand, growled menacingly and ran from me. I scanned the neighborhood, hoping his owner was nearby, but there wasn't a soul around. He began running. Into the street! A car was coming, but luckily was traveling slow enough to stop when he ran in front of their car. Oh no...I couldn't watch!

"Come here", I yelled to the dog. And he did! "Sit", I told him. And, he did that too. Should I try for "Stay?" Three times the charm! I could see he had two identification tags on his collar, but he wouldn't let me close enough to read them. At that point, I didn't want to leave him alone, but I had to get to work! Dammit!

I decided the only option would be to call the Ridgewood Police from my cell phone and have them see if they could find his owner. I was assured that Animal Control would be there shortly, but the dispatcher told me I would need to stay there with the dog. I looked at the time on my phone. Yeah...I was going to be really late.

As I hung up and looked back at my little friend, I wondered what would happen when Animal Control arrived. How would they catch him? Would they use one of those steel poles with the slip collar? He was going to be so frightened! And then what? Would he be taken to the Animal Shelter if they couldn't contact his owner? I thought about pets that were accidentally euthanized after being brought to the shelter. "Ok", I thought....this is the part where I get bitten.

I placed my purse on the ground and plopped down next to it. The dog was about a foot or two away. I began talking softly to him.....repeatedly assuring him that he was a "good boy" and hoping I was right! He eyed me, suspiciously. Note to self: Carry dog biscuits on person at all times. Then I said, "Come here". And he did! He crawled over on his belly lay next to me. At that point, I was finally able to read his collar! His name, I learned was "Henry". I leaned in a little closer, hoping he wouldn't bite my face off and was able to read the address on the collar. I realized the number was only one house away from where we sat!!! Then to my profound dismay, I realized it was the same house with the Handy Man's truck in front of it!

"Oh Henry", I said. "You can't be serious! I got to my feet and called to the dog. "C'mon Henry....I'm taking you home!" He followed me obediently, looking up at me for direction as he walked beside me. As we got to the front door and I rang the bell, I looked down at Henry who was staring up at me expectantly. "I can't believe I'm doing this, Henry! You owe me!" Just then, a woman answered the door. "Hi", she said, questioningly. I looked down at Henry. "Hi", I returned. "I believe this belongs to you?". I explained that I'd found him running around the street and that I had called Animal Control before I'd found her house. She explained that he wasn't really hers. She was "babysitting" for a relative. He must have to gotten out of the backyard. I told her he was a really good boy! She was very pleasant and extremely grateful for Henry's return.

Second Good Deed of the Day. Check!

As I left Henry safe and sound with his "sitter", I walked down the steps, digging around in my pocket for my IPod. Again, a time check revealed that my ETA had well passed. I questioned my decision to walk, about all that had happened thus far and wondered if perhaps fate had been at play. As I pushed the ear buds into my ears, I realized that my IPod had been playing the entire time. The song that was playing....

"What Goes Around, Comes Around" ~ Justin Timberlake

In Darkness, Light!


Tracy