Chapter 10 - Happy Gotcha Day
“Happy gotcha day,” announced Dad, as he came into the master bedroom, which he shared with Bentley. Six years had passed since Bentley came to live at the House of Buns. Bentley had a medical issue – another rabbit had bitten a chunk of his ear – so he wasn’t adoptable, and the shelter didn’t have space to wait for him to heal. He was placed on “the list.” The list no bun wants to be on.
It was Dad’s birthday weekend. He wasn’t looking for another rabbit or even prepared to foster a rabbit. But when he saw Auntie Heather’s plea to help save this bun, he thought, “What better birthday gift than to give a rabbit its life?” So, he made some space in his house – and in his heart. Although Bentley was only supposed to be a temporary foster, in less than an hour, he won Dad’s heart with his fearlessness and gregarious personality. Dad recognized what a special soul he was and invited him to stay. The English Spot quickly took over the entire bedroom floor of the house. The space under the king size bed became his “penthouse suite.”
Bentley got up from his nap. He stretched and yawned, and slinked out from under the bed. “Look what I made for you, Bentley,” said Dad, “It’s the first foraging ball of the year!” Bentley was excited! It had been months since his last foraging ball.
Dad made foraging balls by weaving fresh willow branches into a ball. He filled the ball with different kinds of hay and placed some treats in the middle. Bentley loved to dig into the ball to find the treats and toss the ball around to shake things out. He loved the taste of fresh willow leaves, too! It was like foraging all rolled up in a ball!
Bentley skipped over to the ball. “There are treats in there! I can smell them!” he thought. He stuffed his face into the ball to find them.
After finding a treat, he pulled his head out to munch on it and wondered, “Dad, why do you call it gotcha day?” Dad replied, “Well, Mr. B. I don’t know your actual birthday, so we celebrate the day I gotcha – the day you came to live here.” Bentley thought, “I guess that’s fair. It was the first day of my new life, so it’s kind of like a re-birthday!”
Dad said, “I’m so glad we found each other. Just think, if you hadn’t been in such dire straights, we never would have met. As they say, ‘it’s darkest before the dawn.’” Bentley thought, “It’s true. I was worried that it was curtain time for me, but instead, it turned out to be the start of a great new life! I wish I could tell that to all the shelter rabbits.”
Dad smiled. He nuzzled Bentley’s soft white fur, and said, “I’m so glad you’re here. Happy gotcha day, Mr. B!”
Click on the chapter links below to read more about Bentley’s story:
Bentley gets a new foraging ball for his "gotcha day."
Would you like to read more of Abigail's blogs? See them all HERE.
