Week 9 Story: The Little Rabbits

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    One day Brer Woodpecker was sitting on a branch outside his home, listening to the goings-on of the world around him. Taking a moment to pause and hear the world around him was his favorite inactive activity. It also gave him a chance to hear the goings-on of the forest and watch out for any drama. He knew the other critters liked to get up to all sorts of mischievous doings and was always did his best to stop anything too terribly wrong from happening.

    As he was soaking up the sun and enjoying what was an unusually peaceful day for the forest, he saw Brer Fox walking down the lane towards Brer Rabbit's house. This was far from an unusual occurrence, but it usually meant some kind of mischief was afoot. He knew that Brer Rabbit was away from home for the day, having left his children at home. So Brer Woodpecker decided to follow along and see what he could see. He arrived at the house in time to hear Brer Fox chattering away to the children, begging for a piece of the sugar cane sitting in the corner. He had a feeling that Brer Fox hadn't suddenly decided to develop a sweet tooth and saw the way Brer Fox looked at those little bunnies. They were struggling and struggling, until finally he called out to them and told them to use their teeth to break the cane down. Once they started, they had it finished in a flash. Brer Woodpecker could see from the look on Brer Fox's face that he was unhappy at their success. Presently, Brer Woodpecker overheard Brer Fox asking the little bunnies to gather some water for him using the strainer. Well, Brer Woodpecker watched those little bunnies try and try to get the water, but it ran through the holes every time. So he finally called out to them to fill the holes with the clay so the strainer would hold water. The bunnies tried it and were delighted with their success. Brer Woodpecker chuckled to himself when he saw Brer Fox having to pretend to be happy with the water they brought him. 

    Finally, Brer Woodpecker overheard Brer Fox ask the little bunnies to go fetch a log for the fire. Try as they might, the little bunnies just couldn't figure out how to lift that heavy old log. So Brer Woodpecker called out to them again, telling them to roll it on down to the fire place. Well, not only did it work, but no sooner than they had reached the fire place than did Brer Rabbit come on walking inside, home from his errand. Brer Woodpecker knew that Brer Rabbit was no fool where his children were concerned, so, feeling that he had done his good deeds for the day, Brer Woodpecker flew back home. He settled back into his branch and began soaking up the sun again.

Bibliography: "A Story about the Little Rabbits" from Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings by Joel Chandler Harris. 1881. 

Author's Note: I did stay true to the original plot of the story that I was inspired by, but I wanted to change the perspective. We don't really learn anything about the bird in the story, we just learn that he exists and is the one telling the bunnies what to do. I really wanted to try and figure out a good way to give some more depth ot this character and tell a little bit about him and his background. I was originally wanting to make him a trickster, but I decided that a "wise old man of the forest," peacemaker-type vibe was more appropriate, and a woodpecker just seemed really fitting for that.