Madi's Garden

Once upon a time in the heart of the Autumn Woods, there lived a small, brown bunny named Madi. Her ears flopped as she hopped through the woods, until something caught her attention. The more curious she became the straighter her fuzzy ears stood up.

When Madi was hungry for something other than grass and twigs, she would visit the nearby meadow. In the meadow she feasted on daisies, clover, and dandelion greens.

The woods and the meadow were lovely, but sometimes Madi couldn’t help but wonder what else the world might have to offer.

One day while Madi was hopping around the meadow munching on clover, she heard a noise. It was a clicking clacking sound. Madi peeked through the tall grass to see what was going on. She saw an animal with short legs and a bushy tail. He was eating something very orange and crunchy with his big front teeth.

For a few seconds Madi thought maybe she should be afraid, but then her curiosity got the best of her. She hopped out of the tall grass and went right up to the creature.

“What kind of animal are you?” she asked.

The chewing stopped as he turned to look at Madi. He twitched his nose and sniffed in her direction.

“I’m a woodchuck. What do you want?”

Madi was now more curious about what he was eating, than what kind of animal he was. She’d never seen one of these crunchy, orange sticks, with leaves growing out of the top before.

“What are you eating?”

“It’s called a carrot. Now go away so I can finish my lunch in peace.”

Madi wanted to know more, “Where did you find the carrot?”

“I found it at a house with a garden. You wouldn’t like it.”

The little bunny wasn’t giving up that easily.

“What is a house? What is a garden? Why don’t you think I’d like it? You seem to be enjoying it. What’s your name?”

The woodchuck rolled his eyes, “So many questions.”

Madi’s attention had turned to a pile of large round leaves laying on the ground next to the woodchuck’s stubby legs.

“What are those?”

The woodchuck sighed, “Ok, fine. My name is Chip. Those are lettuce leaves. A house is where people live. A garden is a patch of dirt. The people plant seeds in the dirt and after a while they grow, and you get vegetables. Can I finish my lunch now?”

“I want to try carrots and lettuce. I’m tired of grass, twigs, and wildflowers. Where is this garden?”

Chip was not about to share the whereabouts of the garden with this little bunny. She’d eat all the vegetables and there would be nothing left for him. He stared at her for a minute, while coming up with a plan.

“If you insist. You have to promise you won’t tell anybody else, though. It will be our secret. Okay?”

Madi readily agreed, “I promise, Chip!”

He grinned and laughed at the thought of fooling Madi.

He bent down, spun the bunny around, and pointed toward the Autumn Woods.

“You have to go back into the woods. Go all the way to the other side. Go past the pond and you’ll see a tree laying on the ground, covered in moss. Get your speed up and make a big hop over the tree. When you land on the other side you’ll see the garden.”

“Oh, thank you, Chip! Thank you so much for sharing.”

Off she went. She scampered across the meadow, into the Autumn Woods. She hopped through the grass and twigs, and around the trees. Madi passed the shimmering pond and suddenly, she saw a huge tree laying on the ground, covered in moss.

That must be it, she thought. Madi picked up speed and got ready for the big leap. She got to the tree and over she went, so excited to see the garden.

Instead of finding carrots and lettuce, Madi landed in a patch of sticky burrs. They were all over her fur. The burrs were on her fuzzy ears and even a couple in her fluffy white tail.

“Chip tricked me!” Madi cried.

She hopped back over the mossy tree and sat down by the pond to pull the burrs out of her fur.

“I guess grass, twigs, and wildflowers will just have to be enough for me,” she said sadly to herself.

Suddenly, Madi felt something behind her. She looked into the pond and saw a large set of antlers looming above her. She gasped and quickly turned around, ready to run. It was Dora, one of the deer who lived in the woods.

“Are you okay, little bunny?”

Madi sniffled as she answered Dora, “Not really. I have burrs in my fur and the woodchuck tricked me into thinking he was going to share the location of the garden with carrots and lettuce. I was so silly to believe him.”

“I know where that garden is. I go there to eat carrots, and there’s an apple tree with the juiciest fruit to munch on. Finish cleaning up your fur and I will take you there.”

Madi hurried to get rid of the last few burrs and they were off to the garden.

They traveled through the woods and all the way across the meadow. That’s when Madi saw it. The house and the garden were in front of her. She couldn’t help but hop up and down happily.

“The carrots are right over there and those round green things are lettuce.”

Madi pulled a carrot from the ground. She started nibbling on the wonderful orange vegetable. It was the best thing she’d ever tasted.

She jumped when she heard, “Hey! That’s mine!” It was Chip the woodchuck.

Dora came around the apple tree where she had been having lunch. She lowered her head and stared Chip in the eye.

“Chip, this is Madi’s garden now. I guess you should have shared with her.”

The woodchuck slumped to the ground. If only he would have been kinder and not sent Madi into a patch of burrs. If only he would have shared the location of the vegetable garden.

Madi looked at the very sad woodchuck.

“Chip, I will share with you.”

“You will?”

“Yes. I was so sad when I landed in the burr patch, and then I was so happy when Dora showed me the garden. I always want my friends to be that happy!”

They ate until they were full, and then returned to the Autumn Woods until their next trip to Madi’s Garden.