I Didn't Mean To Kill Him...

• Nicky Mcdougall, Grade 12
• Short Story
• 2018

Her name was Lucy. A few years ago, her dwarf rabbit had somehow escaped from its pen during the day, while she was out getting supplies for the farm that she works on. She checked the whole farm with no sight of the rabbit. She made ‘missing posters’ for her lost furry friend. She started placing them around the town hoping that someone would see him. Within the next few days her neighbour came over and told Lucy that someone thinks they saw her rabbit near the edge of Longthorn forest. She jumped in the car and drove to the spot where the neighbour saw the rabbit, she parked on the side of the road. She got out the car and she froze, she could even close her car door. Her knees were trembling and tears where starting to run down her face. She saw her rabbit but it was lifeless on the edge of the road…
She fell to her knees and started bawling her eyes out, crying nonstop for at least five minutes. She got up off her knees and slugged back to her car, she grabbed a towel out of the back seat and gently wrapped the rabbit in the towel and put it in the back seat. She drove home whilst still crying. Once she got home she dug a hole under an enormous redwood tree. She made a beautiful Oak box put the rabbit inside, closed the box and gently placed it in the grave. She said her peace as she shovelled the dirt back into the hole. Pretty soon the grave was fully covered, she put a cross at the edge of the grave and engraved R.I.P in to it.
The next few days after the neighbour came to her door, she was tearing up and whispered, “I didn’t mean to kill him…”