Blind Rabbit

• Vanessa Zhao, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2022

My mother had always cared for my every need. She fed me, cleansed me, comforted me, and always read fairy tale stories to me. Every. Single. Morning. I was a weak, little, blind child but acknowledging how my mother treated me, I experienced the most extravagant childhood anyone could possibly achieve. The blindness of my eyes never seemed to be a problem, as my hands became my sense of sight. For the love that my mother gave me, I had always been extremely grateful towards her. Tonight, mother told me a story about the fox and the rabbit.
“Darling, when one must choose between love or death, what will they choose?” She slowly strokes her fingers through my hair as she begins the storytelling.
“The fox once had a child of its own. It cared for it as if they were the Sun and the Earth. When the cub got devoured by a wolf, the inner psychopathic demon revealed itself. The fox found any remains of its cub’s skin and licked it clean until there was a layer of soft fur left.”
“Eww why would the fox do that?!?” I screamed hysterically.
And my mother replied with something I will never forget.
“Because she loved her cub.” At that time, it made no sense whatsoever but as time passed, I slowly understood. “The fox saw a small, lonely, sleeping rabbit in the field one day and decided to wrap it in the fur and brought it back to the fox’s home. The fox was the only ever creature to have met this rabbit, so she decided to adopt it as his mum. She whispered to the rabbit to never lift the fur otherwise there would be extreme consequences. The rabbit grew well, but curious of what would happen if he lifted the mask. One evening, the rabbit was cleaning its face and due to the rough actions, the mask slowly uncovered his eyes. Unexpectedly, the rabbit looked around to not only see that his mum looks totally different to him, but also saw that his mum furiously entered the scene. The mother sighs. She mutters, “I’m sorry but your time has finished. Thank you for making me feel a sense of motherhood again.” And without hesitation, the fox pounces onto him and rips off his head with her blood-soaked canines.”
“WHAT-” My body suddenly freezes. I could feel my mother’s hand slowly trickling down my forehead, then my nose, and then touching my eyes. Mother had always specifically said to never put my hands close to my face but she started fiddling with them. And I start to feel excruciating pain. She starts aggressively pulling on (what sounds like) wires? Within a few minutes, a stitch slips and a ray of light hits my eye for the first time.
Am I...not blind?
Why have I got stitches on my eyes?
Did mother do this?
She menacingly chuckles, “Hahaha… I did it for love, my sweet, sweet rabbit.”