Sam the Six-Foot Rabbit (Tail Two)

Tail Two – Sam Goes To School

Sam grew up quickly and was as happy as a young rabbit could be. His parents kept him away from other rabbits his age as much as possible and so he had no idea how different he really was. He was almost three feet tall and his parents didn't know if it was going to stop anytime soon. Although he knew he was a lot larger than his parents he didn’t know how strange it was that he was so very big. If he had given it much thought at all, he would have just thought his parents were unusually small and he would meet other rabbits his size one day.

He was very excited about starting school. He was eager to meet other young bunnies. Mr. and Mrs. Hoppa were very, very fun parents but it wasn’t quite the same as having someone his own age to play with. The night before school he couldn’t sleep. He tossed and turned until sunrise, then hopped out of bed to wake his parents. Since the sun rose nearly two hours before they had to wake up, Mr. and Mrs. Hoppa weren’t very happy about that. They hadn’t slept very well either, because they were nervous about how the other little bunnies would treat Sam at school that day.

Sam was ready to go long before he needed to be, but he was forced to wait for Mrs. Hoppa, who wasn't in as much of a hurry to get to school as Sam was. She dawdled as much as possible but finally she couldn't delay it any longer. Sighing, she told a very excited Sam to grab his lunch. He happily grabbed his lunch pail , put on his windbreaker, and bounded out the door and to the path that led to the St. Peter Lapin school. Slowly, his mother followed behind.

When they hopped into the schoolyard all the other rabbits stopped and stared. Sam paused, unsure of what to do. His mother ignored the other children and kept hopping until she met an older lady rabbit standing near the front door to the schoolhouse. The lady rabbit's jaw dropped as she looked up at Sam. He stood there awkwardly as the silence in the school yard gave way to whispers, and was finally broken by a loud "what's wrong with him, he looks like he's a kangaroo!" The teachers hushed the little rabbit that had spoken, but the damage had been done.

All of a sudden, Sam was not so excited about going to school.