• The Velveteen Rabbit

Toys

Once, in a boy's room, there lived a soft and fluffy Velveteen Rabbit. Every day, the boy would open his toy box and pick up the Velveteen Rabbit. This made the rabbit feel very happy.

But soon, new, shiny toys came into the toy box. These toys could do special tricks. Some could move when the boy pushed a button, and others could bounce high. The Velveteen Rabbit didn’t have any special tricks or buttons. So, after a while, the boy started to play with the new toys more.

At night, when the toys were back in the toy box, the new toys talked about their cool tricks. The Velveteen Rabbit stayed quiet because it had nothing special to say.

The only other soft and fluffy toy in the box was Cowboy Horse. Cowboy Horse was old and most of his fur was worn away.

Cowboy Horse told the Velveteen Rabbit, “Don’t listen to the others. Soft toys like us are the lucky ones. We get loved the most. When we are loved enough, we become Real.”

“What does 'Real' mean?” asked the Velveteen Rabbit.

“Being Real is the best,” said Cowboy Horse. “You can move when you want. When you are Real, if you are loved, you can show love back.”

One day, Nana, who took care of the boy, opened the toy box. She was looking for the walking doggie but couldn't find it. So, she grabbed the Velveteen Rabbit and put it on the boy’s bed.

This started a new happy time for the Velveteen Rabbit. Every night, the boy held the rabbit close. In the morning, they made rabbit holes under the sheets together. When the boy went to the park or on a picnic, the Velveteen Rabbit went along too.

After all the hugs and playing, the Velveteen Rabbit’s fur got matted down, and its pink nose faded. But the Velveteen Rabbit didn’t mind. It was happy.

One day, the boy got sick. His forehead was very hot. The doctor came, and Nana was worried. The boy stayed in bed for many days, and the Velveteen Rabbit stayed with him.

Finally, the boy got better, and everyone was happy. The doctor said the boy should go to the shore. The Velveteen Rabbit thought, "How wonderful! The boy always talks about the shore and the big blue ocean."

Nana asked the doctor, “What about this old bunny?”

“That old thing?” said the doctor. “It has germs. Burn it! Get him a new bunny.”

The Velveteen Rabbit was thrown into a sack with the boy’s bed sheets and old clothes. The sack was taken to the backyard for the gardener to burn.

But the gardener was busy picking beans and peas, so he left the sack for the next day. The sack wasn’t tied at the top, and the Velveteen Rabbit fell out.

The next day, it started to rain. The Velveteen Rabbit felt sad and lonely, far from the boy and now wet. A tear fell from its eye onto the grass.

Suddenly, where the tear fell, a flower grew. The flower opened, and out came a tiny Fairy!

“Little Rabbit,” said the Fairy. “Do you know who I am?”

“Should I know you?” asked the Velveteen Rabbit.

“I’m the Fairy who takes care of toys that are well-loved,” said the Fairy.

By then, the Velveteen Rabbit was shabby and worn. The boy had loved off all its whiskers. Its pink ears were now grey. Its brown spots had faded.

“It’s time for me to make you Real,” said the Fairy.

The Velveteen Rabbit remembered what Cowboy Horse had said. When you are Real, you can move and show love back.

The Fairy touched the Velveteen Rabbit with her wand, and the rabbit felt different. Its legs could move apart! A fly landed on its head, and the rabbit quickly shook it away.

“This is being Real! I can move when I want to move!” said the Velveteen Rabbit.

“I will show you some new friends,” said the Fairy. She took the Velveteen Rabbit to a place where many rabbits were running and hopping. They soon became friends.

Time went by, and the boy came back from the shore, all better.

One day, the boy went to play in the backyard. He saw some rabbits hopping around. One rabbit was brown all over, another was white, and a third had brown spots. This spotted rabbit came close to the boy.

The boy thought, “This rabbit looks like my old Bunny that I loved so much.”

What the boy didn’t know was that this rabbit was his very own Bunny, now Real and happy to see him again. The boy's love had made the Velveteen Rabbit Real.

Source of photos: 1