Prologue: Waking in a world of bunnies

'Uh…my head…it hurts so much.' 

A woman with soft brown, freckled skin opened her eyes and immediately shot up. Her head nearly slammed into the wooden banister above her as she blinked. Sluggishly, she came out of her tired state and exhaled. It was moments like that made her wish she had a better sleep schedule. The girl found herself stopping in her hurry to get up, as she could not recognize her surroundings. Instead of being in the messy bedroom, she shared with her cousin, the young woman, was in a barn. Now that she was becoming aware, she realized her bed wasn't a mattress, but a pile of straw. Her jaw dropped open, and she felt her chest tighten. Panic was imminent as her vision became less spotty. 

The only thing that kept her from going into a full-blown panic attack was the sight of something familiar. Something that had a bushy chocolate brown tail that twitched back and forth as it came into view. With beady eyes that made her heart swell, the young woman watched as the adorable rabbit hopped over to her. It wiggled more than it knocked against her foot. She stared at it in a mixture of confusion and utter loss as she tried to figure out what was going on. One minute she had gone to bed in the bedroom she shared with her little cousin and the next she was in a barn with a rabbit. A rabbit seemed to be trying to tell her something as it continued to thump its head on her body.

The girl looked to the side, biting her lip before asking the rabbit a question. “Um, do you want me to follow you?” She felt like an idiot, expecting the animal to understand her. But she didn’t know what else to do with the cutie pie nudging against her. 

The brown rabbit began to make a soft noise. It was hard to hear, but it honestly reminded her of the purrs a kitten would make after being fed milk. Its ears moved as it sat up contently and almost thumped its right foot as if it was cheering for her to get the idea. This led to the young woman getting up from the straw bed, carefully standing, and wiping the straw off of her body. Following a rabbit around wasn’t the best idea, but she had no other choice. She was in a strange place with the rabbit being the only other sign of life currently. And the small creature was fortunate to be with her, constantly making tiny little purrs and clicking noises as it hopped out of the barn. The rabbit moved rather fast too, so she had run after it to keep up and avoid losing track of it in the thick grass. 

The first six minutes of walking weren’t that bad. In front of her, the rabbit had slowed down so she could stop and catch her breath a few times. It did appear inpatient, however, looking back every so second at her. Which was peculiar behavior for a rabbit, in her opinion. A part of her wondered if the rabbit was leading her anywhere. Or if she was just hoping it was due to the strangeness of the situation, she was in. Either way, the woman kept following the rabbit as it bounded around a corner into a dense forest. She cringed as bugs buzzed above her head and birds chirped loudly. In all her years, she had never been much of an outdoor type of person. Instead, she preferred to stay inside and watch TV. Her nerves were going crazy as she watched the rabbit stop in the middle of nowhere. There were no trees here, and the grass was black from seemingly dying.

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‘Now, I’m lost.’ The teenager thought to herself, only to jump out of her skin at a loud crunching sound. The noise was so loud even the rabbit flinched and hurried to bolt behind her. 

She gulped as something, no, someone, came into view. Then she found her jaw-dropping as the girl was met with what had to be over a hundred rabbits and bunnies. From black to brown to even red, there were tiny little balls of fluff bounding over. They looked excited to see her as they made a variety of noises from purrs to little oinks to even one that let out a little yelp that scared her a bit. The teenager was at a loss for words as one white bunny hopped over with a carrot in its mouth, presenting it to her proudly. With a happy little purr, it nudged its head against her leg and dropped the veggie. Unsure of what to do, she crouched down and picked the slobbery carrot up. 

This made the crowd rapidly surrounding her go wild. Feet thumped on the dirt, causing various small clouds to develop into the air. They were having a mini celebration and the rabbit behind her soon followed, bouncing in a tiny circle as if to cheer. A small sherbet-colored rabbit scurried over and dropped a half-digested…something… at her foot. If she wasn’t so shocked, she would have sworn that it poked its tongue out at the white bunny as if to show off. Her chest felt tight as she tried to take everything in. A hundred rabbits had appeared before her, acting like hyperactive puppies. And she still didn’t know how she got here and where exactly she was. One part of her wanted to cry while another had to just laugh.

At a loss for words, she cleared her throat to try to get the crowd's attention. Holding the wet carrot carefully, she decided to just ask them a simple question. “Can you guys understand me?”

To her utter relief, the rabbits stopped celebrating and nodded in unison. “So, I’m not crazy.” She let out a loud sigh and allowed her body to become less tense before speaking again. “Can you guys help me find my way home? I’m, uh, not too sure where I am or how I got here.”

The white bunny at her feet hopped into the air happily, followed by the others. The teenager smiled, finding it adorable as she pocketed the carrot. “I’ll take that as a yes. Lead the way.”