Nancy the Rabbit

When the sun shined, Nancy the Rabbit loved to come out and play where it was warm. She rolled in the grasses and flowers of the field, and played many rabbity games with her brothers and sisters. One day, while the rabbits played Catch the Tail, a shadow loomed over their friendly meadow. The rabbits quickly abandoned their playtime and ran to hide. But it was too late! Bang Bang! went Farmer Johnson's shotgun. Soon, one, two, three little rabbits lay in bloody lumps on the ground. Farmer Johnson scooped up the rabbits and put them in his worn burlap sack. His fingers were old, and they trembled with hunger. As he felt the supple flesh of the rabbits, he thought of how it would ever be enough to feed his family. The rabbits were young - it wouldn't be enough. Someone would have to go hungry again. He sighed, and straightened his aching back, looking at the setting sun. Perhaps there would be something else on the way home. As he plodded home, weary and silent, thinking of his youngest son, the one who would smile and clutch his legs as he entered the house, Father and Mother Rabbit came out of their hole. They stood by the remnants of their children in the fading grass and fallen leaves, and as the last rays of the sun illuminated their faces with bloody light, their whiskers quivered. Then it was dark.