The Story of Mr. Rumi

OK, which one of you is making
me the turkey-shaped carrot
loaf this year? I'd better see
some hands in the air!!

This time of year is like One Giant Holiday here at the Lilypad.

Like, really. One Giant Holiday.

From Halloween on. It's Halloween. Then, it's the Chick's Birthday. Then Thanksgiving. Then, of course Christmas.

Fortunately, I have help with my gift buying and idea gathering.

Without this little fellow, I would be LOST!!

What was that? "What little fellow," did you say?

"Go on. Teeeeelllllll them.
Yes.
Do."

Well, it's kind of a secret. But, since Miss Zoe has authorized me to spill the beans...

We have a second rabbit.

He lives in a drawer in the Rabbit Room. His name is Mr. Rumi.

And, at this time of the year, he does all the gift organizing and purchasing.

It's actually quite helpful, if you want to know the truth.

Wait. What? What the %^$#@ am I talking about? OK, I'll start at the beginning.

You see, when we got Miss Zoe at the German Festival that perfect day five years ago-- that beautiful, wonderful, most fortunate day-- we thought we were taking home...well...a boy Rabbit.

It wasn't until we took her to the Rabbit Doctor (sometimes known as a veterinarian) that he said, "Nope. This here's a girl!"

You see, the problem with that was that we'd gone through a whole naming process, in which we had laboriously sorted through names that we liked, names that were suggested, and had finally come up with what we thought was the cutest most perfect name for a Rabbit ever!

Mr. Rumi.

And, now? Our Mr. Rumi was not so much a Mister as a Miss?

It was difficult news for us. What parent wouldn't be thrown for a loop? I ask you? Of course, we loved her just the same. She was still our little baby.

It's just that now, she was our little girl instead of our little boy.

We sat staring at the vet. Staring at each other. Staring at the Rabbit. Staring back at the vet.

The Rabbit Doctor offered up, "What the Hell! Keep the name. Who's going to know?"

"Ah... HELLO?? WE WOULD??" we said/ asked in unison.

"Well, I suppose that's true," he said.

We got home from that appointment, and I said to the Chick, "It's OK. We'll figure this out. We'll think of a new name, and soon, it will be like we never didn't know this information."

The Chick gave me a blank stare.

A few days later, we renamed out little bundle of joy Miss Zoe, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Except that we couldn't quite let go of Mr. Rumi. He lingered in our thoughts. We missed our little boy rabbit.

And so, we kept him. Now he lives in a drawer in the Rabbit Room, and he helps to buy gifts for all the Good Girls, Cats, and Bunnies in the Lilypad.

Strangely, he is identical to Miss Zoe!!! Unlike Miss Zoe, however, he is quite shy.

He even has his own folder on my computer. Once in awhile, I'll get an email from the Chick with the subject line: "For Mr. Rumi." I know that subject line denotes something that she's found that she likes and that, when I got Mr. Rumi out of the drawer during that gift-giving season, she wouldn't be sad if we ordered up.

Who wouldn't be glad for some help with all that stuff, you know?

I'm just saying. If you need some assistance this time of the year, let me know.

It's possible that Mr. Rumi has some friends.

"Just smile and nod. That's what I do."

In fact, you might just want to check that drawer you thought was empty. There might be a Very Industrious Rabbit inside.

Well, there might be! When was the last time you checked?