Kathy ruffles his hair, inspects the rabbit cage, and notices the carrot on the ground.

She taps the cage. “Is Fuzzy, not hungry?”

Billy shrugs. “I dunno, Kathy. He’s being a bad bunny today!”

“Just like his bad bunny brothers and bad bunny sisters!”

Kathy says, “You’re wrong, Billy…”

Billy looks up at her.

Kathy looks down at him. “He’s been a bad bunny since yesterday…”

Billy is shocked. “Whadda ya mean?”

“Whadda ya mean?” He tugs on her coat.

Kathy bends down to his height. “…Fuzzy bit me…right here…”

She holds out her finger. It has a small bandaid around it. After peeling it off, Billy is overcome with a gutwrenching pain as he stares at the ever-so-faint bite marks on Kathy’s finger.

“Noooo! Fuzzy did that?” Billy starts sobbing. “No!”

Sobbing even harder. “FUZZY CAN’T DO THAT! FUZZY CAN’T DO THAT!”

“NO! NO! NO!”

“Shhh. Hush. Don’t cry, Billy. Don’t you cry, sweetie.” Kathy kisses his forehead. “I’ll be fine.”

“But…”

“What should we do now?” Kathy ruffles his hair. “I guess Fuzzy doesn’t like me…”

Billy scowls and shoves away his tears. “I HATE Fuzzy!!”

“I don’t like him either, Billy!” Kathy laughs.

She pokes the side of her head and then Billy’s. “It’s like we are in sync!”

Billy blushes then he perks up! He’s got an idea! A wonderful idea! “KATHY! If we don’t like him…”

“…let’s fix him!”

Kathy smiles. “Billy…that’s a wonderful idea!”

Billy jumps up and down. “IT IS! I KNEW IT! I THOUGHT THAT TOO! THAT IT WAS WONDERFUL!”

“Ok…”

“…no peeking!” He points at the cage.

Kathy puts her hands in front of her eyes. “Like this~?” She coyly peeks between her fingers and sticks out her tongue.

Billy runs behind her back and tries to desperately turn her around. “No! No! No, Kathy!”

“Ok, sweetie~♥” Kathy turns to look off into the distance.

Billy retakes his position. “Ok!” Pointing again at the cage, directly at Fuzzy…

The rabbit has a glint in its eyes as it brushes its fur.

Billy scowls at the bad thing. “Bad Fuzzy!”

Kathy smiles as she hears a wonderful sound from Fuzzy!

“BAD! BAD! FUZZY!” Billy’s voice cracks and strains. “BAD!”

“BAD!”

Billy is justifiably upset as the veins swell up like weeds on his forehead. He has put up with Fuzzy’s naughty behavior for long enough. This is the last straw. Billy has every right to hate the scoundrel!

No, not just Fuzzy. Billy hates every bunny that has ever lived.

Bunnies are BAD! VERY BAD! They never eat the carrots! They never do anything funny like in the cartoons! They are boring! They smell! The ungrateful vermin don’t even appreciate the safe and spacious homes provided to them!

And worst of all…one of them bit his precious Kathy! UNFORGIVABLE!

“BAD!” It’s Fuzzy’s fault.

Fuzzy troubled Billy with these VERY BAD thoughts for being a VERY BAD bunny. Fuzzy is to blame!

“BAD!” The words and the feelings crash against the walls of Billy’s poor mind.

…

…

…

“Kathy?” Billy tugs on her coat.

“Can I see now, Billy?” Kathy prepares to swing around.

Still holding onto her coat, Billy tries to pull her back the opposite way. “Ah! Wait a sec!”

“Keep your eyes closed!”

Kathy obliges, keeping her eyes closed, as she turns around with the help of Billy’s tiny arms.

“Ok…now!” Billy says.

Kathy opens her eyes and gasps.

“…do you like it?” Billy tilts his head against her side.

“Billy…no…” Kathy begins to say.

For a moment, Billy feels his stomach drop.

“I LOVE IT~♥” Kathy pulls him in tighter.

You see, Billy used his special gift to fix Fuzzy…to improve Fuzzy…make Fuzzy into something they both could love!

He fixed Fuzzy’s annoyingly cute eyes! By gouging them both out. He fixed Fuzzy’s picky eating habits! By cramming his stomach with hay, bloody straw poking out of the chest…some bundles didn’t go all the way down his throat…

Two other cages of Fuzzy’s minced and VERY BAD bunny siblings surround their VERY BAD bunny brother…

Billy fixed all of them with his special gift. Billy is the only one who can see it…The Glint. After all, Billy is the only boy in the whole wide world that can use The Glint. He is proud of his gift, proud it is only for him!

However, there is something even greater than it or himself that he loves with all his heart…

Billy buries his face in Kathy’s embrace. Her title is Dr. Kathleen Foley. His gift led him straight to her! Every day he experiences endless love, warmth, and joy.

“It’s about time for dinner! I was thinking ice cream!” Kathy says.

“Oh golly! Ice cream again!” Billy grabs her by the hand.

In vain, he tries to yank Kathy forward. “Come on. Come on. What are we waiting for?”

“Aren’t you forgetting that?” She laughs, pointing behind them at the drawing still stuck on the tree trunk.

Billy blushes again. “...oh…that…”

He points at the doodle. Billy then sees a glint across the wrinkles of the paper. The doodle snaps the wrinkles out…lifts itself into the air…spins like a frisbee…and shoots over into Billy’s open palm!

Kathy claps. “You’re getting faster with it!”

“…but you, little man, better not grow up too fast, ok~?” She pinches Billy on the cheek. “Hey! Are you gonna let me see it~?”

Billy shakes his redder than red face no.

“Ok~♥” Kathy kisses him on the cheek.

If Billy’s face was red before, it’s now in a meltdown state. Hand in hand, they enter the long red brick building.

Kathy’s personal laboratory. Billy’s personal playground. Their home. Site 4801.

No, it’s more than a home. It’s their castle. Kathy is the princess, and Billy is her prince. Every day on this island hidden from the world is like living in a fairytale. It’s ok if the story ends as long as Kathy is by his side.

-Dear Diary,

I called Kathy “Mommy” today in class…

GOLLY! I was so embarrassed that I wanted to cry!

Before I even could…she tried to hide it…but I saw a small tear in her eye.

I wonder why?

Haha, that all rhymes!-

-CHAPTER END-