In case you didn't know a certain member of the family (initials BJ) was called Cuddle Bunny (at least by me) when she was little.  Will she thank me for reminding her of this - that remains to be seen.  It seems I had to make up another story, probably to get her to take a nap again.

BJ CUDDLEBUNNY


Where's my cuddlebunny?" Papa asked as he sat with the big story book. He patted the small space next to him in his reading chair, and BJ slipped in.

At times like this she thought it was very special and fun to be little. In whole family she was the only one who fit in that little space next to Papa. When he read to them, she got to see the pictures in the book first.

When Mama made cookies, BJ could have the spoon all to herself. Her brothers and sisters had to share the bowl.

Sometimes, though she did not think it was so great to be the littlest. She was not tall enough to reach the cookie jar when Mama put it up on the second shelf. Papa always told her that little bunnies should to stay out of the way when he was working with his tools.

The worst thing of all was that because she was so little she often got overlooked, and left out. No one asked BJ to come along when her sisters went berry�picking. Most of the time they didn't even think about her, and if she asked to go they said no.

"After all, she's too little to reach the tops of the bushes. Besides she couldn't carry many berries anyway," Suzie or Amie would say.

When the other bunnies played games in the meadow they ran and jumped faster and farther than BJ could. She was usually left far behind.

"Wait for me," she'd call as her brothers and sisters hopped away laughing. They never did wait, though.

One day after they left her behind again BJ hopped sadly off in the opposite direction. The only company she had was her favorite bunny-doll, Peaches.

In short time, without even noticing where she was going, she came to the berry patch where her sisters always went. Sitting under a bush she watered the bush with her tears as she talked to Peaches.

"I didn't want to play their silly games," she said. "But it would have been nice if they had asked anyway."

Peaches agreed, naturally. She always agreed with Bj in her own silent way.

They sat together a short while before BJ noticed that there were lots of ripe berries on the underside of the bush she was under. Her sisters had just picked every berry they could find just two days earlier.

BJ ate her fill of berries, and there were still lots left. She decided to take a surprise home for Mama, and Papa.

Maybe she'd even share some with the others if they asked nicely enough. She would clean off the bottom branches of several bushes, and show them that little bunnies could help too.

With long strings of grass that grew nearby she wove a basket that she lined with moss, and filled with berries. BJ placed another layer of damp moss on top to keep them cool. Then she put on a layer of dry soft grass so Peaches could sit comfortably on top for the trip home.

She stopped a couple of times on the way home to pick flowers for Mama, and some mushrooms for Papa's supper. "Listen to all that noise in the valley." %GMK%She said to Peaches as they got closer to home.

At the top of the hill above her home she stopped to watch her brothers and sisters running all over. It looked as though they were involved in some sort of scavenger hunt as they looked into hollow logs and under every bush. All the while they were yelling back and forth to each other.

"Over there?"

"No, not here. How about there?"

As she started down the hill BJ heard a couple of shouts at once; "Look - Up there!"

Suddenly everyone was running straight at her.

"Oh no, Stop!" she called, afraid that they would spill her berries.

In short order her family was all around her, asking; "Where have you been? Why didn't you tell anyone where you were going? What's in the basket?" (The last question came from one brother whose nose had noticed a sweet smell coming from that covered basket.) Before she could answer any of the questions Mama was there looking concerned, and Papa looking very stern.

BJ gave them her basket, after taking Peaches out, of course. She told them where she had gone, and why; trying not to sound mean about it. She couldn't help gloating just a little when she told them about the berries on the bottom of the bushes.

"See, Mama, I could be a big help finding the berries the taller bunnies don't see."

Papa had a very strict lecture for her about going off on her own. Although she pointed out that she wasn't all alone; Peaches was with her the whole time, BJ understood and promised she wouldn't do it again.

The whole family enjoyed special berry turnovers for dessert that night after a lovely salad with sliced mushrooms.

All of the problems of being the littlest didn't change but the others did make more effort to include her in their plans at least sometimes, especially on berry picking trips.

Wizard Bunny

I started this blog to share my stories and I haven't even kept up posting the ones I've already written.

The last one I shared was the first of the Little Princess Stories. The one I'm sharing today was probably actually the 4th or 5th. I had one for Tiel where she was turned into a bird for an afternoon. (her nickname when she was little was T-bird), and I think there was one about the king telling the middle princess (Sara) a bedtime story. There was also one the girls helped make up one day in the car when we were running errands which I remember as turning out very good with all their additions -- we played the story game where each in turn continues the story and they did great. I don't remember if I ever wrote any of those down so I'd need to dredge them up from my bad, old-ladies memory to share them again -- I'll have to see what I can do about that. Anyway, today's story was a favorite bedtime story when the kids stayed overnight at Grandma & Grandpa's house.

Wizard Bunny

Far above everything, and everyone in his tower workroom the royal wizard sat on a tall stool. He was deeply involved in one of his favorite books of charms and lore.
The wizard was the king's most trusted advisor, the queen's friend and confidant. He was also the little princesses' favorite storyteller (next to their daddy, of course).
Here in his tower rooms he worked on plans for the king, studied numerous volumes on magic and strategy. He also practiced his spells and charms for fun and for work.
Today he was so immersed in his studies he hardly noticed anything else. As he read he practiced a gesture suggested in his book knocking over a jar of sparkling crystals.
With a glance at the spill he set the jar upright, and thought; "I ought to clean that up." He promptly forgot it as he returned to his reading.
While he sat there deep in concentration a small mouse ran along the shelf above, tipping over a box of silvery flakes. The flakes sprinkled slowly down onto the table.
Then, just as he was combining a new gesture with his favorite magical phrase Azzle - Dazzle - Dab, the wind blew in the open window, knocking over a leather pouch on the sill. The wind created a tiny cyclone of powder from the pouch, the crystals, and flakes blew up all around him just then.
"Ker-chu!" The wizard sneezed.
"Oh my," he thought. "That felt odd. My sneezes are usually much louder than that."
Puzzled, he reached up to scratch his nose. There, in front of his eyes was a small furry paw where his hand should have been. As he shook his head in amazement he saw two furry-loppy ears flipping back and forth from the sides of his head.
HE HAD BECOME A BUNNY!
Looking down to the floor he realized how far it was below the stool. He couldn't jump down from way up here in his present state. He hopped up onto the table to survey the situation, stopping to look first at the remnants on the table.
"Interesting," He thought. "Those are the ingredients of a changing spell."
He considered his options. Most of these spells were harmless, and wore off on their own in time.
"I can't do much work in this shape," he thought. "And I do deserve a break. I think I'll go play with the princesses. Just wait till they see me!"
So the little lop-eared wizard-bunny hopped carefully around the top of the table looking for a way down. Jumping first onto a pile of boxes, then to a shorter stool he finally reached the floor safely.
At the door, however, he had another problem. It was only open this much ] [. Not enough room for a chubby little bunny to get through, and he hadn't the strength to pull it open. He scratched and pulled with one little paw until he was finally able to pull it open this much ] [. Pushing his nose into that space, he wiggled and squirmed until he could squeeze in first one shoulder, then the other; finally his whole body popped through.
At the top of the long, winding stairway down to the main part of the castle he looked down in dismay.
"Oh dear," he thought. "I forgot how many stairs there are in this silly tower."
Stalwartly he began to descend - down, down, down he hopped.
Soon he felt more disheartened and tired than stalwart. About halfway down he stopped to rest, puffing and wheezing.
Looking both up and down the stairs he decided it was probably easier to go on down than to go back up. So he set off again - down, down, down, down until he finally reached the bottom.
At the bottom landing he rested a little while as he looked at another large door, which was only open this much ] [.
In went one paw again to scratch and pull until he got it open this much ] [, and could fit his nose in. Wiggling and squirming, he finally squeezed through into the hall beyond.
First to greet him as he hopped into the hall was the king's favorite hunting dog, Rex. It was very unusual to see a bunny inside the castle, and with a loud, excited "Woof" Rex began chasing the wizard-bunny. Up and down the halls they ran, in and out of so many rooms that the wizard lost count as they ran under and around furniture and people. He finally escaped by slipping into one room where he knew Rex wasn't allowed, the kitchen.
The cook's chief assistant quickly shut the door in Rex's face as he tried to chase his quarry into that forbidden room. Neither he nor anyone else noticed the little bunny hiding under the table. There the wizard-bunny sat quietly until someone opened the outside door.
The head gardener was on his way out, after bringing in fresh vegetables for dinner and visiting for a bit with the cook. When he saw a bunny headed into his garden he let out a yell, and another chase began.
Up along rows of lettuce the wizard-bunny ran, then back through the corn with the gardener close behind. Finally he found a bush to hide under where he watched the gardener run past.
Free at last to hunt for the princesses, the wizard hopped off into the flower garden. Just around some tall rose bushes he came upon them playing with their cousin.
First to see the bunny, Cousin Whitney let out a squeal; and they all ran after him. Forgetting that he wanted to play with the girls he dashed off.
Before they had gone far, he recalled his original plan. Stopping short he tripped the littlest princess who was closest behind him. Rolling over in the grass, she sat up giggling.
The middle princess grabbed one of this legs to pick him up. That hurt, so he let out a shriek, and she promptly dropped him.
"That's not how to do it," said the oldest princess, cradling him gently.
Everyone gathered around to pet the darling, chubby little bunny.
It was the littlest princess who first noticed something strange about this bunny. "Look!" She exclaimed. "He has a white star on his head, just like the wizard has in his hair."
"You're right." said the middle princess. "and here's a chain and medallion like the wizard wears on his neck."
Just then a clock in the castle began to chime the hour. When it finished the charm time ended. There sat the wizard, happy to be himself again.
The princesses laughed gaily as he related his adventures to them, and the littlest princess agreed that there were far too many steps to his tower.He was much too tired to climb all the way back up right now. So he stayed in the garden telling them stories, and making the flowers dance until dinner time. Then they all went in to tell the king and queen about the exploits of the wizard-bunny

Naptime

It had been a simply glorious morning. The princesses played outside most of the day, but as lunchtime came members of the royal household began to worry that this was just the sort of day that made it so hard to get the littlest princess to take her nap.
Whether they live in a cottage or a castle most little girls would rather play than nap and the littlest princess was no exception. Playtime was so much more fun, and there were so many places to play. The three princesses often played in the large garden behind the castle. Sometimes the littlest princess played alone with her dolls in the maze near the castle.
When it came time for her nap, though, it took everyone’s best efforts to get her to cooperate. The oldest princess would bring her toys to play with so that maybe she would fall asleep while she played.
The middle princess shared stuffed animals with her little sister. The right one might just cuddle her into a dream.
Her papa, the King, played lullabies for her on his harmonica. He was really quite talented, and a soft, pretty tune soothed her restless little body.
If all other attempts failed Mama would read to her from her favorite story books. Mama's quiet, comforting voice eased the way to dreamland like nothing else. But day after day, in spite of all their efforts the littlest princess would say, "I don't want to sleep, I'd rather play," before finally going to sleep.
After lunch a tired little princess went on her own to her room. Everyone look at each other with relief until she came out again; and said, "I can't sleep."
The oldest princess looked up from the picture she was drawing.
“I left some toys in your bed." She said, "Why don't you play until you get tired.”
The littlest princess shook her head stubbornly at her sister and said “I can't sleep in my bed."
“I’m sure the stuffed animals I left in your bed are tired, why aren’t you?" The middle princess asked.
The littlest princess shook her head again, “I’m telling you I can’t sleep in my bed."
Right then Mama came in from the flower garden with her arms full of beautiful flowers. She was getting ready for a party at the castle that evening.
“I don’t have time to read to you right now dear,” Mama said. "But I left some story books to look at. If you just look through them for a while I'm sure you'll get sleepy soon.”
Papa came into the room while the queen was speaking. He listened with a smile on his face, sure that he had the answer.
“The wizard charmed my harmonica to play your favorite tunes. It's just waiting for you to tell it what to play. Won’t you please take your nap now?”
The littlest princess looked around the room at the puzzled faces of her family, and said, “I can’t sleep in my bed because it's too bumpy!”
With that everyone rushed to the littlest princess’ room. They saw a small bed with covers all bumped up over toys, stuffed animals, story books, and a magic harmonica. There was simply no room for a sleepy little girl.
So, the oldest princess took away all the toys.
The middle princess removed every stuffed animal except one very cuddly one.
Mama read the littlest princess' favorite story as the king played a sweet lullaby for a sleepy little girl. Then they tip-toed quietly out of the room.
And the littlest princess took her nap.