The mouse would not give in. “Then why was she crying?! You didn’t accept her gift! She just wanted to be your friend, you know?!” She nibbled even harder. It did not really hurt as much as it just tickled like crazy.
Powder pounded the dirt as he cried and desperately tried not to laugh at such a silly thing. No matter how hard he shook his big bunny feet, he just could not get the mouse to relent. Finally, the boy shouted, “Please, stop it! I’ll talk! Just stop messing with my toes!”
Gumdrop obeyed but stood nearby waiting to hear the truth. Powder wheezed from the minor torture and appeared to the mouse to be very embarrassed. “I’m sorry for doing what I did, okay?! I just didn’t expect Flopsy to just hand me a gift like that!”
Gumdrop crossed her arms and scoffed. “That is hardly an excuse. Whenever Flopsy surprises me with things, I love it! You do not know how heartbroken she is. You should have seen her. I had to brush her fur extra hard just to get all the stress you gave her out. It was a mess!”
Powder sat on the ground in front of the mouse and rubbed his eyes. “I just… I don’t know how to say it…”
“Say what?” wondered the mouse aloud.
“Well…” Powder finally looked down shamefully and said, “I have always kind of liked Flopsy.”
The announcement had not really sunk into Gumdrop and she replied, “Yeah, but that is still no reason to take her gift and carelessly toss it down to the… Wait, what?” Powder just looked away. Gumdrop quickly dashed over to keep eye contact with him. “You like her?!”
“Kind of,” he replied and turned to look away from her once more.
Gumdrop scurried yet again to keep facing him. “Then why did you do what you did?!”
“I don’t know,” admitted the rabbit. “I feel terrible about it. I have been miserable for the entire rest of the day. I don’t even think I can face her now.”
Gumdrop smiled. “That’s what she said about you! She thought it was something she did that made you run away! All right! You need to come with me right now!”
Powder cocked his head. “Where are we going? It’s getting really late.”
“Don’t worry,” said the mouse. “I’ll talk to your parents. You need to come to Flopsy’s house right now and explain this to her.”
“I can’t!” said the frightened boy. “Not after what I did!”
Gumdrop huffed and pointed at him. “You’ll do it or I’ll nibble on your toes all night till your nothing but a screaming ball of fur!” To this, Powder reluctantly consented.
*****
Flopsy was miserably leaning over the dining room table with her long ears spread out across the table on either side. With a fork buried in her fist she lazily scooped up bits of cake and shoved it into her mouth. Mother Rabbit was watching this from a nearby doorway and thought it was the saddest sight she had ever seen.
When there was a knock at the door, Flopsy did not even move a muscle. Mother sighed and walked over to open the door and was surprised to see who she saw. Powder stepped into the dining room and caught Flopsy with her head down and a fork sticking out of her mouth.
The boy cleared his throat and said, “Um… Flopsy?”
The white bunny slowly lifted her head. When she saw who it was, her eyes went wide, and she simply stared at him with the fork sticking out of her maw. After a very awkward moment, she yanked out the fork and tossed it under the table just to get rid of it. “What do you want?” she asked with a flushed face.
Powder looked terribly ashamed and said, “I’m really sorry for running away like I did. I was just really surprised when you wanted to be my kindred friend. I guess I panicked. The truth is that I want to be your kindred friend too.”
The bunny perked up. “You do? Really?”
The boy was redder than he had ever been in his life. This was a very embarrassing situation for him. Still, he continued, “And I think we should trade sugar hearts too–just to make it official.” Mother Rabbit had been watching from the doorway for the entire time, and she was nearly brought to tears by how adorable the scene was unfolding.
Suddenly, Flopsy was smiling. “Will you accept my gift now?!”
“Of course. I am so sorry that I just dropped it like I did.”
Flopsy wasted no time in running for it. She returned and thrust it into his hands. Powder smiled and looked it over. “I like it. You must have worked really hard on it.”
“Oh, yes,” assured the white rabbit. “I worked on it for a long time before I went to bed. Do you want some cake, Powder?”
“Sure, I guess,” said the boy–still with some nervousness. The two sat down and shared the cake with each other. Mother Rabbit was about to make herself scarce when she heard a little mouse calling her from just outside.
“Is everything all right now with Flopsy?” asked Gumdrop. Mother Rabbit nodded with a smile. The mouse jumped for joy and skipped all the way home.
*****
Kindred Hearts Day finally arrived! All the children of Cottontail Pines came to Oak Pass bearing their sugar hearts to trade with others. It was already beginning to be a wonderful day: new friends were being made, old friendships were being renewed, and sugar hearts were being devoured by those who could not resist.
Within the crowd, Gumdrop met up with Goober and Blacky to talk of their exploits. Goober began with his story: “I ended up giving my sugar heart to Mister Hooty. He told me I was the only one to ever do such a thing, but I still think we ought to respect our teachers and community leaders.”
“That’s nice, Goober,” replied Gumdrop.
Blacky rolled his eyes. “That was a silly person to trade with. I didn’t even know teachers had sugar hearts to trade.”
The brown rabbit raised a finger. “He didn’t actually. But I still don’t mind giving him mine if it makes him feel good for doing such a fine job.”
Well, as for me,” said the skunk, “I gave my sugar heart to my mom this morning. She promised me to give hers back to me so I can eat both of them.”
Gumdrop shook her head with disapproval. “I can’t believe you did that, Blacky.”
“Well, I didn’t wanna eat just one!” said Blacky with crossed arms. “This day only comes once a year!”
“What about you, Gumdrop?” asked Goober.
The mouse held up a tiny sugar heart that was the perfect size for a mouse. “I traded with Tamale the mouse. I think we just drifted apart some, and I wanted to bring us back closer together. She’s coming over to visit me later today too.”
Goober smiled in agreement with her decision. “That sounds great! But where is Flopsy?” Everyone looked around until they saw Flopsy and Powder across the crowd of children.
The two bunnies both stood in front of each other with strong blushes upon their faces. Soon, both of them took from behind their backs their sugar hearts. They looked about the same; although, Flopsy’s was just a teeny bit larger. Shortly, they both smiled as they gazed into each other’s eyes… and traded hearts.
“So,” muttered the boy. “Are we kindred friends now?”
“Kindred friends forever, Powder.” She hugged him tightly, and he hugged back.
The end.
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