Listen to thisOuch ! Ouch! The silly rabbit squealed as he turned around to lick his behind. Something had poked him and it hurt. He looked and looked in all directions and even up at the sky. Nothing moved. He scratched his head and tried to figure it out. What on earth had jabbed him? What could cause so much pain right on his little rabbit rump?
Then he heard a deep, deep voice. “Well, it serves you right. If you’d stop running all over the place with your head down and start watching where you are going, you wouldn’t get hurt."
The rabbit looked all around again and turned in circles four times, but he couldn’t see anybody or anything that might have spoken. The only thing close by was a cactus and the rabbit knew it couldn’t speak. He was puzzled.
Then the voice spoke again. “I hope your sore behind will get better, but please watch where you are going from now on. I see you running by here everyday, not looking where you are going. One of these days, that eagle up there in the sky is going to grab you for lunch."
Still not seeing anybody or anything , the rabbit looked straight at the cactus. “Did you say that? Can you speak?"
"Of course," said the cactus, “Now did you hear what I said?"
"I did, I did–but how did I get so–so hurt?" cried the rabbit.
The cactus began to explain: “You bumped into me when you were flopping on by not even watching where you were going. And I am a cactus. We cactuses have sharp spines to protect ourselves and everybody who knows that keeps their distance from us. So you got poked by quite a few of my spines. I do hope it’s not too painful for you."
Right then and there on the desert, a true friendship began. The silly rabbit learned that the name of his new friend was Spike and that he had lived in that same spot all his life. Spike knew everything there was to know about desert life from a cactus viewpoint. He knew a lot about survival in hot, dry places.
The cactus learned that the name of his new friend was Budster and that he knew a lot about desert life from a rabbit viewpoint. From the time he was a baby bunny, Budster had been running all over this area and knew much about other desert animals. He knew some great hiding places for rabbits. He knew where danger lurked.
From then on, Budster came by to spend time with his new friend almost every day. Being a cactus, Spike couldn’t move around the desert, but he was very wise and he began to teach the rabbit many things. There were so many good learning days ahead.
In fact, he taught Budster something the day after they met. It was a very, very hot day’so hot that the silly rabbit was not hopping around at all. He was hardly able to crawl up to Spike’s home “cause he was so hot.
"What to do? What to do? “ said Budster. “It’s so hot I can barely move. How can I make it through this day?"
"Well, come on over here close to me and sit in my shade," said Spike, “But not too close. Remember what you learned yesterday–my spines can hurt you if you get too close, and especially if you are moving too fast like you were when you ran into me."
And so Budster cooled off as he sat in Spike’s shade for the whole day. They talked and talked until it was dark on the desert and time for Budster to go to his own home just over the big hill to the south. On the way home, all he could think about was what he had learned–how cool it was to sit in the shade of a cactus.
On another hot, hot day and a good day for learning, Budster came to visit with Spike. He sat down in the cactus shade as quick as he could.
"Oh my, it’s so hot–and I’m so, so thirsty," whined Budster. “The little creek near my home has dried up and I can't find anything to drink.. How will I survive this heat?"
It was time for Spike to teach his friend another lesson.
He began. “Cactuses can’t move around like you can to search for water. So we store water inside our bodies. We soak up water from the ground underneath and that is how we survive such heat. We have a lot of water inside, but no one can see it on the outside. Cactuses look hard and prickly on the outside, but we are quite soft and mushy on the inside."
So Budster learned that if he took a little bite out of Spike just at the right spot–being careful to avoid the cactus spines–-he could find some fresh water. Never again was he thirsty whenever he visited his friend.
Over the months ahead, Budster taught Spike about his life on the desert. He taught about how he survived by knowing all the secret runways and where to hide when danger was near. He taught about where the other desert animals lived and how they behaved. Coyotes, roadrunners, snakes, antelope, hawks, eagles, fox and even mule deer all lived on the desert and Budster knew who to trust and who to avoid. So as he taught his cactus friend about each animal, Budster also learned when they had been near Spike’s home. He learned when the predators looked hungry and ready to gobble up a tasty little rabbit dinner. He learned to keep his head up and to watch the sky for danger as well as observing the desert all around him.
On another good day for learning, Budster was hungry’so hungry that he flopped down into his favourite spot in Spike’s shade and didn’t even notice that something about his friend was different. Something quite miraculous had happened and he was about to find out what it was.
Budster groaned, “What to do! What to do! I just can’t find any food these days. It’s so hot and so dry–nothing seems to be growing on the desert. Many plants and animals are so weak and thin and some are dying. I just don’t know where I’m going to find some food fit for a rabbit today."
His good friend laughed as he said in his deep, deep cactus voice, “Come out from my shade and around to my other side, you silly rabbit."
Around the cactus Budster ran and his eyes just about popped right out of his fuzzy little rabbit head. There growing out of Spike’s side were four huge, bright red flowers.
"What on earth–-where on earth–how did you get such beautiful flowers in this desert heat? I have never seen anything like them," Budster stammered.
And so he learned how cactuses grow flowers and how they reproduce and more about how they survive where other plants can not. He learned that his friend might look all spiny and prickly on the outside, but he could produce much beauty for the world in his own way, and only when the time was right.
Even though Budster protested and almost forgot how hungry he was, Spike insisted that his rabbit friend eat all four flowers. He taught Budster that more flowers were on their way and that it wouldn’t hurt at all if they were nibbled carefully from their stems. That night Budster went home not a bit hungry. He was amazed at this new learning–just when he thought he knew everything about his friend, he found out there was more to learn.
He smiled and chuckled all the way home and even caught himself saying right out loud, “Imagine a spiky, spiny looking cactus growing such beauty away out here on the desert. Imagine a spiky, spiny looking cactus offering me his flowers for food when I was hungry.
As the years went by, Budster and Spike became good buddies. They didn’t spend every day together but they thought about each other a lot, just like good friends do. When Budster came by to sit in Spike’s shade and talk, it was like they were never apart at all. They talked and talked and laughed about many things–especially about the day they met . About how Budster was running around foolishly with his head down when he crashed into Spike and hurt his little rabbit bottom.
Then one day, another good day for learning, and long after Budster had settled down in his favourite spot in Spike’s shade, his cactus friend began to speak.
"I have been on this desert a long, long time–longer than you may think, my furry little friend. One of these days I will be moving on to another cactus world. But I am prepared. I’m ready to go because I know that my cactus spirit will live on here in the desert."
At first, Budster was shocked. He cried a bit and didn’t really know what to say. But soon he was comforted because he could see that Spike had thought a lot about his life and about how dying is also a part of living. Budster could see that all living things move on and that even he would be moving on to another rabbit world in a few years time. Or sooner if he wasn’t careful.
He could see that Spike was comforted knowing that he had produced some little cactus offspring who were doing well in their own way in other parts of the desert.
At last Budster was able to speak:
"I will miss you so much, Spike. You have taught me many things. You
taught me how to nibble on your side and get water to drink on a hot,
hot day. You taught me to eat your cactus flowers when I was so hungry.
You taught me how to survive by watching all around even up in the sky.
You taught me how to get past the prickles and to find the true beauty
inside a friend. And best of all, you taught me to sit in your cool
shade protected from the hot sun. Many things you taught me I will never
forget. I know I will never forget that there are good days for
learning, You surprised me so often, so I just have to ask, is there one
last lesson you will teach me?"
"Of course," Spike began, “You see Budster, when I am gone you won’t hear my voice, but you will feel my spirit. Good friends are with you forever. You think about them, you remember them, they are part of you, and you are a better rabbit or a better cactus just because you have been good friends.
And one last thing, Budster. Remember that after you no longer hear my voice, I'll still be here and you will still see me. For as long as you may live, you will still be able to sit in my cactus shade."
