Dream Bunnies – Stuart McLean

As this is a transcription, take it with a grain of salt. The author tells the story very colloquially (often
starting sentences with ‘and’) and it is not transcribed verbatim. It’s a cute story, relax, and enjoy.

Dave was walking down the street, holding onto a toy bunny. He was moving fast
on his way to visit his neighbours—the Chaudhry’s. He was talking to himself as
he walked. He was trying to remember something before he got to their house,
something he needed to remember, something he couldn’t remember; he was
almost there and it was driving him nuts. What he was trying to remember was
how the story began. The story began like this: at night, there are bunnies. Dave
stopped and stared at the toy bunny he was holding and smiled.

“That’s how it began!” said Dave

Down the street, less than a block away, Amir Chaudhry was talking to himself
too.
“He’s coming here?” Amir was saying as he paced around his living room. “He’s
coming here?” He said to his wife Rehjita. “To our house? Right now?”
“He said he could help our daughter.” Said Rehjita
“How could he help Fatima,” said Amir “If her own father cannot help her, how
can he help her. He would jolly well give anyone nightmares that one.
“Amir…” said Rehjita, “You said your own self that we were ready to try
anything.”
Rehjita nodded to the window. Dave was coming up their walk.
“It’s a little late to change your mind now.”
The Chaudhry’s doorbell rang.
“I didn’t mean anything this extreme!” said Amir, waving his hands in the air
frantically. “Remember, Fatima, this was the man who was in charge of the punch
at Polly Anderson’s Christmas party.
“Get a grip on yourself, Amir.” said Rehjita. Which funnily enough is exactly what
Dave was saying to himself as he waiting for the Chaudhry’s door to open.
“Get a grip.” He said as he stood on the Chaudhry’s stoup, trying to remember how
he used to tell the story to Stephanie. He’d always begin it the same way: At night,
there are bunnies. Night after night, Dave sat on his daughter’s bed and he began
exactly the same way. And most every night before he said anything more
Stephanie interrupted:
“Where are the bunnies in the day?”
“When everyone’s awake,” said Dave “The bunnies are very quiet and no one
knows where they are.”
“Someone must know!” Said Stephanie.
“Well…” said Dave “I know of course”
“You don’t know everything!” She said.
“Do too!” Said Dave.
“So where are the bunnies in the day?” Said Stephanie “Tell me!”
“Okay,” said Dave, “I’ll tell you. When the sun is out, the bunnies sleep in the
hedges.”
“But I’ve looked in our hedge!” Said Stephanie “And I never saw them.”
Dave smiled and said: “Well their never there when you look.”
“That’s not fair…” Said Stephanie.
“You’re absolutely right,” said Dave “It’s not fair at all, I hate it.”
Stephanie said “okay, okay. Start again.”
And Dave would start at the beginning: “At night, there are bunnies. And when
everyone’s asleep, the bunnies come from the hedges and hop quietly from house
to house.
Sometimes Stephanie would say: “What do the bunnies wear?”
“They wear” said Dave “uhhhh overalls! Overalls that have a hole for their tails,
and a label on their bum that says ‘for bunnies only’. And they carry backpacks,
and in the backpacks…”
“In the backpacks” said Stephanie “The bunnies carry dreams.”
“That’s right” said Dave. “In the backpacks, the bunnies carry dreams, and they
carry dreams because they’re…
“Dream bunnies!” Said Stephanie
“That’s right.” said Dave. “The dream bunnies. And this, is the story of the dream
bunnies. This is the story of the dream bunnies, who come quietly out of the
hedges when everyone’s asleep, and hop softly from house to house, and nuzzle
the children in their beds with their whiskers, and anyone who gets nuzzled only
gets sweet dreams—because the dream bunnies only carry sweet dreams in their
backpacks.”
“Honest?” said Stephanie sitting up.
“I give you my word” said Dave.
One night she asked: “What do they eat?”
“Ice cream.” said Dave. “Rum and Raisin.”
And Stephanie sighed and laid back like she did every night. Lay there thinking of
the dream bunnies who wore ‘for bunnies only’ overalls, and who ate rum and
raisin ice cream, and who came out of the hedges and nuzzled the sleeping children
with their whiskers. Dave would sit quietly on the edge of the bed and wait, or
when he was tired, he’d lie beside her. Sometimes, he would fall asleep before her,
and she would nuzzle him and say:
“daddy, you’re falling asleep.”
Dave would say: “Am not!” and then he’d say: “Where was I?”
And Stephie would say: “You were at the beginning.”
That was one of the rules. If he didn’t know where he was, he’d have to start
wherever she told him. So, he’d start at the beginning again. One night, Dave
drifted off in the middle of a story, and when he woke, Stephanie was sitting
straight up in bed with her arm resting on his shoulder—and she was telling him
the story.
“You were asleep!” she said.
“Was not!” said Dave. “I was just resting my eyes.”
“You were snoring” said Stephanie.
They told the story over and over because it worked. The story about the dream
bunnies who stopped Stephanie’s nightmares. The Christmas she was five, Dave
bought her a velour bunny. He tiptoed into her room and he tucked it under her arm
while she was sound asleep. When she woke up, she saw that she was holding a
bunny. When she came downstairs her bunny was still tucked under her arm. She
carried it around all morning; she carried it around as if she had owned her bunny
for years.
“Always!” she said “I’ve always had my bunny, ever since I was born.”
She played with Bunny for hours. She would put things in Bunny’s backpack, like:
candy sprinkles that you put on cakes, green and sparkly, or maybe, smarties.
She’d say “This is my dream bunny, and these are the dreams!”
When she was ten, she took Bunny to camp. She was nervous that she’d get teased,
so she hid Bunny in the bottom of her trunk. The first night she waited for
everyone in her cabin to fall asleep, and then she sneaked out of bed and rescued
Bunny from the trunk. When she woke up in the morning, she saw bears and
bunnies poking out of every sleeping bag in her cabin. After that, Bunny always
came with her. Once on a family vacation, she forgot Bunny in a motel. They
didn’t notice ‘til they stopped for lunch the next day. They belted back down the
highway her mom and dad all upset and worried tried to reassure her.
“You can slow down.” Said Stephanie, trying to calm them down. “Bunny and I
have talked about this. She won’t go anywhere. She knows to wait exactly where
she is. She knows we’ll come and get her.”
And when they got back to the motel where they’d left her, Stephanie got on to her
knees and pulled Bunny out from under the bed.
“See?” she said
Long after Stephanie was too old to be carrying around a velour bunny, Bunny
went with her. She was so used to having her tucked in the crook of her arm, she
found it hard to sleep without her there. When Stephanie went tree planting, Bunny
went tree planning too. First week, some boys stole her, and tied her to the
cookhouse bell. Stephanie had to get a ladder to get her down. She felt silly, but
not silly enough to put Bunny away. While the other kids were scrunching up
smelly sweaters to use as pillows, Stephanie would reach for Bunny. Like I said,
Bunny went everywhere. And then, one day this fall, Stephanie called from
university and said:
“I forgot to pack my turquoise fleece. Could you send it to me? It’s hanging in my
closet.”
That night after supper, Dave went into Stephanie’s room looking for the fleece,
and there was Bunny, lying face down on top of a shoe box beside a pile of dirty
laundry. Bunny’s coat was all matted. You could see bits of mesh where her fur
was worn away. She had long ago lost her whiskers, but she still had her eyes, and
her original mouth, which were stitched into her face with thread.
Dave smiled at Bunny and said “what are you doing here?” And then he frowned
and said “c’mmon Bunny!” and he took her downstairs.
Morilee was in the living room reading the paper. Dave said:
“Stephanie forgot Bunny!”
“She didn’t forget Bunny,” said Morilee, barely looking up. “She left her here on
purpose. Stephanie is too old for a bunny, Dave.”
Dave said “Stephanie isn’t too old for Bunny, no one’s too old for Bunny. She
always takes Bunny! She forgot! Right, Bunny?”
Dave held Bunny out in front of him like a puppet. Bunny began to nod
dramatically.
“See?” said Dave.
Morilee said “Dave, put Bunny back where you found her. You shouldn’t be
snooping in Stephanie’s cupboard. You can ask her about Bunny when she comes
home.”
Dave said “I wasn’t snooping!” But he put Bunny back in the closet like he was
told.
That night, he couldn’t sleep. He was worried about Bunny locked in the closet.
Dave lay in the dark of his bedroom, and when he was sure that Morilee was
sleeping soundly, he snuck out of bed and fetched Bunny from the closet. He put
her in his briefcase. He left her head sticking out the top so Bunny could breathe.
And the next morning, Dave took Bunny to work. He called Stephanie at lunch,
when he knew she’d be awake.
He said “Hi, how are you?”
Stephanie said “ughhhh, what time is it?”
Dave said “I have your turquoise fleece.” Dave said “I thought I could drive it up
instead of mailing it.” He didn’t mention he was bringing Bunny with him.
It was dark when he arrived. He parked his car on the street. When he looked up,
he could see Stephanie in her apartment window. She was wearing an apron; she
was lighting candles; there was a bottle of wine on the table. Stephanie was
cooking him dinner! Morilee was right. Stephanie hadn’t forgotten Bunny. Dave
stood on the street with his fleece in one hand and Bunny in the other. He looked
down at Bunny and said
“Sorry bunny…” and he put her back in the car.
Then he locked the car, and he stuck the fleece under his arm, and he rang the
apartment bell. He ate the dinner Stephanie had cooked for him, and after dinner he
helped with the dishes, and then he and Bunny drove home: Dave behind the
wheel, and Bunny strapped in the passenger seat. Half way home they switched.
It was late when they finally got home, Morilee was already asleep. So instead of
putting Bunny away, Dave sneaked her into bed. He was careful to keep her on his
side. In the morning when he was making the bed, he slipped Bunny under the
pillow. When he was eating breakfast, it occurred to him: Bunny could be
suffocating. He ran upstairs and gave her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Before
long, Dave was taking Bunny everywhere. When he drove, she sat on the seat
beside him. At rush hour, he strapped her into the child seat in the back. They
thought no one noticed. Sam noticed, and same didn’t know what to think.
Sam said to his friend Murphy, who knows what to think about everything “My
dad’s taking a dream bunny with him wherever he goes! It’s getting embarrassing.”
Murphy said “Does your mother know?”
Sam said “Of course not.”
And Murphy said “Then don’t worry about it! This sort of thing happens to men
your dad’s age! It’s just a stage, he’ll outgrow it.”
It was Murphy who spread the word through the neighbourhood. He didn’t mean
to… Heh… Cheer up! One day his mom asked Murphy about Sam and Murphy
said:
“Sam’s worried about his dad. His dads obsessed with a little bunny.”
“Like a rabbit?” said Murphy’s mom “They don’t have a rabbit.”
“Yes they do,” said murphy who wasn’t really paying attention “they keep it in the
glove compartment”
When people start talking about things they don’t really know about, there are
inevitably misunderstandings.
“Dave…” said Burt Charlington a few days later, “People are talking about you
and a rabbit or something.”
“You mean the bunny!” said Dave. “I just took it to the dry cleaners this morning.”
“You took it to the dry cleaners’?” said Burt.
“I was gonna wash it at home,” said dave, “but I couldn’t bare to put her in the
dryer. And I had to do something, she was starting to smell… You don’t think the
chemicals will hurt her, do ya?
When Burt told his wife Mary what Dave had said, Mary called Morilee right
away.
“Morilee!” said Mary “I just heard some stuff about this rabbit! We have to do
something!”
“You’re telling me.” Said Morilee “He’s been sneaking it into bed with us. He
thinks I don’t notice but its dropping hair. And it smells! I told him he had to get it
cleaned.”
That night, David and Morilee were sitting on their couch, watching the news.
Bunny was sitting in the good chair. Morilee turned to dave—
“Listen,” she said. “You know what this is all about, don’t you?”
Dave looked at Bunny defensively. “I know it’s… silly,” he said. “I just feel… sad
for Bunny. It’s like no one needs her anymore.”
“Are you sure this is about Bunny?” said Morilee.
Dave didn’t say anything. He kept lugging Bunny around for a few weeks, but it
didn’t feel right anymore. Finally, he put her back in Stephanie’s closet. Then one
afternoon a few weeks ago, Morilee met Rehjita Chaudhry in the park. That night
at dinner she said:
Rehjita’s Daughter, Fatima, is having nightmares.
Dave shrugged. “They’ll pass” he said, “remember Stephanie?”
“Yes.” Said Morile. “I do.”
And that’s how Dave ended up on the doorstep of Rehjita and Amir’s house last
Thursday night. That’s how he ended up on the Chaudhry’s couch, with the
Chaudhry’s daughter, Fatima, sitting beside him.
“Could ya hold this for me?” he said—handing Fatima Stephanie’s velour bunny.
Fatima Nodded shyly, Fatima’s a very shy girl. but she took Bunny, and she
cuddled Bunny close to her chest with one bunny arm over her arm, and one bunny
arm under. Dave smiled and took a deep breath and said:
“Do you know, at night, there are bunnies?”
And Fatima shook her head.
And Dave said “It’s true! And I’m going to tell you the story of the dream bunnies,
who come quietly out of the hedges when everyone’s asleep. They hop softly from
house to house, and they nuzzle the children in their beds with their whiskers. And
anyone who gets nuzzled, only gets sweet dreams, because the dream bunnies only
carry sweet dreams in their backpacks.
And Fatima said “How do we know they’re dream bunnies?”
And Dave said “Because I’ve seen them.”
And Fatima said “What do the bunnies eat?”
And Dave said “Now that’s a very good question. They eat baklava.”
Fatima said “Like my mummy makes?”
And Dave said “exactly like your mummy makes.”
And Fatima said “with walnuts and honey?”
And Dave said “Of course with walnuts and honey. Walnuts and honey, are a
bunny’s favourite food.”