Daily Free-Write January 20, 2021

The rabbit had just finished putting the final touches on his new home with the help of his neighbors, and especially the mole and field mouse who had first greeted him as he dug his new home. What had been a bumble one room plan branched out into multiple rooms including a disco bath, a bedroom, and a nursery.

“Why do you need a nursery? Are planning on starting a family soon?” asked the field mouse when they drew up the plans.

“Yeah, something like that…” said the rabbit, not wanting to give the real reason for his interest in the infantile room.

Now it was all done, and the rabbit’s friendly neighbors were putting away that last of the Rabbit’s items.

“I don’t know why I was so nervous,” said the rabbit, coming back down into his burrow after fixing the mailbox one last time. “They didn’t make fun of my crude diagram or my ideas of what I wanted. Not even the disco ball. They’ve been so nice to me… Hey! D-don’t open that!” The rabbit’s heart skipped a beat as the field mouse unzipped his backpack to put away the last of his things in his bedroom.

“Hey it’s not a prob…lem…” the mouse’s eyes went wide as he realized what he had pulled form the rabbit’s bag. It was a diaper. A diaper too big for a baby. The mouse and the mole blinked a couple of times, too stunned to react.

The rabbit’s face went crimson, then he quickly dashed forward and grabbed the diaper and the backpack.

“Th-that’s really not necessary,” he said, stuffing the diaper inside and zipping up the backpack. He scooted off to the nursery and closed the door before they could respond. He would say they were for a baby if they asked. Maybe they would drop it. “Yeah, that’s what I’ll tell them,” he said, as he stashed the diapers in his backpack under the changing table.

“Tell us what?” asked the mole, who was not right behind the rabbit.

The rabbit jumped and hit his head on the ceiling.

“Guh! Owwwwww….darn my legs…”

“Careful, bud,” said the field mouse. “We didn’t build the ceiling in this room too high. If you want your rooms taller it’s gonna take another few hours.

“N-no thanks,” said the rabbit. Not sure whether to be more embarrassed about what hey had seen or how he just knocked himself flat on his butt.

“What’sa matter, you look like you seen a ghost,” said the mole, bending down to help the rabbit to his feet.

“Nah, he’s just a jumpy little critter,” said the field mouse. “I think he must just like to hide things.”

“You should talk, small fry,” said the rabbit, dusting himself off. “And thanks for the hand,” he said to the mole.

“Small?! I never talked about your size,” said the mouse, crossing his arms and turning his head, but he looked back to the rabbit with a smile and one eye open to let him know he wasn’t really mad.

“Okay okay,” said the rabbit. “And I guess I am a bit secretive. I’m just embarrassed is all. You all are so knowledgeable and experienced. You have so many talents, and I’m just a dumb ol’ bunny.”

“Hey now,” said the field mouse, giving the rabbit a pat on the back. “Don’t think of it like that. We’re all helping each other. Stronger together, right?” he said turning to the mole for confirmation.

“That’s right,” said the mole. “stronger together.”

Thanks guys, said the rabbit, “but can we move it to the living room?”

“Hold up,” said the mole, grabbing the rabbits wrist as he made for the door.

The rabbit felt the tug and stopped, his heart thundering in his chest once more. Were they going to say something about the diapers? Did they know? Did they not like him now? Was he too weird? Would they talk about him behind his…

“You’ve got a little schmutz on your…” the rabbit crossed his eyes to see what the mole was reaching at, but the mole stepped forward and his paws went right past the rabbits little nose to come around his back and envelop him in a big hug.

“What was that for?” the rabbit asked.

“You looked like you needed it,” said the mole.

The three of them went back to the living room to talk to the creatures of the burrow, who had all pitched in to help.

“Announcement, announcement,” said the rabbit, doing his best to get everyone’s attention. The large badger who was standing nearby let out his famous roar that caught the attention of everyone nearby and brought the people from all the other rooms in the rabbit’s living quarters in to see what was up.

“Proceed,” said the badger.

“Uh.. thank you,” said the rabbit, his heart once again thumping at the unexpected outburst. “I just wanted to say thank you everyone. You made my dreams come true. And… well, I’d like you all to stay for a celebration and burrowwarming.”

“I’ll bring cookies,“ said Mr. Hedgehog.

“We’ve got a boom box,” said the one of the fitness fanatic moles who lived next-burrow.

“We’ve got plenty of nuts to share,” said the chipmunks, who lived two burrows down.

“And I’ve got towels,” said the nudist lizard, who stood there in nothing but a towel, which somehow left him looking somehow more naked than the rest of the animals who weren’t clothed.

“Eh… I think we can skip the towels for now,” said the rabbit, with an awkward smile.

Before long, the party was underway, and every room of the house was taken up by animals chatting, snacking, and having a good time.

“Hey, what’s with the nursery?” asked one of the fitness moles.

“Hey!” said the rabbit’s mole friend, cuffing the nosy neighbor on the back of the head while the rabbit’s race went bright red.

“What did I do?” asked the fitness mole.

“Heyyy! Look what I found,” said the lizard, sauntering into the room in nothing but a diaper. “This is much better than a towel!”

“H-hey! Take that off!” said the rabbit, who was about ready to have a heart attack.

“Those are great! Where’d you get those?”

Asked Mr. Hedgehog.

“Oh, I just found ‘em in the nursery,” he said, holding up a couple more. “I don’t know where they came from, you’ll have to ask him.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to the rabbit, who went wide eyed, suddenly the center of attention.

“Eh, uh... hehe, I dunno. The store? Th-they’re not for me!” he added quickly. He looked around for some escape route but there was none. He was stuck here while his neighbors judged him.

“Hey, you okay? Asked the field mouse, grabbing a paper bag he had thoughtfully stashed by the couch. “Here, breathe into this.”

The mole rubbed the rabbit’s back as he sat down on the floor and breathed into the bag. “You’re ok, buddy. Just breathe.”

The music stopped and animals gathered around with concerned faces, and that just made the bunny more nervous.

“I think I know what’s going on here,” said Mr. Badger, stepping in. “Everybody back away, give the little guy some space.” He got down to the rabbit’s level and put a hand on his shoulder.

“I want you to tell the truth. You don’t have to say anything. Just nod for yes and shake your head for no.”

The rabbit looked up to the badger with wide eyes as he blew a final few breaths into the bag. Then, he slowly lowered the bag, gulped, and nodded.

“Are these for you?”

The rabbit nodded.

“Do you have a medical issue we should be concerned about?”

The rabbit shook his head.

“So you just wear them because you like them? For comfort?”

The rabbit nodded head to both questions.

The badger looked around to the neighbors and nodded, like he knew exactly what was going on.

“Tell, me, little bunny. Do these help calm you down?” He held up one of the diapers.

The bunny squeezed his eyes shut and nodded vigorously.

“Would a diaper help right now?”

The bunny’s eyes shot open. He didn’t move. But the badger was patient. Eventually, the bunny gave the most imperceptible of nods.

“Okay then,” said the badger, picking the bunny up.

“As you were, everyone. Everything’s fine. I’m just going to help the bunny calm down. Be right back.”

His authoritative tone reassured everyone, but also let them know that it was not an invitation for an audience.

“So, who wants cookies?” said Mr. Hedgehog, breaking the silence. Everyone resumed their merrymaking and the moles started the music back up on the boom box while the badger slipped out of the room carrying the rabbit. He nodded to the mole and field mouse to join him and the three of them entered the nursery.

A couple of the moms were there watching all the neighbors’ children. The nursery was especially large, though that was not unusual for a rabbit warren.

“Excuse me, coming through,” said the Badger, walking up to the bit changing table and setting the rabbit down gently.

“What… what are you-”

“I think you know very well what I’m doing,” he said, flapping the diaper open, and fluffing it. Soon he was grabbing the rabbit’s ankles and lifting his tush up in the air to set it on the fresh fluffy undergarment.

“You two better pay attention,” said the badger. “I’m not coming up here every time the rabbit needs a change.

“Ch-change?” squeaked the rabbit.

“I never said you had to use then,” said the badger in an even tone. “But you better believe you’re taking a trip right back here next time your little bunny heart starts pounding. Isn’t that right, boys?”

The field mouse and the mole looked to each other, then back to the badger and nodded, wide eyed. Admittedly they had never changed one themselves. That was usually mom’s job.

“Well, come on,” said the Badger. “You can’t see what’s happening from there.”

The bunny covered his face with his hands as he lay there exposed on the diaper, with his two closes neighbors pressing up against the changing table.

“Here,” said momma mouse, handing the badger a mouse plush. “These tend to help keep the little ones distracted while you take care of ‘em.”

The badger nodded and handed the plush over to the bunny, who immediately squeezed it tight and closed his eyes. He used the plush to as a shield between himself and whatever was happening below his waist. He only felt the cool powder, and the bulk of the diaper as it enclosed him, crinkling all the while.

“And that’s all there is to it,” said the badger, sitting the rabbit up and giving him a pat on the back of his diaper. “How do you feel?”

The bunny looked down between his legs, looked back at his butt to wiggle his tail. “It… it feels good,” he said, giving a little smile.

“Good. Then you can keep it on for the rest of the party,” said the badger. “And don’t even think about arguing with me. You need these, got it?”

The rabbit nodded.

“Y-you don’ think they’ll make fun of me?” asked the bunny.

“Not a chance,” said the badger, making a fist. “Not on my watch.”

“No fighting,” said momma mouse. “you’ll set a bad example for the little ones. Speaking of little ones, this nursery would make a wonderful daycare for all the pups…”

Soon, the four for of them appeared in the living room once more. The badger set the bunny down and patted his butt.

“Much better.”

“Hey, broski!” said the lizard, who was still in a diaper. “We’re twins! How about that? These diapers are great!”

The bunny looked up as he heard murmurs of agreement around the room and saw that many of the other animals were diapered as well. His jaw dropped. He was speechless for a minute, then he began to tear up.

“Th-thank you!” said the bunny, and he hugged the bigger lizard around the waist.

“Was it something I said?” asked the lizard, shrugging. But of course he understood what the rabbit meant. He patted the bunny’s back and stroked his fur.

“To our new neighbor. Happy burrowwarming!” there was applause and cheers from his neighbors.

“And guess what,” added the field mouse. “He’s agreed to let us use the nursery as our daycare!”

This drew an excited response as the moms and dads were only too happy for the respite daycare offered.

“So,” said the field mouse turning back to the bunny. “No more secrets, okay? We help each other. Stronger together.”

“Stronger together,” the nearby animals called in response to hearing their favorite motto.

The bunny nodded meekly. “I understand. No more secrets.”

After that day, the bunny no longer hid his drawing skills or his diapers from the rest of the burrow denizens. In fact, it made such a difference in his anxiety, his neighbors took turns  making sure he was diapered all the time. Like badger said, it took a village to raise a pup. And luckily, this one had a daycare that was just perfect for him.

-Written by Champ