The Bunny, the Fox, and the Owl

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The Bunny walking by the reservoir at dusk, Fox and Owl reflected in the water below, carps watching

The White Bunny and the Fox were both very good at being themselves.

Every evening the Bunny hopped around the Reservoir counting carp.

Every evening the Fox knew exactly where the Bunny liked to count them.

One evening the Fox decided to wait there.

Whether he wished to eat the Bunny, become friends with her, or simply complain that life without bunnies was terribly lonely remains unknown.

The Bunny looked up.

“Oh,” she thought.

“A Fox.”

The Bunny quietly turned around as though she had suddenly remembered something very important in the opposite direction.

She decided to go home.

The Fox had already discovered that idea.

He was waiting there too.

The Bunny turned around again.

For quite some time the woods contained one Bunny and one Fox, each behaving exactly as Bunnies and Foxes usually do.

Fox waited for Bunny to come home.

Bunny hopped around avoiding Fox.

How long can Fox wait? — thought Bunny.

How long can Bunny hop before returning home? — thought Fox.

Mother Monkey called: “When are you coming home, Bunny?”

Bunny could not come home — Fox had to be waiting thinking she would come home soon, because she did not know he was waiting.

Fox could not go home — Bunny had to come home soon, because she did not know he was waiting.

Mother Monkey could not sleep — she was waiting for Bunny to come home.

Everyone was waiting in their own enclosed state not knowing what the others knew.

So the Bunny called Owl.

“Owl,” she said, “could you let Fox know that I know he is waiting?”

“How did you get so clever?” — asked the insightful Owl.

“I count with carps every day.”

Fox went home.

Bunny went home.

Mother Monkey went to bed.

Owl went hunting for bunnies and foxes.

The carps were waiting for Bunny to count.