A Tribute to Oreo

we know you're out there somewhere.

    Oreo came into our lives during the summer of 2001. A week before our yearly trip to New York, my family and I were watching an episode of Goosebumps. In this particular episode, there was a magician and a rabbit. Being the age I was, and after seeing the rabbit on the TV screen, I immediately began to ask my father if we could have a bunny. He said he'd think about it. It had been a while since we'd had a pet. Our last pet was Hammy the hamster, who had died a year back. I had been longing for another pet for a long, long time. Then, one day my brother went on AOL and was talking to my cousin in New York, who we were going to visit in a week or two. Coincidently, her family had adopted a family of baby rabbits! She described them for me, and they sounded adorable. She even asked me if i wanted one to take home with me! So I ran to my dad to tell him the good news. He agreed! So I ran upstairs to tell my cousin that we would take one bunny for sure.

    Picking Oreo out of all the bunny's was difficult. By the time we got there there were 4 left. My little sister named them, Jimmy, Fluffy, Oreo and Muffin. Each of the rabbit's had their own distinctive personality traits. Jimmy was the genius. When you'd call his name, he'd immediately perk his head up and run over to you. Fluffy was the cute one, the smallest one there. She was also a very pick eater. Muffin was lazy. She was a bit big and hard to hold. Usually what she'd do is lay around and eat. Oreo was the most amazing of all of them. Sure, she wasn't as smart as Jimmy, as small as Fluffy, or as big as Muffin, but she was still a great bunny. Oreo liked to run around and dig holes. She liked to lay in the shade with her siblings. I'm not sure exactly what I saw in her, but in the end I chose her to take home with us. Our cousins told us that we should take another bunny with us so Oreo wouldn't feel far from her family. So they gave us Fluffy.

    The next few years flew by, but Oreo was always by my side. We'd put her in the backyard with Fluffy. Both of them would play around and enjoy the weather. In the wintertime they'd play indoors. Oreo was the most amazing pet. All of my friend's loved her. People who hadn't seen her wanted to. Oreo was also a great friend. For the few years we had her, she'd always lend an ear and listen to me. As stupid as it was to tell your problems to a rabbit, it was nice to talk to someone who would just sit there and listen. Fluffy was also a great rabbit, although she always seemed to be more outspoken then Oreo. The way I saw it Oreo was the shy one, and Fluffy was the one with lots of energy.

    Sadly, our darling fluffy died on Feb. 16 2003. Just like anyone would be, I was devastated. No one could tell how she died. Mommy came home from work one day, and just saw her lying dead in the cage. Oreo did not take fluffy's death well. In her eyes you could see deep sadness. Immediately after that, Oreo's whole behaviour took a major change. Instead of happily hopping around the yard, she began to look for ways to escape our backyard. Sometimes she was successful, and we'd have to run around to find her.

    For the next couple years Oreo was still a bundle of joy. But she was always angry it seemed. The whole family did their best to keep her happy, and we did. But whenever we let her out into our yard, she'd dig huge wholes to stay in, or she'd escape to another yard. It began to annoy me, but I still loved Oreo all the same.

    This summer on our trip to New York we brought Oreo with us. She always enjoys it there. Our relative's yard was full of green grass and all sorts of plants and weeds we couldn't offer Oreo back home. One day, I went outside and gave Oreo some water. I patted her on the head and quickly closed the cage, then ran back inside to go over to my cousin's house. While I stayed there with my siblings, it seemed like forever until my parents and aunt and uncle showed up to pick us up. By then it was late night, so I assumed my dad already fed Oreo, which is something he'll do for me if he knows I'm tied up and can't do myself. 

    The next day went smoothly. Before going to church, I asked my dad if he had fed Oreo. He hesitated, and said yes. I walked away and got ready to go. Later that day, at my cousin's house, my uncle came over to me and my sister. He said he had bad news. Then he said "The bunny went missing yesterday. That's why it took so long for us to pick you up. We looked all over the place until it got dark. We would have told you, but we didn't want you to panic...after all we had to go to church earlier today." I was devastated. Since I was surrounded by, let's say, 15 family members, I said, "It's alright, thanks for looking."

    I remember all the good times I had with Oreo. Like the time me and her watched a Beethoven movie together. Or the time she went missing and we looked around for her for hours, and she was hiding in my neighbour's bush. I don't know if she's alive or dead. But I hope she's happy wherever she is. I guess Oreo wasn't meant to be kept in a cage. Freedom was something she longed for. And I'm happy she got it. I hope Oreo dies the death she probably always wanted to-in the wilderness, not in a cage. I know I'll see her again.

But for now, goodbye Oreo.....

and thanks.....

for everything.