Years back, my husband conceived of an educational magic show at the Environmental Education Center where he worked. He built his own equipment and illusions. I sewed all manner of things from stage curtains to assistants' glittery costumes to finding an old tuxedo with tails that could be altered to fit a six-foot-four thin man.
Bunnies were easy to obtain, dwarf dutch white with black tinged ears. The outdoor bunny hutch was built with plans from another century by my husband. My daughter was not yet married; my two sons were young, so they were thrilled at the new pets.
Assured the two bunnies were both the same gender, we housed them together, knowing bunnies can reproduce by six months of age.
The Great Environmental Magic Show was a huge success, held yearly. After three years of entertaining and educating adults and children alike about the water cycle, renewable energy, not using chemical fertilizers, the water purification system if you don't have a well and other pertinent topics, the magician on a Christmas morning found "the brother bunnies" had babies during the night.
We had to beg, borrow, and cajole cages from friends, even using roadside discarded dog houses to convert into bunny hutches. Thirty bunnies, which is too many bunnies. I tried selling them at a garage sale, much to the horror of my children. By day's end, I offered them free if you bought anything.
As fate would have it, some died. Some donated to 4-H members, some given away to breeders. Lucky bunnies escaped, finding true love with wild bunnies. As a magician's wife sworn to secrecy about facts, I believe those bunnies are in bunny heaven or are very very old, telling their great-great-great-grandchildren of strange and dark experiences from inside a magical hat.
BrevityQuest12 (298 words)