The Adventures of Whittles PART-1

 The Adventures of Whittles 

Whittles, a tiny little rabbit, jumped and leaped around in the forest along with his friend Naari. They loved living in it! He had soft white fur, big black eyes, and two cute little ears sticking out of his head!

Naari said in rabbit language, ‘Hey Whittles! Want to race to the tree at the end of the forest? I’m pretty sure I’ll defeat you!’

Whittles laughed, ‘Nice joke,Naari ! I will definitely win!’

They both raced towards the tree, but however… Whittles ran past the tree and lost his way! Whittles cried out, ‘Naari ! Where are you?’

Sadly, rabbits have very soft voices, and Whittles could not hear Naari and neither could she! He saw two big men walking towards him and holding a big cage. They looked hideous with their moustaches twirled up and their faces covered with dots! Whittles tried hiding, but the men caught him with their big hands and pushed him into the cage. Whittles blacked out.

The next day, Whittles could see only his cage and other cages of his fellow rabbits. He saw a little boy whose name was Anil coming towards him. Anil had brown hair, chestnut eyes, and was dressed in a simple shirt and shorts. Whittles tucked himself in the corner of his cage, and Anil talked to him in a soft voice, requesting him to come forward. Although Whittles could not understand, he felt a strange sense of comfort towards Anil.

Whittles came and squeaked at Anil. Anil stuck his finger in the cage, stroking his brown fur, which had once been white. The man who captured Whittles came and unlocked the cage, handing over Whittles to Anil. Whittles curled up in Anil’s warm hands and fell asleep.

By the time Whittles woke up, it was evening, and he was in a big house furnished with sofas, beds, and huge walls. Anil came and said softly, ‘Little rabbit… what should I name you?

Hmmm… I’ll name you Whittles because you are white and very little!’ Whittles felt very lonely because he was reminded of Naari and his home and turned away at this. Anil immediately gave him some nuts, thinking he was hungry. Whittles hopped onto the window, and he froze .

He saw the big huge trees that he used to explore and the lily flowers that he used to eat. Unfortunately, the window was closed, and Whittles couldn’t get out. For a few weeks, Whittles felt very homesick until Anil started taking him for walks. He always wanted to go to the forest, but Anil held him back. He wished he could talk to Anil about his misery.But how ? He,was only a rabbit and it was impossible to communicate to humans in his own language.

Anil’s grandparents only lived with him. Whittles grew very close with Anil’s grandmother, who seemed to understand Whittles.

She said, ‘Oh Whittles, they caught you from the forest and they handed you over to Anil! I know you might want to go to your home but if you leave , Anil would be heartbroken.’

For a few years, Whittles kept Grandma’s words in mind, trying to comprehend them. He could not solve the puzzle and understand the meaning behind those words. After all, he was only a small rabbit, and he could not understand human language. He gave up and faithfully obeyed Anil, accepting that he could never go back.

However, one day in the middle of the night, a fairy came and whispered to him, ‘Whittles, you are bound to your home and need to return to the forest. You shall start speaking the language of the mortals, the human beings.When you are with humans you will speak their language,when you are with your kind ,you will speak rabbit language. I have granted you this, use it wisely.’

Whittles remembered Grandma’s words and understood them. However, he had a different goal in mind other than returning. He wanted to release the other animals stuck in the same place as him.

In the morning, Whittles woke up and said to Anil, ‘Anil, my best friend, I need you to do me a favour.’

Anil was startled and thought it was a dream, but everything around him was real, so he replied,

‘Yes, Whittles. What would you like from me?’

Whittles slowly said,

‘I loved my home, the forest which you live next to. However, if I returned to it, you would be heartbroken. My only wish is to release the other rabbits, close the shop, and free them into the forest.’

Anil angrily said,

‘Whittles, what are you thinking? That pet shop is my Uncle Ram’s business, and you think of sabotaging it? Think of Uncle. He would lose everything. He is working every day for his wife, his three kids, and repaying the shop loan! And don’t think about going to the forest, you are my only friend, please don’t leave.’

Whittles said, ‘Anil, you talked about Uncle’s family. Think about the other rabbits and me. We are caught and forced to leave our family and live in another house. Do you think this is fair? This causes misery and sadness to all of us. Please, I will stay with you, but let those rabbits go and close the shop. We also have homes and we belong in forests. Jobs are replaceable, but families aren’t.’

Anil finally sighed and said, ‘Okay Whittles, I will do as you say. We will go on Monday, release the rabbits, and burn the shop.’

Whittles said, ‘No, don’t burn it down. Try persuading your uncle to use other alternatives. Maybe you could start a bookshop—so many books in your shelves, which contain valuable information, lay untouched and they gather dust.’

Anil said, ‘Okay, we will take care about that, but first we need to find a way to dodge the CCTV cameras in Uncle’s shop… Aha! We stuff them with newspapers smeared with glue! How’s that, Whittles?’

Whittles said, ‘That sounds really good! First, where will the key be?’

Anil said with a serious face, ‘That would be in my Uncle’s bedroom drawer, which creaks a lot. He returns every day at eight o’clock. I would visit him every day at 9pm, and I would leave by 10pm, which is the time when he would sleep. He checks for his keys at 9.30pm every day and he would leave it untouched. Maybe I could bring you along!’

Whittles said, ‘Good, good! What if, that night, maybe he checks his drawer again?’

Anil said, ‘My friend Chaalak knows how to forge keys and make them out of cardboard. He used to be a thief, but he’s stopped it now. However, he still knows how to do it and sometimes playfully pranks Thatha with cardboard keys. I’ll ask him.’

Whittles said, ‘Guess we’re all set. I hope you persuade your uncle to rethink about his shop. Till then, you keep the keys and try talking to him. We ace at teamwork Anil !

Anil smiled , 'Anything for my best friend !'

Anil and Whittles consulted Chaalak and he gladly agreed, only too happy to see a talking rabbit. They waited for Monday. Monday dawned upon them, and fate would decide what would happen that very day.

Anil said, ‘I hope for the best.’

TO BE CONTINUED…