Midnight.  Christmas night 2001. Imagine you see the most beautiful and innocent eyes watching you as you hug this sweet and puffy little ball. She was the most perfect and sweetest thing I have ever seen. I fell in love the first time I led my eyes on her. After this night she used to wake me up every single day scratching the walls of her home, trying to remind me it’s time for her breakfast.

We had a ritual every single morning. I took her out of her cage and let her run freely in the bathroom. Every time when I went around I could take a look at her through the open door. She was so very small this first winter and it was really cold. So every time when I went around to look what she was doing I was like “Oh, my God, where is she”???? On the second day I knew she was very clever. Every time when I was surprised where she was, she was on the top of our laundry basket sitting next to the heater.

First she was our little explorer. She was so curious about everything new, and everything that surrounded her. You could see her walking in the corridor next to the bathroom exploring new things. But every time when she was on her journey she knew she should stay in the bathroom where her kingdom was. If suddenly I went in and said: “Hey, little fella, what is going on here?” she would look at me filled with guilt and would find the way to the bathroom all by herself. I remember once, it was so sweet, I caught her on the act. I was sitting in the living room watching TV. Then suddenly I heard a strange noise from somewhere behind me. Oh, what a surprise! I was looking at our little bunny invading the living room (while she perfectly knew it’s a forbidden territory). There she was, trying to hide in the shadow of the table, sneaking in the corner. Well, it was pretty hard for me running in the room, trying to catch her. As I said she was not stupid at all. She tried to hide under every single piece of furniture she found on her way.

This kind of chasing was something usual for us- it happened every single day. This time of the day came when I had to catch her and put her back in her cage for the night. She hated that moment. First she was so trustful. I was going into the bathroom taking something delicious with me. But it worked just for several times. Then she started acting like a little rebel. We had to run all around the bathroom trying to catch her- an exhausting task it was. Then we started trying a new way of catching her every day. First we used her curiosity. We set a trap, knowing she couldn’t miss. We opened our laundry basket, tied a string to the cover (like a mouse trap J ) and waited. It lasted just for a minute. In a blink of my eye she was in the basket trying to dig a hole in the laundry. Next moment the trap was locked. I could see her face saying “Oh, damn it! How could I be so stupid! But wait for tomorrow!” Well, of course on the next day she just looked at the trap and then at me as she wanted to say “Hey you- you think I’m so stupid- try me”. And I found my self again running all over the bathroom trying to catch her... Again J

It wasn’t just once that I felt the sharpness of her teeth.J When she didn’t like something she was aggressive and bit like a little doggy J And just like one she loved her “house” (made of a box) in the middle of the bathroom. But there is something else I could never understand. As much as she loved sitting in her house, she loved biting it and tearing it apart. There was a specific sound when she gripped her teeth deep in the paper box and tore it apart. Once I heard this sound coming from the bathroom (no matter the closed door and the fact I was in the kitchen J ). I found her tearing the box and the parts of it were scattered all around. She was sitting in the middle of this mess, looking at me in a triumph but so happy as if she was on a golden throne.

She was like a little baby in the room. You know every single sound of your baby and if you can’t see but hear that there is something different you can hear the alarm in your head. So here is the story. One night as I was sleeping very deep suddenly I felt there is something different in the room. In my sleep I said to myself “Oh, there is some animal making noise”. Then shocked I woke up and thought “Oh, my God, there cannot be ANY animal in the room.” You can imagine a sleepy person and the stupid thoughts that come to their mind. Then again I fell asleep. After a minute or two I could hear the strange noise again. So in my deepest sleep I thought “It should be the cat”. Totally woke up I jumped and thought “OH MY GOD, WE DON’T HAVE A CAT”. Then I turned the lights on and froze. My little sweetie was just next to me in the bed. When the room was full of light I could see the confusion in her eyes. Somehow she opened her cage and jumped on the bed making noise with her little feet in the sheets. And that’s what I heard.

There are so many sweet stories during these 5 years. Every single day was a sweet story with her. Waking me up, scratching her cage was an every day sweet story. Now there is no cage in my room and the bathroom is empty (although I still can hear the sound of her tearing the box sometimes), and there is no sweet sound to wake me up every morning. But I know she is waking the angels now every morning scratching all over the place. And I know she was the happiest bunny on earth surrounded by so much love. Million kisses Nuna, wherever you are.