Curious Hiddley, safe and sound!

Kali's cold hasn't really slowed her up at all these last few days. And I don't think her daddy has lost much sleep over it, nor has she. I, on the other hand, seem to be woken easily by her coughing and find it impossible to rest until the coughing fit subsides. So I'm giving up going back to bed until this one ceases. In her sleep she pushes her water cup away, doesn't rest well if I try to hold her so that she is more up right, and she seems more or less unbothered by the hacking. I guess on a very, very small scale, it's another situation in which I feel desperately like I should be able to do something to make it better but have yet to figure out what that might be. She's propped up, we have the humidifier running, and she is on her side. You aren't supposed to give cough syrup anymore, the honey we've tried didn't seem really effective and I'm not so into having honey sitting in her teeth all night anyway, and I'm not convinced the Vics rub did much good either. SO I'm just riding it out and figured it was a good moment to put a short story here that I've been meaning to write. This is one that hasn't been shared with Kali (and won't be for the foreseeable future), but which I want to have here for her to read years from now when I may not pull it to mind so easily.

As many know, Kali's bunny, Curious Hiddley, has been a wonderful addition to our family. He is easy going, easy to care for, gentle, interested in his surroundings, likes being petted and is a very enthusiastic recipient of treats of all kinds. We've enjoyed having him so much and feel like it has been great for Kali as well. It's not that she spends hours with him at any given time anymore, but she enjoys greeting him on her way to school, giving us "cleaning and filling up the water bottle" lessons, finding green treats for him, petting and talking with him and about him.

The other morning I was coming up to the house and for some reason was thinking about what I would tell Kali and how if something happened to Curious Hiddley. I really have no idea why this was on my mind but I had this sinking feeling as I thought about her experiencing another loss. As I came up to the back door I noticed that his pen door was swung wide open. I had a moment of panic and a thought process that I'm sure was much longer than the time allotted for it. I figured Jason had left him out in the outdoor pen the night before and I sure hoped he was fine there. The next minute I saw him laying IN his pen and I moved very quickly to the pen and shut the door before letting the full impact of what I had just discovered sink in.

The short of it is that Curious Hiddley's pen door was WIDE OPEN the whole night and 1. nothing got into the pen and bothered him and 2. he did not jump out to freedom. I'm still baffled by number 2 in particular. Often when we bring him snacks, I have to almost push him a bit farther in his pen because he is so eager to come right to the edge and see what we've found for him this time. When we take him to his outdoor pen, it's hard to keep a hold of him until he is safely inside the outdoor playpen. It baffles me that he turned up this opportunity for freedom. And I'm SO grateful.

I'd like to take from this experience that he is quite happy in his home and I hope that is the case. I also can't help but wonder if there was a little host of angel bunnies guarding the door, warning him that leaving would cause more heartache than it was worth. Whatever the reason, we are glad he is safely tucked in his cage tonight!!