The new year came across the village like a rolling wave that could not be stopped. The critters in the countryside liked going about their life in a very particular way. Teri was particular about her weekly family dinners. Harlin was particular about his cup of coffee after work. Natalie was particular about the specific brand of bottled water she bought.
So, in reality, the critters tried to go through each year with their favorite habits. But, as everyone knew, habits cost money.
Heidi poured over countless sheets of paper and scribbled pencil notes. “Oh dear, it just will not do. A 10% increase in the price of simple tea! A 20% increase in the price of carrots!” Her face wrinkled in frustration. Just as Heidi was scanning yet another sheet of calculations, the phone rang rigorously.
Since she needed the break from financial mathematics anyway, Heidi ran over to catch the caller. Normally, she would have sent one of the kids to get the phone.
“Hello?” Heidi asked curiously.
“Is this the residence of the Hopscotch Rabbit Family?” A voice from the other side answered.
“It is. Who is calling, if I may ask?”
“It’s me, Doctor Ben Sweetpea Rabbit.”
“Oh, I could not recognize your voice! Good day, Mr. Sweetpea.”
“Please, please, call me Doctor Sweetpea.” It was known that both the Sweetpea Rabbit Family and the Periwinkle Rabbit Family were very proud of their medical careers.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Doctor Sweetpea. What can I do for you?” Heidi quickly apologized with her tip top good manners.
“Well, I know you live in the countryside. Everything about that setting is supposed to be healthy. The way of life is a new cultural enrichment. The air is the freshest there is. The scenery is beautiful. Any child growing up there must reap great benefits, and I want my son Harrison to reap them, too.”
“Thank you, thank you. But, what do you mean about Harrison? He’s the young one, right?”
“Yes, Harrison is my seven year old son. Why, his cousin Henry is staying in the country for a good number of months, right? I heard my brother in law had that idea.”
“Oh, I see. That’s a coincidence. My daughter Grace is also seven. You mean: Harrison will be like a cultural exchange student?”
“Yes, yes. He can treat the countryside like his boarding school! And, I want you to keep him at your home.”
The adults negotiated the terms, including pay, rules, and dates. Heidi was ecstatic. She loved new visitors, and the money was just enough to keep them on budget this year! Before long, all the critters in her house knew about the giant piece of news.
The day before Harrison’s arrival, Heidi made everyone go through tediously long chores. Bell was to review good manners with all the babies.
Bellia was to scrub the bathtub spick and span.
David was to clean the toilet to a shining radiance. Karen was to go about dusting off every surface in the house.
Skip was to clean up the ash covered fireplace.
Even Harlin helped by assembling a new bed for Harrison.
Heidi, as expected, was busy in the kitchen whipping up the welcoming feast: seasoned boil flour, bakery bread, carrot tea, and baked squash. That night, everyone ate fast and fell asleep fast.
The long day of work took its toll on everyone.
The morning of Harrison’s arrival, Heidi woke everyone up with excitement.
“Please, five more minutes,” Skip begged his mother.
“Absolutely not, Skip. We have company today, and you know it!”
Grumbling, Skip woke up and headed for the bathroom to brush his teeth.
The others were a little better at getting up early. Harlin finished his light breakfast, pound cake with water, and headed off to town in his Family Seven Seater to pick up Harrison Sweetpea Rabbit. Waiting at home, Henry Periwinkle Milk Rabbit was bursting with excitement to see a family member of his.
As the blue car came closer, Heidi yelled, “Get in your places! They’re coming!”
Everyone scrambled to line up outside the house in perfect position. They each had their place in the lineup memorized. Like a scary P.E. coach Heidi paced around her lineup, scrutinizing every detail.
“Skip, fix up that top button a little bit.”
“Yes, mother.”
“Bell, smoothen out your dress. It’s a little wrinkly.”
“Of course, mother.”
“David, stop slouching.”
“Will do, Mrs. Hopscotch.”
“Karen, please stop tapping your foot.”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Hopscotch.”
“Bellia, your bead is a little loose.”
“Oops, sorry, mother.”
“Honey, stop staring at that butterfly. Hopper, please look straight. Henry, control yourself. Grace, big girls don’t scratch their faces.”
When she was finally satisfied, Heidi gave a nod of approval and took her own spot to the right of the children and babies. Slowly, the car came to a stop. Harlin and Harrison Sweetpea Rabbit got out of the car.
“Harrison, this is everyone who lives at our house. Meet Bell Hopscotch, Skip Hopscotch, David Chiffon, Karen Chiffon, Bellia Hopscotch, Honey Hopscotch, Hopper Hopscotch, Henry Periwinkle, Grace Hopscotch, and my wife Heidi Choch. Everyone that I just mentioned, Harrison Sweetpea, our guest for the next year or so.”
The children and babies swarmed to greet the guest of honor, while Heidi swung the door open to the warm home.
“Skip, Bellia, go give Harrison a good tour of the place. Karen, send the babies back upstairs. Bell, set the table well. David, give Harrison this welcoming chocolate tart. Harlin, your cup of coffee is by the coffee table. I know you’ve had an early drive.” Heidi ordered. At once, her little helpers all sprang to their assigned tasks.
Harrison, trying to take in all of the new environment and people, followed his tour guides quietly.
“This is downstairs. Over there is the living room. We have a great TV and four channels! Everyone likes watching TV, but don’t let mother catch you watching TV before finishing the day’s studies. She’ll get mad,” Bellia informed.
“And over there is the kitchen, and here is the dining room. You can come here for some food anytime. Now, come on, let’s go upstairs,” Skip led on.
“To the right is the bathroom. You got your bathtub, toilet, sink, and everything. The neighbors often come by to use our bathroom. It’s so rare to have one with working plumbing and hot showers.” Bellia boasted proudly. Every critter in the countryside knew the Hopscotch Rabbit Family's Deluxe Village House was the best house there was. Not only was it incredibly big, but it also had a well-built plumbing system.
“Now to your left is where Bell, Grace, and I sleep. And that’s your bed, too. Oh, hi, Grace. What are you doing here?” Skip asked.
“I want to get some toys to play with Harrison,” Grace said in front of the shelf.
“Do you need any help with carrying those upstairs, Grace?” Bellia inquired.
“No, big girls do it on their own!” Grace insisted with a toy teacup already in her hands.
“Alright, run along now. Now, where were we? Oh, yes! Do you like your bed, Harrison? It’s brand new, and Dad assembled it himself,” Skip continued on.
“Yes,” Harrison answered honestly, but his eyes were busy staring at Grace, who was reaching for a second toy teacup now. Truth be told, Harrison had been awestruck by the sight of Grace.
She’s so pretty. He thought to himself. Grace seemed to carry a radiating aura around Harrison. She had no flaws. Her bright red overalls brought out her cute eyes. And her face was so perfectly white and smooth. Staring at the edge of Grace’s face, still turned away from him, Harrison got butterflies in his stomach, a symptom of the condition otherwise commonly known as bunny love. It was sweet and innocent.
Skip noticed a slight difference in Harrison, but he waved it off as the guest got used to the new surroundings. “And now, if you follow my sister and I upstairs, we can show you the third floor,” he said. Harrison politely followed the tour guides’ lead, climbing up the white ladder to view the nursery and master bedroom.
All through the information session, Harrison only thought to himself: I need to go say hi to Grace.
He thanked Skip and Bellia for the tour and asked if he could go play with his new friends.
“Have some food first, Harrison. My mother wants you to try some country style recipes. You’ll love boiled flour with lots of salt and pepper. And, Mr. Mason makes the best bread I’ve ever tasted,” Skip recommended.
Harrison tasted a divine meal. He ate a heap of boiled flour with loads of seasoning, one loaf of bread, and a good scoop of baked squash.
“Delicious,” he squeezed out in between mouthfuls. He had never tasted anything like Heidi’s country style cooking. Still, he could not get the pretty Grace off his mind. I have to talk to her today.
When Harrison was excused from the table to play with his new friends, he immediately headed for the bedroom, where Grace had been looking for her toys earlier. To his happy content, Grace was still there, getting the final teapot.
“Hi, Harrison! Nice to meet you. I’m Grace,” Grace introduced so charismatically.
Seeing Grace so directly and hearing her address him made Harrison’s body feel like melting butter. He had nervous butterflies in his stomach, and he could feel internal blushing.
“Hi, uh…, hi, Grace. I’m Harrison, but I suppose you already knew that. Haha,” Harrison nervously chuckled.
Grace always wanted to know as much as she could to build onto her persona of being a mature, sensible girl. So, she peppered Harrison with question after question at her tea party.
“Harrison is joining us,” she said to Honey, who was enjoying a strawberry donut at a small corner of the nursery.
The sisters had already set up a bit of carrot tea and some leftover desserts from the kitchen.
“Yay!” Honey clapped her hands with joy. “Teddy happy,” she proudly pronounced on behalf of her favorite stuffed animal.
Harrison politely accepted a strawberry tart, still delicious if old, and nibbled at the crumbly crust. Grace started her rapid fire of questions to know more about town and the new house guest.
“Harrison, are there a lot of houses in town?”
“Yes, in every color and design.”
“Are the girls there nice?”
“Oh, yes, everyone is nice to everyone.”
“What do your parents do?”
“Doctors.”
“What do people eat there?”
“A lot of things: burgers, fruit, ice cream, bread…”
“Do you like our house?”
“Yes, it’s very nice.”
Heidi’s footsteps could be heard as she walked along the bathroom hallway and climbed up the ladder.
“Grace! Harrison is a guest; you shouldn’t tire him out like that. He’s had a long day, and he wouldn’t enjoy answering all of your questions,” Heidi reprimanded.
“Sorry, mommy,” Grace apologized.
“That’s good. Now, apologize to Harrison,” Heidi ordered.
“Sorry, Harrison,” Grace repeated.
“It’s ok, Grace. It’s ok, Mrs. Hopscotch,” Harrison reassured.
“No, no, you are a guest, and it’s your first day. Such good manners you have,” Heidi praised. “Grace, make sure you take good care of our guest for the rest of the day,” she added.
Throughout the day, Grace behaved like a big girl and took care of Harrison like her mother asked her to. When it was time to bathe, Grace let Harrison take her spot in the showering line.
When it was time for dinner, Grace made sure Harrison got the best parts. When it was time for bed, Grace made sure Harrison was warmly tucked in before going in her blanket herself.
“Good night, Harrison,” she said.
“Good night, Grace,” Harrison said back to Grace, who was already tucked under the covers.
True be told, he felt like the luckiest bunny in the whole world to have spent the whole day with Grace. And, he would not have traded it for the entire Toy Shop and all the toys in the world.