The Pink Mushroom

 

The rabbits at K. C. Bunnyborough have woken to a sweet fragrance in the air.   Mr Know rolls over in bed and says to Mrs Know, (who has been up half the night feeding Herb and Hebe).  ” I can smell the pink mushroom.”  “What pink mushroom?” she asks tiredly as she can also smell a fragrance .  “It is a mushroom that appears any time in the year and in any place and has sweet syrup that only rabbits can drink.  The pink mushroom produces a fragrance for six days when the syrup is ready to be collected and then the mushroom dissolves if the syrup is collected or not.  The fragrance from the pink mushroom is produced only at night and lingers in the air in the mornings.  I must get up and signal (by thumping on the ground) the males to meet at Twin Trunks so I can explain to them about the pink mushroom."

 

The male rabbits responded quickly to Mr Knows signal and garther at Twin Trunks.  Mr Know tells them the story about the rare pink mushroom.  They can all smell the fragrant perfume.  Mr Know tells the rabbits to search in pairs to search for the pink mushroom.  Mr Grayson and Mr Grayson/Blue are to go together Richard Grayson and Terry Tan are to go together    But first they are to go home to get a container to fill up with the pink mushroom syrup and explain to their families what you are going to search for.  Do not separate from your partner.  Mr Know tells Mr Chocolate and Mr Dot to go back home because they don’t know this area well enough and also K. C. Bunnyborough need a couple of males to be there to protect the females and young rabbits if other rabbits arrive in a group looking for the pink mushroom they could get aggressive. 

Meanwhile, Mrs Lemon and her family have woken up and can smell the pink mushroom fragrance and Mrs Lemon is similar with the story of the pink mushroom and has experience the pink mushroom episode before. Rabbits from all over the country try and find the pink mushroom when they smell its fragrance. It is the male rabbits that go on behalf of their communities because there can be aggressiveness, jealousy and fighting to get some of the syrup. The rabbits not in communities or rabbits that have lost family members also go because that is a chance to find lost family members and meet friends. Mrs Lemon lives next to Tree Hut Park. She tells the boys to hop to the park and have a look around from the Tree Hut. Some rabbit has taken the ladder away! The Lemon twins, Len and Larry can quickly climb up onto the tree hut. They look around in all directions but cannot see a pink mushroom.

 

Mrs Lemon asks them if they would like to go to look for the pink mushroom.  Len and Larry are very keen to go and start hopping towards the bushes.  “Stop!” calls out Mrs Lemon, “You need to take a container with you to put the pink mushroom syrup in.” Mrs Lemon hops home and gets two containers. 

The twins turn around and hop back to pick up the containers from Mr Lemon.  “Be careful and keep out of trouble. Don’t stay away for more than six days. Today is day one." she says.

 

That evening they meet  a horned beetle they ask if he has seen the pink mushroom.  To which he replies “Yes, go through the bush and over the hill.”  The twins thank the horned beetle, who has scuttled away.  They decide to sleep overnight  where they are because they have been hopping all day.  Now that they know where to go it will be easy.

Richard and Terry have been back to their homes  to get a bottle and have met at the lamp post ready to leave. They take a while to decide which way to go. Terry thinks the pink mushroom smell is stronger if you face the east so that is the direction they start hopping. They hop until the sun starts setting and then decide  to stop and sleep through the night.

 

They were so tired that they woke late the next morning. They stretch and continue to hop towards the east.They come to a river and see Ricky and Ruth Rattie swimming.They stop and join them in the river and have a fun time playing in the river.  Terry tells Ricky he and Richard are searching for the pink mushroom and invites him and Ruth to join them.“Oh, no.” replies Ricky, “We search for our food every day we don’t want to travel with you when you don’t know where you are going!”

Mr Grayson and Mr Grayson/blue, decided to leave in the evening because the fragrance is stronger at night. They hopped until dawn.    Mr Grayson/blue climbed the rock to survey the area to see if he can see the pink mushroom, bu he can't. Mr Grayson picks the strawberries, (they are ripe when they are white) for them to eat then they go behind the rock to sleep during the day.

 They wake at twilight and eat some more strawberries and start hoping towards the direction of the pink mushroom scent. The next morning they come across some hedgehogs who tell them that other rabbits have hoped this way searching for the pink mushroom.

 

 

Mr Know also left home in the evening and hopped until dawn and he found a place to sleep during the day by a tree trunk. The next evening when he awoke his friend Brasso from way up north was beside him. Brasso is also searching for the pink mushroom. They decide to search together.

 To be continued…