Alice needed a boost so on the afternoon of their anniversary Roscoe zipped himself into his rabbit suit and headed towards her office.
Twenty years before, he’d been doing his Easter Bunny routine for a chocolate shop when a car skidded into a school group. He heard screaming as he lumbered across the road. The woman glaring his way was Alice. He remembered her throwing up her hands and gesturing like she was pulling her head off.
Oh yeah, the rabbit suit. He removed the head and the screaming stopped.
‘Are you trying to scare them to death?’ she’d said. ‘This one needs a splint. Find me something straight.’
Roscoe hadn’t checked the gas. When the car spluttered to a halt he pulled on the fluffy feet and rabbit head and ran the last three blocks. The street near her building seemed unusually busy. He spotted Alice at the top of the stairs and hopped through the crowd his arms extended for a cheer up hug. ‘Happy anniv——’
Crash! A burly security guard brought him down.
Alice screamed. The crowd in front of Parklake Pharmaceuticals cheered. The rabbit head fell off. Alice screamed again. A chant went up. Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit.
That’s when Roscoe remembered the animal rights mob that had caused Alice so many problems at work.
2011-Richard Holt / small stories about love (smallstoriesaboutlove.wordpress.com)
small stories about love 