literature

The Bunny From The Swamp!

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“Bunny, I’ve got it!” Katherine shouted, squeezing her friend’s arm in excitement.

“You’ve got what, Kitty?” Bunita asked, slipping her arm free.

“The twist I need in my story for my Creative Writing class,” Kitty explained.  “You remember how Princess Tabitha was captured by that evil wizard?”

“Didn’t you tell me she escaped by tying her bed sheets together?”

“Yes,” said Kitty, “and my teacher tried to say that didn’t make sense, because how could there be enough sheets on her bed for the thousand-foot drop down the tower, but I overcame her silly objection by pointing out that there had to be more sheets for Tabby to use in the linen closet.  That shut her up, but then she raised another objection – she’s always raising objections, but I have to admit she was right about this one – which is that the story was just too straightforward, for Tabby to escape so easily like that.  It needed a twist, and I’ve got it!”

“But what is it?”

“Well, what happens is Princess Tabitha escapes, like I said, and the evil wizard realizes she’s gone so he comes after her, of course…”

“And he captures her again?”

“No, Bunny,” Kitty said impatiently.  “Tabby is much too smart for that.  She goes some way the wizard doesn’t expect, so he can’t find her.”

“So she gets away,” said Bunny.  “Good for her, but what’s the twist?”

“I was coming to that!  She’s out on this dusty plan thinking she’s safe when sees another tall tower belonging to another wizard, one who’s even more evil, and he captures her, so she’s worse off than ever.  Of course, it needs a happy ending, so I’ll have to think of one, but what do you think so far?”

“I think you’re going to be a great writer,” Bunny said.

Perhaps one day Katherine would be a great writer, but for today, there were bills to pay, so she earned her living working assorted jobs as a bunnygirl.  She wore a leotard, sky-blue trimmed with white, with matching blue high heels, nude stockings, a fluffy white tail, a bow tie and collar, and bunny ears on a headband in her dirty blonde hair.  Her friend, Bunita, worked as a kittygirl, with a leopard-print leotard, black go-go boots, fishnet stockings, a long tail, a collar with a heart pendant, and leopard ears in her hair that was brown as dark chocolate.

“Kitty!  Got a job for you!” Horace Badminton yelled.

“Coming, Mr. Badminton!”

Kitty hurried to the window, because she knew Horace would give the job to someone else if she kept him waiting for even a second.  She thought that was a terrible way to treat someone, but she had to put up with him, since he ran the only employment agency in town that dealt in her specialized line of work.

“Head to this bakery,” he said, handing her a slip of paper.  “The address is on there.”

“Oh, are they having a grand opening or something?”

“It’s not for the bakery,” Horace explained.  “A birthday party.  The client’s a scientist, named Eugene, um, something.  You jump out of a big cake.  Get to the bakery, though, so they can get you inside the cake.  They’ll get it where it needs to go.”

“Oh, right, of course,” said Kitty.  She glanced back at Bunny, feeling a bit guilty.  She felt like asking Horace to give the job to her friend instead, since she’d been waiting longer, but Horace’s scowl made her realize if she suggested that then he’d simply give the job to someone else altogether and make both Kitty and Bunny wait forever before he’d offer them anything again.

So, with a sigh, she took the paper and hurried to the address.

She needn’t have worried for her friend, though.  Less than a minute later, Horace called Bunny to the window and she was on her way as well.

………………..
“Happy Birthday, Eugene!” Kitty exclaimed, bursting up through the cake.  “Best wishes on your special day, surrounded by friends and family… oh, my, where is everybody?”

“I’m here,” he said.  “Me, Eugene, the birthday boy.  And you’re here, of course.”

He looks just like a scientist, Kitty realized, down to his lab coat.  He wore a party hat on his head and held a noisemaker in one hand.

“Well, many happy returns, Eugene,” Kitty said as heartily as she could manage.  “My name’s Katherine, but everyone calls me Kitty.  Could you help me down, please?  I’d rather not get too much frosting on me if I can help it.  Yes, thank you.  You’re very kind.”

“I’m glad you think so, Kitty,” said Eugene.  “You’re very pretty.  Would you like some cake?”

“I’d rather not,” Kitty decided.  “It isn’t a proper cake, you know, just a structure for me to hide in that’s had some frosting slathered on top.”

“Oh, I have real cake,” Eugene said eagerly.  “The scrummiest cream cake.  Let me cut you a slice.  It’ll go good with a glass of milk.”

“No, thank you, Eugene.”

“Oh.  Well, get on with your bunnygirl routine, then.”

“I afraid all I do is jump out of the cake and wish you a Happy Birthday.”  Kitty didn’t add that if it had looked like a nice party then she would have stayed and enjoyed herself, but who threw a party just for himself?  “Now that I’m done, could you call me a taxi, please?”  Kitty’s cellphone was in her sky-blue handbag in her locker at the employment agency, since Horace Badminton didn’t allow her to take it with her on jobs, saying it didn’t fit the bunnygirl look.

“No taxi can come out here,” Eugene said.  “I live in the middle of a swamp, so I can work in peace.  I’m a biochemist, and there are all kinds of unusual plants and animals for me to study, but I’m pretty isolated.  There isn’t even a proper road.”

“That must be one,” said Kitty, “or else the bakery wouldn’t have been able to deliver here.”

Eugene paled and coughed nervously.  “Are you sure you won’t have a piece of cake?  It’s made with the very best cream.”

“Call me a taxi, Eugene.”

“I’m afraid I can’t,” said Eugene.  “I misplaced my cellphone and now I can’t find it.”

Kitty didn’t believe that either, but she didn’t see the point of arguing.  “You can use your laptop to call the taxi.”

“Got a virus and won’t turn on,” Eugene explained.

“Then you can drive me back to the employment agency.”

“Car battery’s dead.  I’d call the auto club, but, no phone.”

“Then I’ll walk back,” Kitty decided.  It wasn’t as bad as it sounded, since she figured she wouldn’t go far before someone offered her a lift.  People always offered her lifts.  That was usually convenient, except for the interruptions it caused on her five-mile jog every morning.

“Oh, dear, I wish it hadn’t come to this,” Eugene said sadly.  He pressed a button on his desk.

“Eugene, what are you doing‽”

Kitty tried to turn away from the mechanical hands that sprang from the wall, but they moved directly towards her, guided by Eugene as he sat at his desk.  Some of the hands held her, while others wound bright yellow ropes about her!

“No, Eugene, don’t tie me up!”

One hand tied rope about her ankles, some of the strands running between her legs and some running under her shoes.  Two more hands tied two ropes around her legs.  Another hand tied her wrists behind her back.  Three more hands tied ropes about her torso, holding her arms in position.

“Eugene, let me go!”

“I can’t let you go, Kitty.  You see, it’s lonely out here in this swamp and I haven’t had a girlfriend in ages.  So, I got the idea to call the employment agency.  I was hoping you’d agree to stay on your own, but if you won’t, then I’ll make you stay!”

Kitty twisted in the ropes.  They were tied very well, she realized.  “Eugene, let me go!”

“You keep saying that,” Eugene complained.  “Stop it, or I’ll have to gag you.”

“I won’t ever stop demanding you let me go!  Let me mpfff!”

Just as promised, Eugene placed his handkerchief into Kitty’s mouth, which was wide open.  He smoothed several strips of packing tape over her lips, careful not to get any on her hair, though.  “Must keep you looking pretty,” he explained.

Kitty wrinkled her face and pushed with her jaw and tongue, but the tape stayed in place.  “You won’t escape,” Eugene said confidently.  “You’ll stay here forever!  You’ll be mine forever!”

....................
Eugene spent the next several minutes gleefully outlining his dreams of their life together while Kitty looked around the small room, which seemed half a living room and half a science lab.  She hoped to find something sharp she could use to cut herself free, but it seemed Eugene had anticipated that, because her alert eyes couldn’t even find a small pair of safety scissors lying handy.

“Soon you too will come to share my fascination with the variety of life that can be found in the swamp.”  Eugene picked up a fat, green frog from a tank to show Kitty.  “Including, if I am correct in my analysis, this species, never discovered before.  If that is, in fact, the case, then I shall be permitted to give it its scientific name.  I could name it after you, Kitty.  Would you like that?”

Kitty shook her head no.  She didn’t want a frog named after her; she wanted to get out of here!

The frog gave a dissatisfied croak and hopped out of Eugene’s hand and back into his tank.  “It would be quite an honor,” Eugene insisted.  He hiccupped and raised a hand to his mouth.  “Ulp, excuse me.  I think I may have had too much cake and milk… excuse me… need the bathroom….”

He dashed off.  Kitty heard a door slam behind her.  She was alone.  This was her chance to escape!

She bent her knees and leaned forward slightly, jumping into the air.  Her high heels made a loud clack as she landed on the wooden floor.  She glanced over her shoulder in alarm, hearing indistinct noises from the bathroom.  She had no idea what Eugene was doing.  She honestly didn’t care, either, just so long as it kept him busy for a while.  Clack, clack, clack, she hopped over to the door, figuring that if Eugene hadn’t heard her the first time he wouldn’t hear her now.  She twisted her body around and groped blindly for the doorknob.

“Sorry about this,” Eugene called out.  “Shouldn’t be long.  Ulp!”

“Take all the time you like!” Kitty thought, swinging the door open.  She hoped outside and pushed the door closed as quietly as she could.

It wasn’t much of a road, but it was there, all right, snaking past Eugene’s small cottage.  “I knew there was one,” Kitty said to herself.  “The big liar.  I’ll follow it until someone comes along to help me.”

Kitty bent her knees for a hop towards the road, wondering which way led back to town.  Left or right?  After a couple hops, though, she stopped and reconsidered.  Was following the road the right thing?  It struck her that her situation was remarkably similar to Princess Tabitha’s in her story.  “A scientist is just a modern-day wizard,” she thought.  “There doesn’t seem to be any traffic way out here.  It could be hours before a car comes along, and before then Eugene might find me, because that’s the way he’ll expect me to go, and then I’ll never have a chance to escape again.  So, like Tabby, I’ll have to go some unexpected way.”

And in a few hops, she was in the swamp.

Squelch, squelch, squelch.

Kitty had escaped while bound and gagged a few times in her life by hopping away, just as she was doing now.  She usually found landing in her high heels jarring, so she was pleased to find the soft mud cushioned and steadied her.  Unfortunately, she paid for the easier landings by having to make much more of an effort jumping up.  “I hope I don’t get stuck in here,” she thought anxiously.  “At least I can’t lose my shoes, since Eugene tied them onto my feet.”

Squelch, squelch, squelch.

An alarming thought struck her and she turned her head to look behind.  Was she leaving tracks in the mud for Eugene to find?  No, she could see the water oozing back into the mud, obliterating all traces of her escape.

Squelch, squelch, squelch.

For just an instant, she thought she saw an indistinct figure moving far off to the side, hidden by the tall cattails that grew everywhere.  Kitty tried to call for help, but the gag muffled her cry.  “Whoever it was is gone now,” she thought unhappily.  “I wish I had gotten their attention.  Or maybe it’s better I didn’t.  What if it’s Eugene, out looking for me?  I hope he doesn’t find me!”

Squelch, squelch, squelch.

“Does this swamp ever end?” she thought.  “Or am I going around in circles?  I’ve been hopping forever!”

Just then, she spotted a small house in the distance.  “Finally, I’m getting somewhere!”  She found new energy to hop forward, but then paused.  That house looked an awful lot like Eugene’s.  Had she gone around in a circle after all?

“Oh, please don’t tell me I did all that effort for nothing?”

She had only had a brief look at Eugene’s house as she had escaped, but, the more she looked at this house, the more convinced she became that, while it looked a lot like Eugene’s, it wasn’t quite the same.

“What a relief!  I hope someone’s home, though.”

Someone was home, because the front door suddenly opened.  Kitty gave a muffled scream of fright, remembering again how much her situation resembled that of Princess Tabitha.

For the man standing there was wore a lab coat, just like Eugene!

“I’ve got to get away!” Kitty told herself.  “I didn’t do all that hopping just to wind up in the hands of another mad scientist!”

It was too late, though.  He had seen her.  With a shout, he ran to her!

………………..
“It’s okay, Kitty, you’re safe now.”

“Thanks to you, Melvin,” Kitty replied.

Kitty’s fears had vanished.  Melvin had been gentle with her, speaking calming words and as he untied her.  They were inside his house now, with Kitty wrapped in a blanket Melvin had offered after introducing himself.  Not that Kitty was cold, but Melvin had assumed she must be after being out in the swamp so long, and since it had been kindly offered, Kitty hadn’t felt she could refuse.

“Who could have done such a mean thing to such a pretty bunnygirl?” Melvin demanded.

“All I know is he’s a scientist too, with a house out here, and his name’s Eugene,” Kitty explained.

“Eugene!”  Melvin frowned.  “I know all about him, with those gadgets and machines he builds.  He’s always up to trouble.  Well, I can build gadgets and machines, too!  I’ll teach him for making you unhappy, Kitty.”

“Oh, please don’t!” Kitty said.  “It’s all over, now that I’m safe, Melvin, and I’d hate to think there was any trouble because of me.”

“He deserves trouble, but of course if you ask me not to then I won’t.”  Melvin handed her his cellphone.  “You’re welcome to call a taxi, Kitty, although I’d be glad to drive you back into town.”

“Yes, that would be fine,” Kitty said.  She looked around.  “Why, Melvin, have you had a party today?”

“Yes, indeed, it’s my birthday today.”

“How strange, you have the same birthday as Eugene.”

“That’s the only thing we have in common,” Melvin said.  “Well, that and us both being scientists.”

“Well, Happy Birthday, Melvin!” said Kitty.  “I wish I’d been here for your party.”

“I wish you had been too, Kitty, although there’s some cake left if you’d like some.  It’s carrot cake, interestingly enough.”

“Why interesting?” asked Kitty.

Melvin poured out two glasses of juice.  “Well, because you’re a bunnygirl, and bunnies are supposed to like carrots.  I know, I’m being silly.”

“No, I understand what you mean,” said Kitty, switching her glass for Melvin’s, as his back was turned to her while he cut some cake.  “Just in case he put something funny in mine,” she told herself.  Not that she thought it was likely he had, considering if he was up to anything he’d had his chance earlier when she was all tied up, but her earlier experiences were making her cautious.  “Just in case there’s anything in it that’ll make me turn green and grow gills or something like that.”

Kitty ate her cake, which she found delicious.  Melvin drank his juice and did not turn green or otherwise show any ill effects from it.  A few minutes later, he drove Kitty back to the employment agency.  Kitty gave him back his cellphone, after storing her number in it for his future use, and Melvin gave her leftover carrot cake in a box tied up with bright purple ropes.

“It’s about time you’re back, Kitty,” Horace growled.  “Any idea where Bunny is?”

“No, Mr. Badminton,” she said.  She wished Bunny were back, since she had a lot to tell her friend.  What a day it had been!  Her adventure made her think about her story for her Creative Writing class.  Perhaps she could change it so that Bunny found the tower of a good wizard instead of an evil one.  That could be her twist.  Only… she wasn’t sure that was much of a twist, come to think of it.  It was the start of a twist, but it needed a certain something extra, but she couldn’t think what it could be.  Her real life experiences wouldn’t provide any further inspiration, since they had ended without that extra.  She’d been captured by a one-hundred percent villain, and then released by a one-hundred percent hero.  Nothing more.  Well, she’d think of something to complete her story.

In the meantime, though, she wondered about her friend Bunny.  It wasn’t as if she could call her, since Bunny’s cellphone was in her handbag in the lockers.  Hopefully she’d be back soon.

………………..
Curiously enough, Bunny too had an adventure.

Squelch, squelch, squelch.

The kittygirl hopped through the swamp.  She was tied with bright purple ropes and gagged with packing tape, carefully placed so as not to get any on her hair.  She slowly made her way towards a house she saw in a clearing.

As it happened, it was Eugene’s house.  The biochemist was outside, wondering where Kitty had escaped.  He gave a shout of astonishment when Bunny hopped into view.  He hurried over and, speaking gentle words, untied her in moments.

“Who could have done something to mean to such a pretty kittygirl?” he demanded a few minutes later, once they were inside.  He handed Bunny a slice of cream cake.

Bunny ate it greedily.  “Some scientist with a house out here named Melvin.”

Eugene frowned at the mention of his rival’s name, but Bunny soothed him with a few words.  They chatted a few minutes longer and then Eugene drove Bunny back to the employment agency, since there was nothing whatsoever wrong with his car or the roads.  He drove off again with Bunny’s cellphone number stored in his phone, after having given her the leftover cake in a package tied up in bright yellow rope.

“Bunny!  I’ve had such a day to tell you about!” Kitty exclaimed when her friend walked in.

“I don’t think it could top my day,” said Bunny.  “Let me tell you all about it.”

It was a very disillusioning conversation.
If I’m not forgetting anyone, I’ve had three damsels wear bunnygirl outfits over the course of my stories on deviantART.  Katherine “Kitty” Hopper was the first and the only one to do so in more than one story.  She’s a semi-regular of mine, this being the fourth proper story in which she’s the main character.  She’s appeared in a few drabbles and repertory stories as well.

In Kitty’s last story, we discovered she is taking a Creative Writing class, with Kitty observing how the plight of her fictional character, Princess Tabitha, somewhat mirrored her own circumstances.  I did that as an entertaining way to empathize certain points.  As I plotted this story, I realized that would work well here again.

Bunita, or Bunny to her friends, is a kittygirl who made a very brief appearance in one of the repertory stories listed above.  She gets a more proper role here as a human Chekhov’s gun.

Horace Badminton appeared in Kitty’s last story as the owner of a used-tire shop.  For some reason, he is the manager of a temporary employment agency in this story.

Eugene is a mad scientist who has interacted with a couple of my characters.  It is interesting to note that the last time he made an appearance he tied up another damsel in his efforts to convince her to remain with him as his girlfriend.

Melvin makes his first appearance here.  Although he is technically a new character, he isn’t that original, for, despite his treatment of Kitty, he is basically just another Eugene.

© 2014 - 2024 David-presents
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Golavus's avatar
Always nice to read a David-Presents bunnygirl story on a Sunday morning. I loved this one, especially the twist at the end, because, shockingly, I actually felt quite sorry for Eugene. Glad that everything (sort of) worked out in the end