A Prompting - 3. Bunny Humor

Mark slapped the alarm off at the first buzzing. He was ready for his first marathon run of the year; he had been preparing to run it for months. After rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he reached for the bed-side table-lamp and switched it on before swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He was confronted with the pill bottle and a glass of water, his first act each and every morning. These were new and only his fourth day of taking this particular anxiety med. It was one of the reasons for his having taken up running; it was a natural way of coping for him, in addition to the medication.

'Do I feel better?' he thought, and the answer he gave himself was, yes, he did. The new meds seemed to be working rather miraculously for him. This time.

"Time to get this show on the road," he said aloud. After popping the pill and washing it down, he headed off to shower with thoughts of the run and a strategy he hoped would help him beat his best time.

Grabbing his duffel by the front door, Mark opened the door and stepped out. The sun was just beginning to brighten the sky enough to make everything easy to see and the air smelled crisp and fresh. He locked the door and made quick work of the steps before turning for his car and suddenly stopped. A pure white bunny wearing a vest—and if that wasn't odd enough—carrying an over-sized basket filled with colorful eggs in the crook of one front leg, stood on its hind legs on the sidewalk between him and his car in the driveway.

"I'd forgotten," Mark said. "It's that time of year, is it?"

The bunny nodded his head.

"Well, I don't suppose one of those is for me?" Mark asked, pointing at the basket.

The bunny shook his head.

"Humph."

The bunny titled its head and shrugged.

"Well, then. I guess I'll be on my way," Mark said. He skirted the bunny, walking on the dew wet grass, never losing sight of it and the bunny turned to keep him in sight as well. Mark opened the car door and threw his duffel bag onto the passenger seat, and taking one last look at the bunny he hopped inside and closed the door—but not before a piece of paper fell out and onto the drive. Starting the car and putting it in gear, Mark looked back over the seat and backed out of his drive and then sped off.

The bunny rose up on its hind legs and hopped–walked over to the piece of paper and picked it up. It read:

SUSHINE PHARMACY, INC. (555-123-6789)

321 Medical Lane, Boston MA 02116

Prepared for: Mark Madison

Drug Name: Skruital 20mg

Common Uses: For treatment of anxiety and depression.

The bunny scanned further down the page…

POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS:

SIDE EFFECTS that may occur while taking this medicine include headache or trouble sleeping. CONTACT YOUR DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY if you experience fever, chills, or persistent sore throat; general feeling of being unwell; or hallucinations.

The bunny's mouth pulled back on each side of its face and it made several short-sharp barks in a row. Which, if you knew the bunny, was clearly laughter. The human wouldn't know what to believe. Raising up on its hind legs, the bunny made its way to the front steps and hopped up them to the stoop. Setting the basket down, it hopped over to just under the mailbox and with a mighty leap up, managed to knock the lid of the box open. One more leap and Mark's drug description paper was safely inside.

The bunny hopped–walked to the edge of Marks lawn before pausing. Setting the basket down, it plucked one colorful blue egg, having gold trim, from it and returned to Mark's front steps, and placed the egg in the very center of the first step – and hopped quickly back to its basket, making short-sharp barks all the way.