Bunny Rabbit by Charlie O'Shields
By Charlie

Bunny Rabbit

Written by Charlie O'Shields

We were visiting friends this weekend and they had placed out Critter Food in their backyard in order to attract the local wildlife. There were two rabbits sitting under a tree nearby, just casually chomping down on the stuff as though they were family pets so I thought I wanted to doodlewash one.

I’ve never personally owned a rabbit, but I was a huge fan of Bugs Bunny growing up. He was always so calm and cool about everything and had the upper hand. He was also a smart ass, so I’m not sure if he was the perfect childhood role model, but I always thought he was cool.

When I was very young, my mother took me to a local amusement park around Easter. There was a giant white rabbit that spoke to you and said cheery things and could magically answer you when you said something. My mom was excited for me to try it, but I instead started walking around behind the big bunny. She asked me what I was doing and I said, “I want to see the guy who’s talking on the microphone.”

My mom was always finding herself both bemused and frustrated while raising a child like me. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy magic and the idea of magical things, I was just interested in discovering how these things actually worked. Upon seeing a giant talking bunny, I didn’t think he was any more real than Bugs Bunny, but I think my mom would have liked me to play along more. She often told other parents, “Oh yeah, Charlie is super smart, but sometimes I think I’d rather trade him in for two dumb ones.”

This was, of course, a joke. Or at least I think so, as she never made good on the threat. And she continued to raise me, and feed me French toast on Saturday mornings while I watched Bugs Bunny. In my head though, I would often imagine the two dumb kids that would replace me. Taking my cue from Bugs I named these Charlie substitutes “Maroon” and “Ignoranimus”. I could see them in my minds eye with their little bobble heads happily enjoying everything as though it were the first time.

No, she wouldn’t have liked them. She was too smart herself and believed life was something to be lived with a healthy dose of humor. I was sad for all the people who lived life without a sense of humor, and were instead, always taking things too literally. My family always looked for the humor in everything, because that’s what makes life fun. Or as Bugs Bunny once quipped, “like the man says, don’t take life too seriously, you’ll never get out of it alive.”

Charlie O'Shields

Creator of Doodlewash, founder of World Watercolor Month (July), World Watercolor Group, and host of the Sketching Stuff Podcast. Sharing watercolor illustrations and stories while proudly featuring talented artists from all over the world!

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31 thoughts on “Bunny Rabbit”

  6. Impressed with your Doodlewash Charlie! ❤️🎨 I do see a hint of humor in its eye though. Hehe! 😉 Your story brings back wonderful childhood memories of Saturday morning cartoons! Bugs was a favorite of mine too! 🐰🐰🐰

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  9. We have a family of bunnies living under our porch that I’m very fond of. They look a lot like your handsome bunny. As for Bugs, can I tell you how many times my son watched “Space Jam” when he was growing up?!

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  10. The bunny looks super soft! I once took in two bunnies from the preschool class my youngest attended for spring break. They were so cute! Unfortunately my son broke out in hives EVERYWHERE! Of course it was the weekend and my husband was out of town. I went to CVS to get Benadryl and they wouldn’t let me buy more than 2 bottles! I had to call one of the other families to take the bunnies.. Lol.

    I bet you were a very inquisitive child, full of imagination. A child like that can be challenging for an adult who has lost their ability to imagine but sounds like your mom wasn’t one of them. 😊

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    1. You probably got off lightly by giving them to other families! Two rabbits (male and female) can produce up to 100 baby rabbits per year – and as they live for about 10-12 yrs , that’s a lot of bunnies! We Brits sent rabbits to Australia back in the day, (they were not indigenous) and they proliferated to such an extent that Australia has been trying to get rid of them ever since; they are cute as anything but quite destructive of young plants/crops.

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  12. A wonderful bunny rabbit, Charlie – definitely looks soft and fit to cuddle to me!

    Haha, Little Charlie strikes again! Perfect. My mother would keep saying that I was adopted and was it too late to go back and swap. She even says this now, though. How cruel, no…? I’ve never forgiven her 😉

    I used to spend hours on Sundays watching Bugs Bunny, followed by some Tom & Jerry… marvellous. I still have loads on VHS somewhere (not that I even have anything to play them on anymore!)

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