It's 10:30pm on a Saturday night and our doorbell rings. We aren't expecting anyone. It is not altogether unusual for our doorbell to ring at odd hours since we live in an apartment above the church. But I've tried really hard to kindly discuss with people the fact that it's not super helpful for us when people show up unannounced before 9am and after 9pm, so it happens less these days. Depending on the day, I'm varying degrees of cheerful (like quite-a-bit to not-at-all) about having to immediately stop whatever I'm doing (or likely, cooking) and quickly put on answer-the-door-appropriate clothing and rush outside and downstairs before the person rings for the 4th time. This cold night already in my PJs I am not at all interested in answering the door. And I say as much to my roommate Anna. Thankfully, she is in a more patient mood and says it's probably better to answer the door.
We walk out onto our balcony and look over to see who is below at the door. Oddly enough, there is no one there. But in the dim porch light we see a box at the door. I immediately say, "Yea, there's no way I'm going to get a box that someone left at our house at 1030 at night, rang the bell, and ran away. There's just no way it can be good." And Anna says, "I'll go get it!" I stand on the balcony as she goes down and as she opens it I hear her says, "It's a body!" It's a WHAT???? A body?? "Noooo, not a body, a BUNNY!" And that is supposed to make me feel better?
Meet the bunny.
He is in a box with some food and a little towel with a note written on the box saying (in Romanian), "For Bebe, please take care of this bunny. Thanks, and don't judge me." No signature. Bebe is a Romanian who helps lead the Romanian church that also meets downstairs. He and his family used to live in this apartment. Two years ago.
So Anna goes to work googling around trying to figure out what we should do for the bunny. He has a little food (cabbage, carrots, and apples) with him, so we figure he'll be fine at least until the morning. Initially we let him run around the apartment, but we quickly realize he's marking his territory with little poop pellets all around the perimeter of our living room. So we decide he needs a more contained space in which to mark his place and settle on our 10x3 foot entryway. We clear it of anything edible (e.g., all our shoes) and shut him in there. And of course we make a few Skype calls to show our friends our hilarious new acquisition. We find him to be a friendly furry fellow, seemingly a baby bunny, and also seemingly malnourished. We're pretty amused at the whole situation, so we're ok hosting a little bunny for the evening.
Because it's late, I don't call Bebe, but I think, "I'm sure Bebe will know who this is from, and tomorrow morning after their church service we'll get this all sorted out." Right? Wrong. Bebe has no clue who it could possible be from, says he doesn't want it, and suggests we "set it free." Set it free into the snowy city where 14 street dogs within a one block radius would consider a bunny a massively tasty feast? Yea, but no.
So now we have a bunny that needs a home. And food. And water. And we need to deal with his poop and pee. Which would be all well and good if we had chosen all that, but being given those responsibilities is not so much helpful. Our little bunny is the source of much entertainment for us and all our friends. He's reasonably friendly and likes to sit on people's laps and be petted. And Zeke and Marit find it simply adorable. He decides upon his bathroom place, and we put a little plastic tray there so we can easily dispose of his p&p. We take an old shoe box and put a few towels inside for its bed. And we begin the search for a home.
After 10 days, we find a home for our furry friend, The Bunny. Which I refused to name during the whole 10 days, because names imply relationship and/or ownership, and that implies emotional attachment. Not. Helpful. But now he has a nice home and will hopefully have a correspondingly nice name. It's was a fun little adventure, but I am really quite ok with being finished with The Bunny.
You guys, I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. Never a dull moment here in the Ro of Manias.
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