This evening, Connor and I took a stroll over to see the fire engines. It is a little ritual that we have missed out on for the last few weeks between having visitors in the house and my recent heavy work schedule. We were having a blast as we ran up the sidewalk–Connor pumping his little arms in an unbalanced frenzy like a one-winged bird trying to take flight. We stopped at the corner to push the button for the crosswalk when I noticed something strange on the ground.
It was a fuzzy polaroid snapshot of some sort of disembodied rabbit head marked "Phantom Bunny." I flipped it over to find a second marking — "Protector" — on the backside. Of all the bits of trash and debris scattered around this busy city street corner, this was indeed the most odd item I have seen. I could not help but pluck it from the gutter, remove the scrap of masking tape that had previously held in place (somewhere) and shove it into my pocket–a keepsake reminding me of this strange encounter with someone’s odd sense of humor.
I leave it to you, the reader, to come up with a likely story for this photo–and better yet–what significance it might have held for its previous owner. Make sure to post your story in the comments page. I can’t wait to see what you might think about this.
Phantom bunny was the only friend and comfort to a poor little abused boy name Jimmy. Jimmy swore to phantom bunny that he would protect him from the evil wrath of his abuser. Now that his abuser is in jail, it is time for little Jimmy to set phantom bunny free.
The picture is not a picture at all; rather, it is the symbolic message of a lonely person. The “Phantom Bunny” was someone’s imagination. It was white, because at one time, I was pure- childlike if you will. However, something serious happened, something that seperated this person from others. Maybe it was the death of a family member, or perhaps a psychotic episode of a deranged ex-girlfriend. Whatever the cause was, it lopped off the head of his pure, childlike imagination, like the masses did with the guillatine during the French Revolution.
With nothing left to live for, this person now can only rely upon his “Protector”- the darkness.
My suggestion to you Derek, is to try to find this person, because it is not just a picture, but a cry for help.
It looks a little to me like the bunny from Donny Darko, what do you think?