Chapter Text
T'was an awfully quiet day in the life of Rabbit, just as any other other was, as expected of his routine to tending about the garden and his very own house wasn't the most thrilling activity one must imagine to do, he knew it all too well but he still loved it in his own way, hating the thought of changing it after having grown so accustomed to it over the years yet, still persisted that lingering feeling of desire for something more to get rid of this mundane routine he got trapped inside and up to now have never wanted for it to truly go away from his grasps, but in which, nevertheless he never wanted to completely lose it with the comfort and solace that the mundane brought him. And so, unexpectedly, he turned his life almost upside down with a simple wish for himself on that unforgettable morning of a butterfly effect.
Within the Hundred Acre Woods in southeast England, there was a relatively small rural town where all the stuffed animals knew each other by name. Despite this familiarity, Rabbit was the type of animal who found peace in the comfort of his own home, only visiting other animals out of courtesy or for special occasions. He owned the image of a very courteous and cautious stuffed animal, a routine that everyone who passed by his house could perceive. His routine was quite restrictive, according to what others mentioned, although only the rabbit himself truly had a say on the matter. He had to wake up early at 7 am and go about his preparations, one of which was tending to his garden, a skill he perfected over the years and took great pride of it in himself. Everything was going according to plan, until one day, on one of his morning walks around the woods whilst discreetly glancing at the treetops, Pooh didn't find the rabbit at his house but instead, walking straight towards the town hall.
"Hello Rabbit! What a beautiful day it is in the woods!" - Pooh greeted him.
"Hm? Oh yes, a very good day to you too, Pooh" - Rabbit commented absentmindedly, a little surprised by the plush animal's sudden voice.
"Decided to change your routine a bit to go for a walk too? I mentioned it was a great idea!"
Rabbit was annoyed when the other plush animals commented about it, but he didn't let them notice - "I would guess that I can tell you this, I'm going downtown to see what I could do differently, everything is so ordinary these days."
Pooh was caught off guard by this statement, Rabbit? Changing his perfect routine? Perfected over all these years? - "R-really Rabbit?? I had no idea that idea would cross your mind in a million years!”
A little offended, considering that yesterday's nap really hadn't been one of the best; Rabbit retorted, "And what's wrong with that? Can't I just suddenly change what I do in my day-to-day life like that?"
"No, no, that's not what I meant, I'm sorry, but I'm just surprised you're changing your habits, that's all."
"Well, I believe there's nothing wrong with trying something new once in a while. I need to hurry, so have a good walk."
With a final wave, they said goodbye as Rabbit continued on his way to the city center and, respectively, to the town hall, as he knew that's where the news usually arrived first. Although Roo was a great newspaper delivery boy, always delivering the papers on time every morning, he was unfortunately unable to deliver them due to a sudden fever caused by the abrupt change of seasons from spring to autumn, after a cold wind had passed over him, causing Rabbit to curse himself for not having retrieved the scarf he had knitted precisely for such situations.
When Rabbit arrived in the small town’s center, he went straight to the main hall, where Owl was already leafing through the newspapers he was so eagerly searching for. Them both were the ones who cared most, after all, with so much valuable information about what was happening between the two neighboring towns, it wasn't surprising that they kept themselves informed as time went by and eventually growing to a small cordial tone between each other when they noticed the other, especially in a rural town like this. Despite this, he wasn't just there to skim through recent events, but to look for something more specific within the newspaper's pages. It didn't take long for Owl to notice Rabbit rummaging through the daily newspapers, but today he was especially agitated.
With a curious look, he asked him: "Well, Rabbit, what'd be the meaning for such a rush? I'm surprised to see you like this."
"Good morning to you too, Owl. I'm just leafing through today's newspaper as I always do, no?" replied Rabbit.
"But so early? It's not like usual, hm?" - He let out a laugh as if it was trapped between his feathers.
Rabbit simply ignored him, pausing to pay closer attention to two newspapers nearby himself. "Ah, this is reminding me of something that happened to a third cousin of mine! Let's see... There he was—" drowning his words in the back of his mind, Rabbit began to read the newspaper advertisements, he usually didn't pay much attention to them because he wasn't interested in the subject at all, but a memory of Kanga reminding him of the job offers presented in the daily newspaper came to mind even though they were mainly for neighboring towns where the Hundred Acre Woods was just a kind of detour from the main highway between them. His eyes were drawn to a page about available jobs; among them were several different types, although most of them involved hard labor, and Rabbit wasn't exactly the most suited for that, preferring simpler, quieter work, like tending to his garden and his gentle surroundings. It wasn't long before Rabbit finally saw exactly what he was looking for.
Job Opening: Florist
Salary: 14£ / Hour
Hours: 1 PM - 6 PM, Monday to Saturday
Location: Crowborough, near the city center
Scanning the newspaper once more to make sure he had read it correctly, he began to think about the job offer that had fallen into his hands: 'Taking care of flowers shouldn't be that different from vegetables, right? I think I can adapt quickly… It should be simple enough, plus it'd also be cozy in this kind of environment.' Starting to get a little nervous about what he might be interfering with by wanting to 'shake up' his relatively peaceful routine, he began to ask the owl to send a resume made by the rabbit.
"...since he was holding one of the papers in one hand and his lunch in the other, causing the papers to be soaked in his own breakfast before he even got to work! So he—"
"Owl!! Could you help me send a resume for this job here?" Rabbit asked hurriedly, pointing to the designated square in his newspaper, though with some difficulty the owl could still make out the small words.
"Hm... Of course I can, but you need to complete your own resume before sending it to the post office box. It shouldn't take long to get a response after all, we're about 8,5 miles from the city." Owl replied after focusing his eyes on reading the advertisement for a while.
It didn't take Rabbit too long to finish his resume. Although he had never written one before, it was easier than he imagined after Owl guided him with a template to fill it out. After finishing, Owl wrapped it up and sent it to the post office, and now all he had to do was wait for his reply, which would come when time itself decided to deliver it.
After that, he then continued along with his morning routine, Rabbit was still a little idle about the whole situation. Although he really wanted this for himself, he wasn't sure if he would actually commit to a completely new life in a big city. He had never really traveled to other cities, despite them being so close to it; It simply never interested him enough compared to his quiet and organized life, just listening to stories from the other stuffed animals like when Kanga and Roo went for his birthday, and some books he borrowed from Owl's shelves when he had free time from his garden.
As the sun began to set, he was adding the finishing touches to it, thinking that he wouldn't be able to tend to it as much as before, being a little too hard on himself despite everything being quite new for a rabbit his age. He hated the thought of his perfect world and routine suddenly changing, even though he was the one who had sought to change it. It had been long enough for something like this to happen to him; he was simply delaying the inevitable to this point.
Three days later, he would receive a letter at his door.<