High Water

"Have you heard what's happened?" A scared young doe ran into a forest clearing, stopping among the other animals. She didn't wait for an answer and continued: "High water has washed out the rabbit burrow! Now the rabbits have nowhere to live. And one of their babies almost drowned. It looks like it will be alright in the end, but they were all in great danger!"

"What terrible news!" exclaimed one.

The rabbit family was loved by everyone. True, the fox was fond of chasing them around, but that's the way it is in the forest. But now the animals just looked at each other in silence, not knowing what to say.

"So, what are you waiting for?" The doe asked. "Let's go to them, we have to help them!"

So they all set off for the stream. The spring thaw had come out of the blue this year and was unusually heavy. In addition, it had started to rain during the night, and the water from the stream had spilled far over the banks.

All that was left afterwards was mud and drifted branches. It was not at all like the cozy clearing where the rabbits had had their burrow. The roar of the high water was everywhere.

The family of rabbits sat in the only place that remained at least a little dry. Both parents, all four older children, and the youngest kitten were bent over a furry little bundle that lay in a pile of drifted leaves.

"We pulled him out at the last minute," whispered the mother rabbit, "he's been lying exhausted ever since, poor thing."

"We have nowhere to go with him," the father rabbit joined in, "the water has flooded our burrow. The corridors have caved in, and then dirt covered everything. We…