Mrs. Lark’s Flowers
By Cathy Lichty

Mrs. Lark lived in a cozy little house with a green yard all around it. She lived alone but busied herself all day with taking care of the house and her garden and her flowers. Mrs. Lark loved flowers. Every year she would plant big pots of flowers around her porch and her front walk. She would tend them carefully and when they started to bloom she was the happiest person.

But every year, as soon as the flowers bloomed for the first time, the rabbits around Mrs. Lark’s house would eat off the blooms and then continue to eat the leaves and the stems right down to the soil. Mrs. Lark had tried everything over the years.

She planted a type of flower that the rabbits were not supposed to like – no luck. Apparently the rabbits in her yard did not know they were not supposed to like them, and so they ate them just the same.

She tried putting sprays on the plants that were supposed to make the rabbits think a fox was around and scare them away. Well, the rabbits in Mrs. Lark’s yard had never smelled a fox so they didn’t know the smell was supposed to scare them away. They didn’t like the smell though so they just ate the flowers and plants more quickly to get away from the smell sooner.

Mrs. Lark tried putting fencing around the flowers but the rabbits just picked up the fencing and moved it out of their way and proceeded to eat the flowers and plants right down to the dirt.

One year while Mrs. Lark was planting the flowers she started talking to herself.

“Oh I suppose this is just a waste of time to plant these flowers again. I am sure the rabbits will eat them all down to the dirt. I just don’t know what else I can try to keep them away.”

Just then, she heard the dog of a neighbor down the block barking. “Hmmm,” she thought to herself, “maybe I should try getting a dog. A dog would be a nice companion for me and maybe I could train it to run off the rabbits so my flowers could grow.”

The more she thought about getting a dog the more she liked the idea. So the next day Mrs. Lark visited the local animal shelter and came home with Bruno.
Bruno was a five year old shaggy mutt who settled down in a shady spot on the front porch of Mrs. Lark’s house as though he had always lived there. Mrs. Lark was sitting in her rocker on the front porch enjoying an evening cup of tea and the company of laid back Bruno when she caught sight of Mrs. Rabbit on the edge of the yard. Mrs. Lark kept her eyes on Mrs. Rabbit as she began explaining the situation to Bruno.

“Now Bruno, I don’t want you to get excited but if you look out to the edge of the yard you will see Mrs. Rabbit.”

Bruno lazily raised his head half an inch but kept his eyes half closed. If you were paying attention though, you would have noticed that his ears had pricked up.

“Bruno your job will be to keep Mrs. Rabbit and her family from eating my flowers here on the porch and in the front yard. Please don’t hurt them Bruno, just bark at them a bit and run them off. What do you think Bruno? Can you do that?”

Bruno turned his head to look at Mrs. Lark and then stood up and directed a deep, sharp bark in the direction of Mrs. Rabbit. “Wrrooff.”

Mrs. Rabbit was clearly stunned. This was a new development and caused her heart to pound double quick in her rabbit chest. Mrs. Rabbit stood still as a statue not moving a muscle until the second bark came. “Wrrooff.”

Then she took off at a fast run for the back yard and the thick cover of the juniper hedge. She dashed down the rabbit hole under the junipers and gulped air as she excitedly explained to her family the creature she had encountered on the front porch of Mrs. Lark’s house.

Bruno was called upon to bark his warning several more times that day and the next as Mrs. Rabbit’s family came around to see the new creature for themselves.
Bruno performed his new duties admirably. Once or twice he was called upon to jump off the porch and run a few feet into the yard in the direction of the rabbits. This wasn’t strictly necessary but Bruno wanted the rabbit family to know he was willing and able to move quickly if necessary to protect his new territory and fulfill his responsibilities.

Mrs. Rabbit’s family could often be seen gathered in the back yard sharing the tale of their latest trip to the front yard.

Mrs. Lark was very pleased with the new arrangement. Bruno was a fine dog, performing his duties well and keeping her company just by being around.

She waited a few days and watched how things were developing. Then one afternoon Mrs. Lark realized that Bruno was barking a lot and when she went out to the porch she saw one of the rabbits scampering off but limping a bit.

“Oh dear,” she thought. “I suppose this was bound to happen. Those flowers are just too much of a temptation for the rabbits.”

Mrs. Lark went around to the back yard. She sat down in the grass very quietly and waited.

She didn’t have to wait long before Mrs. Rabbit appeared and sat down several feet away.

Mrs. Rabbit had looked around carefully for Bruno before she poked her head out from under the protection of the juniper bushes. Mrs. Lark and Mrs. Rabbit sat there quietly for several moments before Mrs. Lark began speaking in a soft, quiet voice.

“Mrs. Rabbit,” she started, “I am very sorry if one of your children has been injured. Neither Bruno nor I wanted that to happen. You and I have lived here together for several years and we have always fought over the flowers. I plant them and care for them and you and your children eat them up as soon as they bloom,” Mrs. Lark said with a deep sigh.

Mrs. Rabbit was listening attentively.

“I have an idea that might make both of us happy,” Mrs. Lark began to explain. “I will plant some flower plants for you and your family in the back yard. These flowers and plants will be yours to do with as you like. I won’t ask Bruno to protect them and I won’t try to keep you away from them. But in exchange you must stay away from the flowers in the front yard. Those will be mine to enjoy and Bruno will continue to protect them.

I want to explain one thing about flowers though. You see if you eat the flowers and all of the leaves and the stems then the plants die and you will only get to enjoy them once.

If on the other hand, you can eat only the flowers and leave the leaves and the stems, then after a couple of weeks, the plants will produce new flowers which you can eat again. As long as you eat only the flowers the plants will continue to produce new flowers every couple of weeks all summer long which you and your family can enjoy. I know that it will be hard to stop at just the flowers but wouldn’t it be nice to have a flower treat again and again over the summer?”

Mrs. Rabbit seemed to be considering all that Mrs. Lark had said. After a few minutes Mrs. Lark went back inside the house.

Later that afternoon she came out to the backyard and planted the flower plants for Mrs. Rabbit and her family. She felt certain that several pairs of eyes were watching her closely from under the juniper bushes.

Things went along pretty quietly for a few weeks, then one day Mrs. Lark noticed that the plants had flower buds and would likely be blooming in just a couple of days.

That afternoon when Mrs. Lark glanced out her kitchen window she saw the entire Rabbit family gathered in the back yard around the plants. Mrs. Lark held her breath wondering what they would do. But they just sat there for several minutes and then disappeared back under the junipers.

The flowers bloomed the next day. The day after that, the flowers were gone from the plants in the back yard but the leaves and stems of the plants had not been touched.

Mrs. Lark and Bruno enjoyed looking at and smelling their flowers in the front yard all summer long. And in the back yard Mrs. Rabbit and her family were delighted to enjoy a flower treat many times over the summer. They all lived happily ever after.

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