The Jackalope

A Story by Chris Read

This is a draft for a story that I had in mind for a while, so I apologize if things might be confusing. Several things are subject to change

The hot, scorching afternoon sun had been burning the sandy ground since daybreak. The air was extremely still, there was no sign of a breeze to come anytime soon. The cacti that stuck from the hard gravel, lingered in the heat, cooking until it would eventually wither and die. Now, it was hotter than it had ever been all day. The scorpions and rattlesnakes rushed into their underground dens, the coyote pack left to find shade, the mountain lion retreated back towards her home in the mountains where it was cooler.
All have returned shelter, to escape from the blistering heat that the sun flared across the desert. For all except one, a brown jackrabbit was sitting on a dusty boulder, letting the sun shimmer on his glossy pelt while overlooking the plateau that he called home. This leporidae wasn’t any ordinary rabbit you’d see on a morning hike. Audun was both different in appearance and personality. The most obvious thing that stands him apart from the crowd is that he has antlers sticking out from the top of his head. Not to mention that he didn’t even act like a typical happy-go-lucky rabbit. He was literally quite the opposite of that. All that Audun was excited for in the future was his demise, he hated his life. His time in this world had nothing to offer but misery and shame. He was a monster, nothing about him was normal. If only he could’ve been a kit again, when he was actually normal. He didn’t get his awful traits until his adulthood began. Audun still remembered the faces of terror his parents had when they realized little horns were subtly growing out from the top of his head. When this unsettling news started to spread around the valley, the local animals began to start a rumor about Audun and his antlers. Maybe he came across a stag and it stabbed him in the skull with its antlers, and somehow that caused Audun to grow antlers? But that was obviously false, for Audun had never encountered another creature with antlers before. And do not even mention the fact that that is in no way physically possible. But to be fair, neither is an antlered rabbit.

It wasn’t like the present was any better than the past, though. He was even more miserable now than he has ever been. Everybody in the desert tried their best to stay away from him, and not only because of his distinctive appearance. Audun had a truculent attitude, which he received only after his antlers grew in. Since then, he couldn’t help himself but be significantly aggressive and unkind to everybody that approaches him. Even though he claims it is out of his control, he is partly at fault with why he is treated so badly by the other animals.

A tumbleweed sluggishly bounced by the boulder Audun was resting on. The rabbit woke from his mental haze, he was lost in thought like usual.

If only I had a friend to talk to, He thought bitterly. Somebody who would actually listen to me.

He used to have somebody to talk to. Before his life changed, Audun had many friends. After his change in attitude and appearance, nobody would dare to go near him. All except for one, a loyal friend he had since the very beginning. At least, he thought he was loyal. It wasn’t until last season when his only friend left him for a prissy female and moved to the other side of the mountain range to start a family. Families… Audun remembered when he used to have one of those. But of course, that wasn’t important now.

Audun leapt down from his resting place, pushing himself from the boulder with his huge hind feet. He neatly landed on the dirty ground. He felt the rocky surface below him, and dug his claws into the dry earth. A brown wren of black and white spots flew only a few feet over Audun’s antlers. It landed on a tall cactus, carefully placing its talons so it doesn’t get pinched by the pointy thorns. After a few moments of basking in the bright sun, the wren cautiously hopped into a small hole in the cactus, where the bird has a nest holding three delicate eggs.