_What_Bunnies_Are_For_-_Part_5_

        Tabby lead Jamie Mullens out of her room and down the hall.
One door was open as they rounded a corner where a man and a bunny
stood embracing, their mouths pressed together in a deep kiss. Tabby
stopped to watch, cuddling against Jamie's side; Jamie looked away
and blushed. He looked back when the man demanded to know what the
hell he was staring at. He was about to complain that _he_ wasn't
staring at anything, that it was Tabby who'd stopped to watch, but
the other man's bunny leaned up and whispered something in his ear.
He looked at Jamie strangely and hurried away.
        "Wait a minute," he called to the other bunny, "what did you
just tell him about me?"
        "I told him you're a VIP here to inspect us," she replied,
"and you only wanted to be sure he was satisfied." She giggled, her
laugh remarkably like Tabby's. "In a way it's true, isn't it? You
_are_ here to 'inspect' us!"
        "Don't let Samantha bother you," Tabby said. "She likes to
tease, but she doesn't mean it hurtfully."
        "Uh, well," Mullens tried to reply. "You shouldn't've...."
        "I'm sorry Jamie," Samantha interrupted. She came out and put
her arms around his neck, gave him a peck on the cheek and giggled at
his expression. "Gotta get cleaned up," she told them, and retreated
to her room.
        "Now you know two bunnies," Tabby remarked, as they continued
down the hall. "What did you notice?"
        "Uh," Jamie remarked. "This really is getting to be like
school!" he complained. (Tabby just smiled a smile disturbingly like
Sister Mary Martine's in English class!) "Uh," Jamie tried again.
"She looked almost exactly like you."
        "Almost?"
        "Uh, well... I think she was a little bit shorter."
        "No, we're all the same height to within seven millimeters,
hardly enough for you to notice unless your vision is excellent. She
doesn't stand up as straight as I do, that's why she seemed shorter."
        "Oh. Um... I think she was a little thinner?"
        "Possibly, Samantha hasn't been eating well lately."
        "Has she been ill?" Jamie replied, concern in his voice.
        For the first time, Tabby seemed reluctant to talk about it.
"It's really not important," she replied, defensively. "What else did
you notice about us?"
        "No, wait, is she all right?"
        This time Tabby positively hesitated! "Jamie," she said, her
voice nearly impatient, "it's... it's very private. You'll find out
later, but right now we need to take it one step at a time. Please."
        Jamie's look was full of concern, but he nodded. "Um, other
things, um... her laugh, it was almost exactly like yours. But she
didn't act like...." He paused; they were passing Samantha's door now
and there were noises within. They were muffled by the thick wooden
door, but they seemed to Jamie almost like weeping. He looked at
Tabby, who was gazing with concern at the door. She finally saw him
watching, but shook her head no. "...Um, she didn't act like you," he
said, completing his earlier thought. (Tabby smiled, a rather hollow
smile but one that demanded further answer.) "I, uh, can't really put
my finger on just how."
        "She's more forward than I am," Tabby replied. "Samantha
anticipates people's actions and reacts first. I can usually judge
my customer's needs too, but I like to wait for them to need first.
That way it doesn't seem as if I'm all over them. Some people like
to be teased, though."
        "You're different, um, two different people, but you look
exactly the same, or almost."
        Tabby smiled broadly. "That's exactly right!" she declared.
"We're tight clones, Jamie; the lab where we were produced permitted
as little drift as possible in our genes. Any mutation when we have
litters is taken out. But you've seen that we still grow up to be
individuals...."
        "Wait a minute! Taken out? What does that mean?"
        Again, Tabby hesitated. "They're not allowed to reproduce."
        For a moment, Jamie just stared, as if the obvious answer to
his question was impossible. "You mean, they're castrated?"
        Tabby looked him straight in the eye, with the first real
anger he'd seen in her yet. "Sometimes. Sometimes they're merely
given vasectomies or tubal ligations. Occasionally they're destroyed
if they're too different from what the buyers want."
        "You," Jamie said. "You had a baby that was...." He couldn't
complete the thought.
        "After that I was given a tubal ligation," Tabby replied.
"Jamie, I don't want to talk about that, please, come with me."
        Jamie nodded and followed, shaken. "You're all the same," he
said, trying to change the subject, "but you grow up to be different
people anyway."
        "Not entirely," Tabby went on, still distracted. "We share
some character traits. We're all affectionate, we all frighten easily
and none of us like being alone for long, except when we're depressed
or frightened. Aside from that, though, we're very different. All the
bunnies say I'm thoughtful, some even say that I think too much. I
like to study new things, talk about ideas and so on. Sammy isn't
very interested in that sort of thing. She's more affectionate than
most of us. Usually," she added, sadly. "She likes to watch comedy
shows and movies on television in the den and cuddle up with someone,
quite often another bunny."
        "Uh, pardon... the den?"
        "It's our common room, that's where we're going now."

Copyright 1995 Allan D. Burrows          (continued)
All Rights Reserved after publication