I Don't Want to Be a Bunny!

Deep in the heart of a lush, green forest lived a little bunny named Beanie. Beanie had long, floppy ears, a coat of snow-white fur, and a pair of very bouncy hind legs. But there was just one problem: Beanie didn't like being a bunny at all.

He would watch the little birds soaring through the sky and let out a big sigh. "Oh," he would say, "how wonderful it would be if I could fly! Being a bunny is so boring. All I ever do is hop, hop, hop."

He would watch the little fish splashing in the pond and think, How wonderful it would be to swim and blow cool bubbles underwater! Being a bunny is just no fun.

Every single day, he complained, wishing with all his heart to be any other animal.

One evening, as the silver moon rose high in the sky, Beanie was sighing once again. Suddenly, a soft, gentle blue light wrapped all around him. A magical forest fairy appeared, wearing a dress woven from moonlight.

Her voice was as sweet as a lullaby. "Little Beanie, I hear your sighs. Are you unhappy?"

Beanie’s eyes grew as wide as saucers. "A fairy! I don't want to be a bunny anymore! I want to be something else!"

The fairy smiled a warm, gentle smile. "Is that so? Very well, I can grant your wish. What would you like to be?"

Beanie bounced up with excitement. "I want to be a little bird! I want to fly high up into the sky!"

"As you wish," she whispered. The fairy gracefully waved her magic wand, sprinkling a shower of glittering stardust. Poof! Beanie’s long ears disappeared, his fluffy white fur turned into soft feathers, and he grew a pair of wings! He was a real, live little bird!

"Wow! I can fly!" Beanie chirped joyfully. He flapped his new wings and lifted right off the ground. He soared over the treetops and saw how beautiful the forest looked from above.

But then, he peeked down at the ground below, and his head started to spin. "Whoa... it's so high!"

A sudden gust of wind blew by, making Beanie wobble and tumble in the air. He almost fell! "Help! I’m scared of heights! I don't want to be a bird anymore!"

Wobbly and dizzy, he hurried back down to the ground and hid in the tall grass, shivering. He cried out, "Fairy! Fairy! I don't want to fly! It's too scary!"

The forest fairy appeared once more. "All right, Beanie. What would you like to be now?"

Beanie thought for a moment. "I don't want to be up so high. I want to go into the water! I want to be a little fish!"

So, the fairy waved her magic wand again. Splash! Beanie turned into a little goldfish with shimmering scales and dove straight into the crystal-clear pond.

The water was so cool and refreshing! He happily blew bubbles and darted playfully between the green waterweeds. But after a little while, something didn't feel quite right. He couldn't hop onto the grassy banks to sunbathe, and he couldn't smell the sweet, blooming flowers. All he could do was swim in circles in the little pond.

Sigh, Beanie thought to himself. It's so quiet and lonely down here. And I really, really miss eating sweet carrots... I don't want to eat soggy waterweeds anymore.

He swam as hard as he could to the water's edge and splashed his tail against the surface. "Fairy! Fairy! I don't want to be a fish anymore! It's too boring here!"

The fairy appeared again. "What is the matter now, Beanie?"

Beanie drooped his little fish head. "I want to be able to play with my friends, but I don't want to fly high in the sky... Oh! I know! I want to be a turtle! Turtles have hard, safe shells, and they can walk steadily on the ground!"

The fairy could only smile and wave her wand once more. Zappity-zap! Beanie turned into a little turtle. Suddenly, there was a very, very heavy shell sitting right on his back.

He tried to take a step forward... One... two... three... Oh, my goodness, he was so slow!

He watched his bunny friends chasing each other and leaping happily across the meadow. He wanted to join in the fun, but all he could do was crawl—slowly, slowly, slowly. By the time he moved just a few inches, his friends had already bounced far away.

Beanie let out another sigh. "This shell is so heavy, it makes me so tired. And if there's danger, all I can do is hide inside. I can't even hop away to safety."

He shouted with all his might, "Fairy, I was wrong! I don't want to be a turtle anymore!"

For the third time, the forest fairy appeared. She wasn't angry at all; she just looked at Beanie with a kind smile. "Beanie, you have tried flying in the sky, you have tried swimming in the pond, and you have tried carrying a heavy shell on your back. What in the world do you want to be now?"

Beanie hung his head and whispered, "Fairy, I don't want to be a bird, because I'm afraid of heights. I don't want to be a fish, because the water is too lonely. And I don't want to be a turtle, because crawling is too slow and too tiring. Please... can I just be me again?"

"And why is that?" asked the fairy softly.

"Because," Beanie said, "I realized that even though I can't fly, my long ears help me hear things from far away—even my mommy calling me home for dinner. Even though I can't swim, my bouncy legs help me run so fast that no one can catch me when we play tag. And I have this warm, fluffy white fur, perfect for snuggling up cozy and tight with my mom..."

The fairy beamed. "You are exactly right, little Beanie."

With one final, magical wave of her wand, Beanie was a little bunny once again. He felt his familiar, floppy ears, wiggled his little cotton tail, and gave two great, big, joyful hops on the soft green grass.

Beanie laughed a happy, hoppy laugh. "Wow! Being a bunny feels the best of all!"

He turned around to thank the fairy, but she had already quietly vanished into the night.

Beanie bounded back to his warm little tree-hollow home, let out a great big yawn, and burrowed deep under his cozy blankets.

Being a little bunny, Beanie thought to himself, is actually the greatest thing in the whole wide world.

And very soon, holding his favorite little stuffed toy, Beanie the bunny fell fast, fast asleep.