It had been a busy day for Esther and Mike. They said they’d look after their two young granddaughters for the weekend. It would give their son and daughter-in-law a break, and (who knows, thought the proud grandparents) another grandchild might appear in the process!
Savannah and Tatiana were seven and six respectively. They enjoyed staying on their grandparents’ little farm. There was a pony they could ride with Grandma’s help, and Grandpa let them help milk the cow and feed the chickens. And there were wild rabbits running around, and wild ducks and geese. And Grandpa made them a butterfly net, each; and Grandma showed them how to paint a butterfly and how to clean up afterwards; and…
After a day of keeping the little girls entertained, Grandma and Grandpa were exhausted. Before a summer's early dinner Esther said to Mike, “Let’s just sit outside and have a wine.”
“Grandma! Grandpa! What do we do now?” asked Savannah and Tatiana.
“Why don’t you run out into the fields and catch a wild rabbit?” said Grandma.
So they ran out to the fields, skipping and dancing and singing “Catch a rabbit! Catch a rabbit!” It was so exciting!
Fifteen minutes later they returned, rabbit in arms.
“We caught one,” they said. “What do we do now? Can we keep? Can we keep it?”
“Darn,” said Grandpa under his breath, although it wasn’t “darn” at all.
“Now that you’ve caught it,” suggested Grandma, “why don’t you run out and let it go free? It might have babies that need feeding.”
Off they went.
“How the hell did they catch that?” said Grandpa.
“I need a top-up,” said Grandma, holding out her glass.