The box was finally opened after a long, rocky journey. He heard the creature who had carried him communicate with another of its kind, but of course he couldn't have the faintest idea of what they were talking about. Then, it got silent and the two seemed to have moved away.Freddie looked through the opening, but didn't dare to take a step towards the outside for the moment. He saw a place that was full of straw and hay, not unlike the Shed, but seemingly a lot smaller. It was rectangular too, since Freddie could see one corner straight ahead and one more right beside him through the peephole to his right. There didn't seem to be a wooden wall, however. Instead, there were some shiny bars on the borders of this place he had been set inside. Through those bars, He saw a wall, however, but it wasn't wooden, but light red.
After a while, Freddie, who was still lingering inside the small box, heard something approaching. It wasn't one of those big creatures that had taken him away, though; It was something right within the place where Freddie had been dropped, and Freddie felt it moving towards the tiny box. He was scared and sharpened all his senses. Was Corie coming to greet him now that Freddie too had arrived at this better place? Or would something dreadful happen Freddie couldn't imagine in his wildest dreams? He smelled a very unfamiliar smell though - no way that this was a guinea pig. Freddie's confused thoughts were brought to a sudden halt when a head popped up at the box's opened end; It was a little larger than Freddie's and all black, but this creature had unbelievably long ears, which were themselves white - What of all Freddie had ever heard about, or imagined himself, was this?
"Hello?", the creature said. Its voice was deep and quiet, but had a friendly note to it.
"He... hello," Freddie stuttered. He had no idea what to do or think.
"My name is Jamie. I'm a rabbit," it said. "What about you?"
Freddie tried to calm himself down a little and answered, "I'm Freddie, I'm a guinea pig."
The rabbit said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Please, feel free to come out!"
Freddie, though still suspicious, felt a bit relieved by this friendly encounter and stepped towards and through the box's opening. The place he had been put inside was very clean and someone seemed to have taken care preparing it; It was, in size, indeed no comparison to the Shed, but as it dawned on Freddie that it must be the rabbit's own home, he thought it was really adequate. Through the bars opposite to the wall he had seen from the small box's inside, Freddie could see lots of different objects. There was one big flat wooden one right opposite, and a few high ones, which were partly filled with smaller objects of all shapes, sizes and colors, in fact, Freddie saw little and large, round and square, slim, tall, short and big objects all over the place. He wondered what their use was, but it sprung to his mind that he and the others would make a nice playground of this in the Shed.
But what made the biggest impression on him was the rabbit himself. he was a slightly larger creature than Freddie, or any guinea pig he had ever seen, and he had long legs with equally large feet, a little furry end on his butt, and most of all, those amazingly long ears. The rabbit's fur was all black with the odd white spot on it.
"Welcome, Freddie," the newly encountered creature said. "This is my place, but as I get it, it's going to be our place now. You see the food and water? Please serve yourself."
Freddie himself was still astonished by everything he was suddenly exposed to. But he tried to give a kind reply, "Oh, thank you, Jamie."
Freddie was indeed hungry from the long journey. He hesitatingly approached the two food bowls that stood placed near the back end of the place and found one of them filled with fresh, juicy lettuce and pieces of carrot. When he started eating at last, he felt that it did him good.
Jamie still sat near the box where the two had first seen each other. He asked Freddie, "So you're a guinea pig? I haven't seen anything like you before. Where are you from?"
Freddie understood that Jamie probably wasn't much less curious than he was, and answered, "I come from the Shed, where my family, friends and many guinea pigs are."
"That's interesting. I come from a place where there were other rabbits, like myself. But I was taken away from there a long time ago. I've been living in the Pen for probably more than a year, if I'm not mistaken."
"I was taken away too. The Keeper leaves some guinea pigs, and takes others. I was taken."
"That's similar to what happened to me."

Freddie and Jamie kept talking for a long while. Freddie learnt a lot about his new friend; Jamie had lived in a place not unlike the Shed, which he had shared with many other rabbits. (This place was very strange; Apparently, the rabbits had been secluded from other animals only by a wall they could see through, but not penetrate, like the cover on the Shed. They had lived with little squeaking creatures with long tails on one side and creatures not unlike guinea pigs, but smaller and dormant during daytime on the other.) But one day, he had just been taken away and carried to the Pen. That was before Freddie had even been born, they realized, actually it had happened when it had been cold the year before. So, Jamie was probably about a year older than Freddie. He had lived on his own in the Pen until now.
His Keeper, who, as he figured, would also take care of Freddie, was generally a friendly creature. She delivered his food (mostly on time) and opened the front side of the Pen frequently to give Jamie free roam throughout her place, which was vast and offered ever new challenges. She also comforted Jamie often by stroking his back and carrying him in her arms, which he enjoyed a lot. He generally talked of his Keeper as a friend, which was a ominous new idea to Freddie. Maybe I'm really in a better place now, he thought to himself.
The place the Pen was in and which served to Jamie as a place to run about and have fun so often was also very different from the Shed. It was never cold; Ever since Jamie had arrived, it had been warm and never really changed. Actually, Jamie hadn't even known about the very varying climate outside until his Keeper started taking him outside to devour wild grass and relax in the sun when it had been warm some time ago. This must have been the time when, however far or close, Freddie had still been a little toddler and had untroubled fun with his brothers under the same blue sky.
Overall, Jamie seemed to be a happy rabbit. The only thing he said he missed every once in a while, despite his Keeper's friendly caretaking, was, understandably, other rabbits' company. Thus, he naturally appeared quite glad about Freddie's arrival. Freddie himself had lost his initial fear by the end of the day and was able to look at the whole new situation a lot more constructively.

They had already learned a lot about each other when the new Keeper came by to renew their stack of hay and take the fresh food's remainings out of the Pen. She seemed quite excited at the sight of Freddie and made happy noises before she got to do what she came for. Conclusively, she gave Jamie a thorough stroke, closed the Pen and went to the opening that led to the Pen's place. All of a sudden, the place was pitch dark. How did she do this? Freddie was amazed at the powers of his new Keeper and wondered if the Keeper from back in the Shed had these abilities. Freddie's eyes gradually got accustomed to the darkness and he saw the silhouette of the new Keeper lying down on that big large object in front and covering herself. So this must be her kind of house, Freddie thought. He too was tired after this long day and went back to the little box to sleep. Jamie said, "Good night. Don't worry, it's going to be alright," and returned to his little house, which was located at the Pen's other end. Freddie made himself as comfortable as possible, but felt sentimental as he was lying in that tiny box all alone, and tears came swelling up in his eyes. But the next moment, he was already fast asleep.

The next morning, Freddie was awake early. He didn't dare to awake Jamie, who hadn't come out of his house yet, and sat in the middle of the Pen observing the outside instead. The Keeper got up soon and came close to the bars, and Freddie felt her eyes looking at him fixedly. He was a bit frightened, but she didn't seem very harmful, and after a while, she got up again and disappeared. When she returned, she opened the Pen and put a load of fresh food inside. It was largely enough lettuce for Freddie and Jamie, and, in addition, some pieces of tomato. She also poured new dry food for them into the other bowl and filled the water bottle with fresh water. Then, she rushed away.
Jamie had been awakened by the noise the Keeper had made and left his little house. "Oh, good morning," he said, and, at the sight of the large amount of food, "Let's eat as long as it's still fresh!". Freddie joined him and had, as he had to admit to himself, a delicious breakfast.
The rest of the day went by quietly. The Keeper returned to her place at midday and kept an eye on Freddie all the time, but didn't touch him whatsoever. One time, she brought the other creature with her, the one that had assisted her in carrying away Freddie, and the two stared at the Pen for a while. Freddie got more and more curious about this new place and wondered if he'd be allowed outside, like Jamie. He felt more and more at ease, and Freddie and Jamie told each other anecdotes of their childhoods (Freddie had to laugh so much when Jamie told him about the ancient friend of his who, when it had been dark one night, had gone to sleep by his side thinking Jamie was his mother) until the Keeper made the place dark that night.

A few more days went by and Freddie got more and more used to this new situation. He and Jamie made excellent sharers as well. They were alike in their friendly, good-willed nature and didn't argue over their total change in lifestyle.
Jamie had been out a few times, but Freddie never dared to come with him and stayed in the Pen until his new friend returned. When, now, the Keeper opened the Pen again during the afternoon, Jamie said, "Come on, Freddie. I'll show you around. It's exciting!"
"Really? Do... do you think it's alright?", Freddie asked coyly.
"Sure! Why else do you think the Keeper opens the Pen? Running is not only a great experience in here, it's also good for the body. Let's go, will we?"
"Oh... alright then..."

Jamie went first and Freddie leaped outside right behind him. There was indeed so much fun to have in that place. The Keeper watched them from atop her resting place while the two were jumping on blocks and climbling down again, running from corner to corner and chasing each other slalom around all those funny things on the ground.
Jamie suddenly shouted, "Come on, there's much more to come!", and ran through the entry of the Keeper's place towards the outside. Freddie was excited now and his fear didn't have much of a chance to victimize his curiosity. Freddie ran after Jamie (who was an excellent runner - Freddie wished he too had such long legs) along another large place, which connected the Keeper's place to four more places similar to it, but each having its own challenging features, one being quite a bit larger still and eqipped with wide soft bouncy objects they could jump on and off, one where the larger Keeper-creature of the two was busy with something, and two that had a ground the two would slide on when they accelerated, which was something Freddie had never done before, but it was so much fun to him that he laughed till he could no more.

The two friends ended up exhaustedly in the largest place of the five and sat in a corner. The Keeper seemed to have been looking for them, because when she saw them, she seemed happy and came right up to them. Freddie looked at her. Having this friendly and caring a Keeper was something totally new. He remembered his mother's words and thought, maybe this was really for my good and this is a better place. As he was absorbed in this thought, the Keeper suddenly grabbed him. Freddie was struck with horror for a tiny moment since it reminded him of his old Keeper's grip; However, he instantly felt he could be quite certain that his new Keeper wouldn't do anything like that to him. She lifted him up and cradled him between her hands and her body, stroking him with one hand. Freddie didn't know what to think of that at first, but he felt comfortable and safe, somehow. He knew he and Jamie were in good hands.
The Keeper set off towards her place; Jamie understood what she was doing and followed her on the foot. When they had returned to the Pen, the Keeper released Freddie into it, Jamie following inside shortly afterwards. The Keeper closed it and withdrew to sit in a corner of the place, near to where the light from outside shone in and a notion of the sky could always be seen.
Something had changed inside the Shed. The little box Freddie had used as a place to sleep in was gone; Instead, a new house had been placed in the corner opposite to Jamie's house. It was slightly smaller than Jamie's, but then Freddie wasn't as large a creature either. He took a look inside and was delighted. He almost felt at home there now. Jamie smiled. "Looks like you're a part of us now", he said.

Freddie the guinea pig went on to live a happy life full of exciting events and tender, joyful moments. Sometimes, he'd miss the Shed, and even feel thoroughly miserable; At those times, he'd wonder whatever had happened to Corie and the others who had been taken away like him, and if they were in places like this, and he asked himself if Jonnie and Dickie and his parents and relatives and friends were still leading a happy life in the Shed. Maybe they had long forgotten about him? Maybe they had also been taken away? He couldn't tell. But most of all, he'd miss China. He realized he loved her, more than anyone else, and wished that only she could be by his side. He'd be complete then.But apart from these mournful, thoughtful moments, he was very happy with Jamie and the Keeper.
He only died when he was over seven years old. The night before he went to sleep and never awoke again, when he was already very exhausted, he was lying in house and thought of his guinea pig relatives and friends, and his mother, a very distant memory now, seemed to give him the advice in his mind's ear, "It's all for your good". Indeed, in the end everything had turned out good, Freddie said to himself. So now, maybe this was good too. Maybe he'd finally meet China again soon. He dozed away peacefully.

© 2001 by Stefan Hauschildt. All rights reserved.