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Written 2019.", "description_bbcode_parsed": "Duality comes in many types. Written 2019.", "writing": "The rabbit morph groaned as his body shook involuntarily, then swatted at the offending paws causing it. His body shook again and he grabbed at those paws that were attached to his sister.\n“Come on Etch, don't fall asleep yet. Mr. Rob should be back any minute now with more rabbits.”\n“They'll be here in the morning when I wake up.”\n“I want to be there to help them feel welcome.”\n“Let Edith do that. She thinks she's in charge anyway, the old…”\n“Etch. She's lived through a lot. You have to…”\n“I know, I know,” he sat up, giving up on sleep, “but I thought we’re supposed to be free here, but she acts like she's still managing slaves. We've given her plenty of time, but she had me working hard all day with little stuff, because she thought I didn't work hard enough on my own chores.”\n“She’s a rabbit morph like us. That's what she did before Mr. Rob bought her.”\n“He's Rob.”\n“Mr. is a show of respect.”\n“Then he's Mr. Daniels.”\n“Alright Mr. Smarty-pants. Let's go show the new residents some respect.”\nHe got up and grabbed his shirt to put on. “Fine, but no flirting. Your love at first sight didn't work out too well with Trent.”\nShe held the door for him. “I didn't know he was castrated…, but he likes you.”\n“We don't have to talk about it.”\n“You brought him up.”\n“What about Edith? She keeps giving you easy jobs.”\n“You think weeding the bank of the creek is easy?”\n“Easier than digging a three-foot ditch beside the driveway in the heat today. I hope she doesn't see me. I didn't finish before dinner.”\n“I don't know if I finished either. I don't remember seeing her at dinner.”\n“Maybe she's sick and we can get a break.”\n“That's not nice.”\n“Nothing serious, just one of those twenty-four-hour things, so we can have a day off.”\nShe stopped and smiled to a tan rabbit morph standing with a few others, “Hey Clark. Is Rob back from the auction, yet?”\n“Not yet, Miss Sketch.”\n“Thank you, Mr. Clark.” She turned to smirk at her brother.\nHe leaned in to whisper, “Forget it. He won't do anything with you unless Rob tells him to. He's so conditioned as a drone, he's scared to have his own thoughts. You might as well be marrying Rob.”\n“We’ll see.”\n“Why not wait until we leave and you'll have more choices, better choices?”\n“That could be a while.”\n“I'm in no hurry.”\n“Not much of a sacrifice when your choices are an ancient doe, a twelve-year-old, and your sister.”\n“It's not my fault it's mostly males at the local auctions.”\n“Maybe Edith would give you easier jobs if you scratched her itch.”\n“Ew, that's…”\nThe small crowd quieted and turned to watch a van coming down the long driveway. It pulled up to the house and a grey-haired man got out.\n“Evening everyone. We did pretty good today and got three. There's a young buck named Veron.” He held his arm out invitingly and a small rabbit grudgingly walked out from behind the van, then stared wide-eyed at the gathering of rabbit morphs. “He's about ten years old and has some anger issues, but some of you are familiar with that and I know we can all help him feel safe and comfortable.”\nA woman stepped off the porch of the house behind them and knelt down to put her arm around the bunny. “This isn't even half of our little town’s population. We’ll get you cleaned up and let you get some sleep before you meet the rest tomorrow.”\n“Thanks, Rose. Could you bring out some clothes; the other two weren't allowed to keep theirs when we left. They were being sold separately, even though they're sisters; twins, even. I was glad I could get them both with what I had. I think I'm making friends up there. The auctioneer mentioned another rabbit that didn't qualify for the auction for some reason, but his owner might donate him to us. I am so proud of all of you, helping to keep this refuge running to help other rabbit morphs transition to freedom. Mr. Grogan, who brought us Clark and Buck and Tiana and offers transport for anyone ready to move out on their own, told me that our combined efforts have freed over four hundred morphs in the nearly two years since I met him.” He glanced to the van, where his wife smiled and nodded that they were ready, then scanned the small crowd, “Is Edith here, so she can show the twins to their new home?”\nRose stepped up to whisper in his ear and his cheerful expression dropped to one of concern.\n“Uh, Sketch, would you show our new residents to cabin fourteen?”\n“Of course.”\nTwo identical brown and white patched rabbit morphs stepped around the van wearing oversized shirts. They were tall and fit and even though they looked scared and clung to each other, they walked with confidence unusual for slave born morphs.\n“Come on, Etch. Quit staring and let's take them home to get some sleep.”\n“Etch, I'd like you and Clark to do something for me. I'll see everyone else in the morning when we introduce our newcomers to the rest of the town.” Rob beckoned the two rabbits closer.\n“Is that your brother?” “Etch and Sketch?” “Are you twins?” “Like us?”\nSketch chuckled as she led them into the dark, “No, I'm almost a year older, but our first owners changed our names.”\n“What are your real names?” “Your original names.”\n“We were too young to remember them, so this is us now.”\n“I think it's cute.” “I think they're both cute.”\n“Well, my brother obviously thinks you’re both more than cute.”\nThey looked at each other and giggled. “Good.” “But we're not ready to start a relationship.” “Our last owner thought we were.” “He made us dress up.” “And clean his house.” “Then one day…” They stopped to hug and comfort each other. \n“I'm guessing you fought back.”\n“Yes.” “He didn't like that.” “He said we had behavior problems.” “And are violent.” “It made our price lower.” “We were scared we'd be bought by someone worse.”\n“Well, that guy was your last owner. When Rob bought you, he freed you. He brought you here so you can own yourselves.”\nThey looked at each other. “Was he really our last owner?” “It's hard to believe.” “Then I'll own you.” “And I'll own you.” They smiled and hugged each other, then hugged Sketch.\n“It's a good feeling to not be afraid. Anyway, this next cabin is number fourteen and it's all yours. If you don't want to live together, just tell Rose and she'll take care of you. She'll probably bring you some better fitting clothes in the morning. Etch and I live two doors down in ten. I'm not ready to live alone with so many single males around here. Shall we take a look inside?”\n“Etch, I need you two to go to the green shed and pull down one of the coffins.” Rob waited for everyone to leave before instructing the rabbits.\n“Who died?”\n“Nobody yet, but Edith collapsed this afternoon and isn't expected to make it to morning.”\n“Can't you do anything for her?” Etch looked to the cabins, remembering his comment to his sister just moments before.\n“If she were human, she would probably be okay, but there are no hospitals that will treat morphs around here. Doc Perry thinks it's her heart, but can't do the surgery to fix it.”\n“Why not? We can't just let her die.”\nRob put his hand on the rabbit’s back in a half hug. “She doesn’t have the training or equipment. It's sad; I'm going to miss her, too. We’ll make sure she's comfortable until she goes and we'll decorate her coffin real nice. It was her idea to make and keep a few and decorate them to honor the person. I think she’ll be proud.”\n“She'll be dead.” Etch was angry, but he didn't know why.\n“Yes. It's a shame she won't get to see her big plans finished. She didn't have the schooling, but she had the brains of an engineer. She wanted to turn our little farm village into a full-blown town with streets and plumbing in the cabins, even internet, and she wanted us to be self-sustaining, so we didn't have to buy anything but more morphs to free.”\n“Is that why she had us doing all those extra chores?”\n“I'm guessing so.”\n“Why didn't she just tell us?”\n“She was proud of her plans and probably didn't want any arguing over details to get in the way of finishing them. I think the best way to honor her would be to make sure it gets done her way and keep rescuing rabbit morphs. Now you two go get her coffin and I'll see if she's well enough to talk to.”\n“This is big.” “For just us.”\n“You'll get used to it. Having the extra space for yourself really helps with getting used to being free, being your own person.”\nThe twins looked at each other and smiled, then said in unison, “[b]Those are two different things[/b].”\nSketch smirked, “Well, I enjoy the space to be separate from my brother. I hope I never have to sleep with him again.”\nThey snickered at each other.\n“That's not what I meant. I have never had sex with my brother.”\n“He's cute.” “So's she.” “So’re we.” “So?” “Maybe later.” “Maybe later.”\nSketch scoffed, “Well, don't make it too easy for him.” She sighed, “I love him and I want him to be happy, but he can be such a jerk about some things. I want to be happy, too.” One of the twins offered a paw and she took it.\n“Relax.” “You can be happy.” “How about a deal?” “You get to be happy first.” “We won't notice him” “Until you move out.” \n“Don't be mean. He's really great, I’d trust him with my life, and he’s probably your best choice here. It's just…” She dropped the paw and sighed.\n“No loss to us.” “We’re not ready.” “We'd rather make friends.” “Like you.”\nSketch smiled and offered her paw, “Nice to meet you, I'm Sketch.”\nThe twins giggled and both grabbed her paw to shake it and say in unison, “[b]Nice to meet you, we’re Stereo[/b].”\n“You're both named Stereo?”\n“When we were first bought,” “we were called seventeen” “point 1” “point 2” “We grew up on a farm.” “It was nice.” “Our owners weren't bad,” “but they didn't care about naming us.” “The fields manager,” “a nice” “but strict” “cow” “Hervda” “She noticed us singing.” “Stuff from the radio.” “Stuff we made up.” “She started sending us to opposite ends of the work line.” “and told us to sing.” “To keep everyone working.” “We sang the same songs.” “at the same time.” “and everyone started calling us” “Left” “and Right” “[b]Stereo[/b].”\n“So, your name is Left and your name is Right.”\n“[b]And we’re both Stereo[/b].”\n“But you’re Left.” Sketch pointed to one rabbit.\n“Look.” They lifted their chins and pointed to a brown spot at the back of their jaw, one on the left side, the other on the right. “You can tell” “If you need to” “but we're always together” “even when we’re apart” “because we're one rabbit.” “In Stereo.”\nSketch smiled, then laughed, “Etch is in for a surprise.”\n“Come on in, Etch. She's weak, but she wants to talk to you. Try to keep her calm.”\nThe man ushered the young rabbit into the room to stand beside the bed where the old rabbit lay.\nEdith smiled, “Etch, did you finish digging?”\nHe tried not to get upset, “Almost.”\nOne side of her whiskers twitched and she grunted and took a deep breath. “That's the trough for heavier lines to power and network the town until we get enough solar. Dig down another three feet and line it with the rocks Arbor has been collecting.”\n“Edith.” Etch was feeling betrayed for caring about her.\n“I should have told everyone about my dream, especially you. I wanted to make everything better for everyone, but I'm not used to explaining. You deserve better than that. You're not a slave anymore. I never learned…” She fought for a breath, “how not to be. Be better than me.”\n“Edith.” He couldn't help caring about this old rabbit that gave him so much trouble everyday. “We’ll build your dream. Just rest; you'll be okay.”\n“No, I'm…” Her whiskers twitched again and she grunted, but couldn't get a breath.\nThe doctor hurried to the side of the bed and raised the old doe's arms over her head. She put her ear to her chest, then grabbed the doe's face and blew into her mouth.\nEdith gasped, then took a stuttering breath.\nThe doctor rubbed her side, “Her lungs aren't getting enough blood. There's nothing more we can do here. She doesn't have much time.”\nThe old doe's eyes darted around, “I'm sorry, master. I didn't mean to be sick. Don't sell me.”\nRob grabbed her paw and leaned over her, “Edith, we can't sell you; you're free.”\nHer eyes slowed, then found his and she smiled, speaking weakly, “Rob. Rob.” She looked beside him and found “Rose. Thank you. Thank you.” She noticed Etch and started to reach for him, but stopped.\n“I think I'll head home. Etch is probably waiting for me. He hates when I come in late and wake him up.”\n“Does he get mad?” “Does he hurt you?”\nSketch laughed, “No, no. He usually just grumbles, maybe throws a pillow at me, then goes back to sleep. He's not violent, just cranky when he's tired and from what I heard, Edith had him busy all day.”\n“You could stay here.” “Keep us company.”\n“Auctions are stressful. You should get some sleep. When they introduce you tomorrow, there will be a lot of lonely male rabbits trying to get to know you.”\n“Maybe you can tell us who to avoid.” “Or who’s nice.”\n“I don't think anybody here is actually mean, but you do need to be more careful with some than others.”\n“Like who?” “Are they dangerous?”\n“I don't think so. I haven't seen anything serious. Some just need a little more time to adjust to their freedom. You might hear the word drones. It's a not so nice way to refer to morphs that had bad masters and are still too scared to do anything without being told. The auctions use words like obedient or docile workers. It just means they need more time.”\n“We’ve known some like that.” “They'd come to the farm.” “Wouldn't talk to anybody.” “Just sleep, eat, and work.” “It was sad.” “But they usually liked our singing.” “Remember Odd?” “He had to sneak to talk to us.” “To tell us he liked our songs.” “To thank us.” “He couldn't believe he could speak openly.”\n“That is sad. Was he a rabbit?”\n“No, he was a fox.” “A nice fox.” “Are there other places like this?” “That help other kinds of morphs.”\n“I've seen a cat sanctuary and an equine sanctuary listed online, but I don't remember where they are.”\n“Do you think there's a fox sanctuary?” “For Odd.”\n“Probably somewhere. We can look later.”\n“Have you been here long?” “Since you were rescued.”\nSketch sighed, “Almost two months. It was pretty exciting how Rob fought for us and got other people to help him make sure a bad master didn't get us. Though we were too scared to appreciate it at the time.”\n“Have you had bad masters?” “Before.”\n“Not really. First, we were bought for a young girl as toys or pets. When she got bored of us, her parents sold us through an auction to a family that trained us to clean their house. They were nice and treated us like almost part of the family, but we couldn't go anywhere. Their sons moved out and they decided they didn't need us anymore.” She sighed and rubbed tears from her eyes.\nThe twins enveloped her in a hug and held her.\n“Thanks. I think I want to go home and hug Etch.”\n“We understand.” “It's good that you have stayed together.”\n“I know. I was just thinking how close we came to losing each other. That bad master at the auction only wanted me and got mad when Rob wouldn't agree to split us up. He said he would cook Etch and make me eat him.”\n“That's horrible” “Just awful.” “We almost lost each other” “Because our last owner split us up” “To punish us.” “But Rob saved both of us.” “We’re very grateful.” “I don't know what I would do without you.” “I would die without you.” “We could find each other.” “We would find each other.” “But we don't have to.” “We’re both free now.” “We’re free together.” “Forever.” They hugged each other and Sketch. “Go hug your brother.” “We’ll be fine.” “We’ll see you in the morning.” “Tomorrow.” “Go.”\nShe wiped her face and smiled as she backed out the door, then ran back to her cabin. “Etch? Etch!” No flying pillow or grumbling rabbit. He must still be working with Rob. But now she was alone. She sat down on his bed and tried not to cry, but failed.\nEtch walked through the darkness, still stunned and numb, unsure what to feel. His shadow reached his cabin door long before he did and he mindlessly followed it until he needed to open the door and step up inside.\n“There you are!” \nHis sister flew across the room and wrapped around him. This wasn't their playful glomp; no, she was crying. Had she heard?\n“Oh Etch, I'm so glad you're here with me. We are so lucky.”\nHe hugged her back, glad she was feeling affectionate, until he realized he was crying.\n“What's wrong?”\nHe pushed her away to wipe his tears and walked across the room to sit on his bed.\nSketch sat beside her brother and put her arm around his shoulders comfortingly, “What did Rob want you to do?”\nEtch took a breath. “He asked us to pull down one of the coffins.”\n“A coffin?! For who?”\n“Edith died.” He could barely say it.\n“Edith! Oh no.”\n“I… I…”\n“No, it's not your fault. It had nothing to do with what you said.” She hugged her brother tight.\n“I… watched her die.”\n“What?”\n“She was still sick after we brought the coffin back. She told me why I'm digging the ditch, then she couldn't breathe, but the doc helped her. Then she looked at Rob and Rose and thanked them, but when she looked at me, she died.”\n“Oh Etch.” She held him and rubbed his back soothingly as he sobbed. When he stopped shaking, she pulled his shirt up. “Let's get you ready for bed.”\nHe let her take his shirt and pushed his shorts of his legs, then fell over on his bed.\nSketch stood up to take off her own clothes, then crawled into her brother’s bed behind him. She pulled the blanket over them both, then pulled him further onto the bed. She snuggled up behind him, catching his tail between her legs and pulled one of his ears down until he grabbed the end. She rubbed his chest and kissed his neck. “I love you, Etch. I'm glad we're together. I'll always be here for you.”\n“I love you too, sis.” He held his ear, trying to erase all the hateful and angry things he had thought about Edith from his memory and remember nice things about her. He felt bad that she was so alone when she died, even though she seemed happy. “Sketch, do you think anyone else will ever love me?”\nShe sighed and rubbed his chest. “Tomorrow's another day.”", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "The rabbit morph groaned as his body shook involuntarily, then swatted at the offending paws causing it. His body shook again and he grabbed at those paws that were attached to his sister.
“Come on Etch, don't fall asleep yet. Mr. Rob should be back any minute now with more rabbits.”
“They'll be here in the morning when I wake up.”
“I want to be there to help them feel welcome.”
“Let Edith do that. She thinks she's in charge anyway, the old…”
“Etch. She's lived through a lot. You have to…”
“I know, I know,” he sat up, giving up on sleep, “but I thought we’re supposed to be free here, but she acts like she's still managing slaves. We've given her plenty of time, but she had me working hard all day with little stuff, because she thought I didn't work hard enough on my own chores.”
“She’s a rabbit morph like us. That's what she did before Mr. Rob bought her.”
“He's Rob.”
“Mr. is a show of respect.”
“Then he's Mr. Daniels.”
“Alright Mr. Smarty-pants. Let's go show the new residents some respect.”
He got up and grabbed his shirt to put on. “Fine, but no flirting. Your love at first sight didn't work out too well with Trent.”
She held the door for him. “I didn't know he was castrated…, but he likes you.”
“We don't have to talk about it.”
“You brought him up.”
“What about Edith? She keeps giving you easy jobs.”
“You think weeding the bank of the creek is easy?”
“Easier than digging a three-foot ditch beside the driveway in the heat today. I hope she doesn't see me. I didn't finish before dinner.”
“I don't know if I finished either. I don't remember seeing her at dinner.”
“Maybe she's sick and we can get a break.”
“That's not nice.”
“Nothing serious, just one of those twenty-four-hour things, so we can have a day off.”
She stopped and smiled to a tan rabbit morph standing with a few others, “Hey Clark. Is Rob back from the auction, yet?”
“Not yet, Miss Sketch.”
“Thank you, Mr. Clark.” She turned to smirk at her brother.
He leaned in to whisper, “Forget it. He won't do anything with you unless Rob tells him to. He's so conditioned as a drone, he's scared to have his own thoughts. You might as well be marrying Rob.”
“We’ll see.”
“Why not wait until we leave and you'll have more choices, better choices?”
“That could be a while.”
“I'm in no hurry.”
“Not much of a sacrifice when your choices are an ancient doe, a twelve-year-old, and your sister.”
“It's not my fault it's mostly males at the local auctions.”
“Maybe Edith would give you easier jobs if you scratched her itch.”
“Ew, that's…”
The small crowd quieted and turned to watch a van coming down the long driveway. It pulled up to the house and a grey-haired man got out.
“Evening everyone. We did pretty good today and got three. There's a young buck named Veron.” He held his arm out invitingly and a small rabbit grudgingly walked out from behind the van, then stared wide-eyed at the gathering of rabbit morphs. “He's about ten years old and has some anger issues, but some of you are familiar with that and I know we can all help him feel safe and comfortable.”
A woman stepped off the porch of the house behind them and knelt down to put her arm around the bunny. “This isn't even half of our little town’s population. We’ll get you cleaned up and let you get some sleep before you meet the rest tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Rose. Could you bring out some clothes; the other two weren't allowed to keep theirs when we left. They were being sold separately, even though they're sisters; twins, even. I was glad I could get them both with what I had. I think I'm making friends up there. The auctioneer mentioned another rabbit that didn't qualify for the auction for some reason, but his owner might donate him to us. I am so proud of all of you, helping to keep this refuge running to help other rabbit morphs transition to freedom. Mr. Grogan, who brought us Clark and Buck and Tiana and offers transport for anyone ready to move out on their own, told me that our combined efforts have freed over four hundred morphs in the nearly two years since I met him.” He glanced to the van, where his wife smiled and nodded that they were ready, then scanned the small crowd, “Is Edith here, so she can show the twins to their new home?”
Rose stepped up to whisper in his ear and his cheerful expression dropped to one of concern.
“Uh, Sketch, would you show our new residents to cabin fourteen?”
“Of course.”
Two identical brown and white patched rabbit morphs stepped around the van wearing oversized shirts. They were tall and fit and even though they looked scared and clung to each other, they walked with confidence unusual for slave born morphs.
“Come on, Etch. Quit staring and let's take them home to get some sleep.”
“Etch, I'd like you and Clark to do something for me. I'll see everyone else in the morning when we introduce our newcomers to the rest of the town.” Rob beckoned the two rabbits closer.
“Is that your brother?” “Etch and Sketch?” “Are you twins?” “Like us?”
Sketch chuckled as she led them into the dark, “No, I'm almost a year older, but our first owners changed our names.”
“What are your real names?” “Your original names.”
“We were too young to remember them, so this is us now.”
“I think it's cute.” “I think they're both cute.”
“Well, my brother obviously thinks you’re both more than cute.”
They looked at each other and giggled. “Good.” “But we're not ready to start a relationship.” “Our last owner thought we were.” “He made us dress up.” “And clean his house.” “Then one day…” They stopped to hug and comfort each other.
“I'm guessing you fought back.”
“Yes.” “He didn't like that.” “He said we had behavior problems.” “And are violent.” “It made our price lower.” “We were scared we'd be bought by someone worse.”
“Well, that guy was your last owner. When Rob bought you, he freed you. He brought you here so you can own yourselves.”
They looked at each other. “Was he really our last owner?” “It's hard to believe.” “Then I'll own you.” “And I'll own you.” They smiled and hugged each other, then hugged Sketch.
“It's a good feeling to not be afraid. Anyway, this next cabin is number fourteen and it's all yours. If you don't want to live together, just tell Rose and she'll take care of you. She'll probably bring you some better fitting clothes in the morning. Etch and I live two doors down in ten. I'm not ready to live alone with so many single males around here. Shall we take a look inside?”
“Etch, I need you two to go to the green shed and pull down one of the coffins.” Rob waited for everyone to leave before instructing the rabbits.
“Who died?”
“Nobody yet, but Edith collapsed this afternoon and isn't expected to make it to morning.”
“Can't you do anything for her?” Etch looked to the cabins, remembering his comment to his sister just moments before.
“If she were human, she would probably be okay, but there are no hospitals that will treat morphs around here. Doc Perry thinks it's her heart, but can't do the surgery to fix it.”
“Why not? We can't just let her die.”
Rob put his hand on the rabbit’s back in a half hug. “She doesn’t have the training or equipment. It's sad; I'm going to miss her, too. We’ll make sure she's comfortable until she goes and we'll decorate her coffin real nice. It was her idea to make and keep a few and decorate them to honor the person. I think she’ll be proud.”
“She'll be dead.” Etch was angry, but he didn't know why.
“Yes. It's a shame she won't get to see her big plans finished. She didn't have the schooling, but she had the brains of an engineer. She wanted to turn our little farm village into a full-blown town with streets and plumbing in the cabins, even internet, and she wanted us to be self-sustaining, so we didn't have to buy anything but more morphs to free.”
“Is that why she had us doing all those extra chores?”
“I'm guessing so.”
“Why didn't she just tell us?”
“She was proud of her plans and probably didn't want any arguing over details to get in the way of finishing them. I think the best way to honor her would be to make sure it gets done her way and keep rescuing rabbit morphs. Now you two go get her coffin and I'll see if she's well enough to talk to.”
“This is big.” “For just us.”
“You'll get used to it. Having the extra space for yourself really helps with getting used to being free, being your own person.”
The twins looked at each other and smiled, then said in unison, “Those are two different things.”
Sketch smirked, “Well, I enjoy the space to be separate from my brother. I hope I never have to sleep with him again.”
They snickered at each other.
“That's not what I meant. I have never had sex with my brother.”
“He's cute.” “So's she.” “So’re we.” “So?” “Maybe later.” “Maybe later.”
Sketch scoffed, “Well, don't make it too easy for him.” She sighed, “I love him and I want him to be happy, but he can be such a jerk about some things. I want to be happy, too.” One of the twins offered a paw and she took it.
“Relax.” “You can be happy.” “How about a deal?” “You get to be happy first.” “We won't notice him” “Until you move out.”
“Don't be mean. He's really great, I’d trust him with my life, and he’s probably your best choice here. It's just…” She dropped the paw and sighed.
“No loss to us.” “We’re not ready.” “We'd rather make friends.” “Like you.”
Sketch smiled and offered her paw, “Nice to meet you, I'm Sketch.”
The twins giggled and both grabbed her paw to shake it and say in unison, “Nice to meet you, we’re Stereo.”
“You're both named Stereo?”
“When we were first bought,” “we were called seventeen” “point 1” “point 2” “We grew up on a farm.” “It was nice.” “Our owners weren't bad,” “but they didn't care about naming us.” “The fields manager,” “a nice” “but strict” “cow” “Hervda” “She noticed us singing.” “Stuff from the radio.” “Stuff we made up.” “She started sending us to opposite ends of the work line.” “and told us to sing.” “To keep everyone working.” “We sang the same songs.” “at the same time.” “and everyone started calling us” “Left” “and Right” “Stereo.”
“So, your name is Left and your name is Right.”
“And we’re both Stereo.”
“But you’re Left.” Sketch pointed to one rabbit.
“Look.” They lifted their chins and pointed to a brown spot at the back of their jaw, one on the left side, the other on the right. “You can tell” “If you need to” “but we're always together” “even when we’re apart” “because we're one rabbit.” “In Stereo.”
Sketch smiled, then laughed, “Etch is in for a surprise.”
“Come on in, Etch. She's weak, but she wants to talk to you. Try to keep her calm.”
The man ushered the young rabbit into the room to stand beside the bed where the old rabbit lay.
Edith smiled, “Etch, did you finish digging?”
He tried not to get upset, “Almost.”
One side of her whiskers twitched and she grunted and took a deep breath. “That's the trough for heavier lines to power and network the town until we get enough solar. Dig down another three feet and line it with the rocks Arbor has been collecting.”
“Edith.” Etch was feeling betrayed for caring about her.
“I should have told everyone about my dream, especially you. I wanted to make everything better for everyone, but I'm not used to explaining. You deserve better than that. You're not a slave anymore. I never learned…” She fought for a breath, “how not to be. Be better than me.”
“Edith.” He couldn't help caring about this old rabbit that gave him so much trouble everyday. “We’ll build your dream. Just rest; you'll be okay.”
“No, I'm…” Her whiskers twitched again and she grunted, but couldn't get a breath.
The doctor hurried to the side of the bed and raised the old doe's arms over her head. She put her ear to her chest, then grabbed the doe's face and blew into her mouth.
Edith gasped, then took a stuttering breath.
The doctor rubbed her side, “Her lungs aren't getting enough blood. There's nothing more we can do here. She doesn't have much time.”
The old doe's eyes darted around, “I'm sorry, master. I didn't mean to be sick. Don't sell me.”
Rob grabbed her paw and leaned over her, “Edith, we can't sell you; you're free.”
Her eyes slowed, then found his and she smiled, speaking weakly, “Rob. Rob.” She looked beside him and found “Rose. Thank you. Thank you.” She noticed Etch and started to reach for him, but stopped.
“I think I'll head home. Etch is probably waiting for me. He hates when I come in late and wake him up.”
“Does he get mad?” “Does he hurt you?”
Sketch laughed, “No, no. He usually just grumbles, maybe throws a pillow at me, then goes back to sleep. He's not violent, just cranky when he's tired and from what I heard, Edith had him busy all day.”
“You could stay here.” “Keep us company.”
“Auctions are stressful. You should get some sleep. When they introduce you tomorrow, there will be a lot of lonely male rabbits trying to get to know you.”
“Maybe you can tell us who to avoid.” “Or who’s nice.”
“I don't think anybody here is actually mean, but you do need to be more careful with some than others.”
“Like who?” “Are they dangerous?”
“I don't think so. I haven't seen anything serious. Some just need a little more time to adjust to their freedom. You might hear the word drones. It's a not so nice way to refer to morphs that had bad masters and are still too scared to do anything without being told. The auctions use words like obedient or docile workers. It just means they need more time.”
“We’ve known some like that.” “They'd come to the farm.” “Wouldn't talk to anybody.” “Just sleep, eat, and work.” “It was sad.” “But they usually liked our singing.” “Remember Odd?” “He had to sneak to talk to us.” “To tell us he liked our songs.” “To thank us.” “He couldn't believe he could speak openly.”
“That is sad. Was he a rabbit?”
“No, he was a fox.” “A nice fox.” “Are there other places like this?” “That help other kinds of morphs.”
“I've seen a cat sanctuary and an equine sanctuary listed online, but I don't remember where they are.”
“Do you think there's a fox sanctuary?” “For Odd.”
“Probably somewhere. We can look later.”
“Have you been here long?” “Since you were rescued.”
Sketch sighed, “Almost two months. It was pretty exciting how Rob fought for us and got other people to help him make sure a bad master didn't get us. Though we were too scared to appreciate it at the time.”
“Have you had bad masters?” “Before.”
“Not really. First, we were bought for a young girl as toys or pets. When she got bored of us, her parents sold us through an auction to a family that trained us to clean their house. They were nice and treated us like almost part of the family, but we couldn't go anywhere. Their sons moved out and they decided they didn't need us anymore.” She sighed and rubbed tears from her eyes.
The twins enveloped her in a hug and held her.
“Thanks. I think I want to go home and hug Etch.”
“We understand.” “It's good that you have stayed together.”
“I know. I was just thinking how close we came to losing each other. That bad master at the auction only wanted me and got mad when Rob wouldn't agree to split us up. He said he would cook Etch and make me eat him.”
“That's horrible” “Just awful.” “We almost lost each other” “Because our last owner split us up” “To punish us.” “But Rob saved both of us.” “We’re very grateful.” “I don't know what I would do without you.” “I would die without you.” “We could find each other.” “We would find each other.” “But we don't have to.” “We’re both free now.” “We’re free together.” “Forever.” They hugged each other and Sketch. “Go hug your brother.” “We’ll be fine.” “We’ll see you in the morning.” “Tomorrow.” “Go.”
She wiped her face and smiled as she backed out the door, then ran back to her cabin. “Etch? Etch!” No flying pillow or grumbling rabbit. He must still be working with Rob. But now she was alone. She sat down on his bed and tried not to cry, but failed.
Etch walked through the darkness, still stunned and numb, unsure what to feel. His shadow reached his cabin door long before he did and he mindlessly followed it until he needed to open the door and step up inside.
“There you are!”
His sister flew across the room and wrapped around him. This wasn't their playful glomp; no, she was crying. Had she heard?
“Oh Etch, I'm so glad you're here with me. We are so lucky.”
He hugged her back, glad she was feeling affectionate, until he realized he was crying.
“What's wrong?”
He pushed her away to wipe his tears and walked across the room to sit on his bed.
Sketch sat beside her brother and put her arm around his shoulders comfortingly, “What did Rob want you to do?”
Etch took a breath. “He asked us to pull down one of the coffins.”
“A coffin?! For who?”
“Edith died.” He could barely say it.
“Edith! Oh no.”
“I… I…”
“No, it's not your fault. It had nothing to do with what you said.” She hugged her brother tight.
“I… watched her die.”
“What?”
“She was still sick after we brought the coffin back. She told me why I'm digging the ditch, then she couldn't breathe, but the doc helped her. Then she looked at Rob and Rose and thanked them, but when she looked at me, she died.”
“Oh Etch.” She held him and rubbed his back soothingly as he sobbed. When he stopped shaking, she pulled his shirt up. “Let's get you ready for bed.”
He let her take his shirt and pushed his shorts of his legs, then fell over on his bed.
Sketch stood up to take off her own clothes, then crawled into her brother’s bed behind him. She pulled the blanket over them both, then pulled him further onto the bed. She snuggled up behind him, catching his tail between her legs and pulled one of his ears down until he grabbed the end. She rubbed his chest and kissed his neck. “I love you, Etch. I'm glad we're together. I'll always be here for you.”
“I love you too, sis.” He held his ear, trying to erase all the hateful and angry things he had thought about Edith from his memory and remember nice things about her. He felt bad that she was so alone when she died, even though she seemed happy. “Sketch, do you think anyone else will ever love me?”
She sighed and rubbed his chest. “Tomorrow's another day.”", "pools_count": 1, "title": "Stereo Reception", "deleted": "f", "public": "t", "mimetype": "application/msword", "pagecount": "1", "rating_id": "1", "rating_name": "Mature", "ratings": [ { "content_tag_id": "2", "name": "Nudity", "description": "Nonsexual nudity exposing breasts or genitals (must not show arousal)", "rating_id": "1" } ], "submission_type_id": "12", "type_name": "Writing - Document", "guest_block": "t", "friends_only": "f", "comments_count": "3", "views": "164" }