Bunny Man July 6, 2024 Ever since I was a child, people have told me that my face looked familiar. It was as though they recognized me from somewhere far away when they gazed at me, those eyes fading into the crevices of their mind. Despite this, I was an adolescent in the care of my parents. IBM and Apple hadn't yet introduced to the American public mass marketed personal computers in the early-to-mid-'70s, and there was no reasonable way they could recognize me from anywhere. Maybe someone they saw on the TV or in the newspaper looked similar? I was young, and didn't think much of it at the time. On Easter Sunday of 1976, my parents got me a pair of these pinkish-white bunny ears. I came downstairs and saw it lying there in the basket of chocolate eggs and pop rocks atop the coffee table in the living room. They thought it suited me; I've had this infatuation with Peter Rabbit ever since I can remember. When I ran over and placed the ears over my head, Mom and Dad had this temporary look of shock on their faces. It only lasted for a couple seconds before they returned to their usual grinning selves, but I'll never forget how unusual it felt. After then, I began wearing those ears wherever I went. I was only an elementary schooler, so Mom and Dad obliged my request when we went out to pick up groceries from the supermarket or eat out at restaurants. The waitresses would always tell me I looked like their niece or their cousin or... They'd trail off in thought before brushing it off and continuing with my parents' order. One evening during the winter, Dad invited over his boss from Xerox for a small get-together at our place. The big man brought his daughter along who was a couple years younger than me, but figured we could play Wirr・・ｽ｢l or watch cartoons together while they and Mom chatted over red wine and pot roast. The girl, bewildered with the new space, began running in all directions and exploring immediately. I followed and showed her around until at last she found the TV and plopped down on her dress in front of Little House on the Prairie. We made it through one or two reruns before she turned to me, "Let's play hide-and-seek!" I agreed, thankful for any way to be rid of that Laura Ingalls. We took turns back and forth as hider and seeker before it was once again my turn to hide. She closed her eyes and began counting down from 30 while I moved through the hallway, before deciding to turn towards Dad's study. There was this crevice between the bookcase and one of Mom's snake plants that I knew made for the perfect spot. As I crept into the office, I noticed the lamp on the room's desk had been turned on. I walked forward to turn it off, lest I ruin my hiding spot, before I noticed Dad's boss hovering before one of the bookcases. "Oh, uh, I was just... uh... looking for the restroom until I came across this library. Are you and Lizzy getting along?" Lizzy was supposed to be short for Melissa. "Is she watching TV?" "Actually, we're playing hide-and-seek right now. I was gonna hide in here." I pointed towards the corner of the room behind him. The man chuckled awkwardly in his oversized grey suit, his chops twitching in the cold and dusty air. "Ah, well, don't let those bunny ears poke out and get you caught now, haha!" He stared at me for a few seconds with a longing expression before leaning down towards my face. "You really do look great in those bunny ears." I wasn't sure how to respond or what was really happening. I just stood there with this blank expression. I don't remember what happened after that. It's all in bits and pieces. The last thing I recall is him kissing my lips, that prickly mustache rubbing against my nose. Those ears nauseated me after that. I threw them into the trash for pickup a few days later. Mom noticed and asked what was wrong. She tried to cheer me up by getting me a Peter Rabbit stuffed animal, but I was sick of him. I don't think my parents thought much of it. Their baby was just growing up is all. I'd never tell them about what happened that night. I didn't have the language or maturity to back then even if I wanted to. I don't know if I do now. A few months passed. Dad would eventually get a job offer from the division back East in Virgina, and he'd take it before moving us all 2,000 miles across the country deep into Appalachia. I cried at first over having to leave my friends, but in retrospect, I got over them after the first couple weeks. I found out I'd be getting a second-floor bedroom nearly twice the size of my last, for one. For two, Dad got me my very own PC! Things seemed to be going pretty well for a while, and I began to forget about my troubles in Idaho, at least in my waking hours. It was often in dreams I would notice myself wearing those damn ears, completely unable to remove them. I began checking out some books from the library on lucid dreaming in an effort to rid myself of these nightmares, if they could be called that, thouguh it was to no avail. I began to use the Internet more and more as I became a teenager. Nobody knew me as the Bunny Man here. I could be among my peers as an equal. It was vindicating. Yet, they seemed to keep coming back to me. My classmates would give me replacements. My teachers would ask where my bunny ears are today. Everyone seemed to love them and love me. It was weird. Nobody else I knew was treated like this. However, and the craziest thing, every once in a while I would come across someone referencing a bunny man. There's no way it could have been related to me, they were states, countries, and oceans away. Yet I peeked at it. They had seen an individual with bunny ears in their dreams or in a vision. They had become obsessive, but didn't know why. At some point when I became part of the student council, I accepted it. I leaned into it. I became the bunny man that my school wanted me to be, and they all loved it. They ate it up like Thanksgiving turkey. One day over the summer between my high school graduation and my acceptance to go to Middlesex for college, I had received a call from a couple of friends of mine asking to meet up over by our usual spot where we went for sandwiches at the old Mike's Submarines. They still haven't gotten around to changing the sign out front to Jersey Mike's since the rebranding 13 years back. I obliged them before taking my bunny ears and biking down. "What took you so long?" "Sorry, I thought I'd shower before heading out." We got some sandwiches before sitting down to eat. The staff always seemed to like me ever since I first came here as a tween. They tell me my Dr. Pepper is on the house. my friends were [female friend]. she had a deeper voice than the rest of the girls, long brownish orange hair. She likes water polo, wants to play on the state team. drink of choice: sprite then there was [male friend]. drink of choice: raspberry lemonade and lastly there was [male friend 2]. thinly rimmed rectangular glasses, tannish yellow face, short black hair, and those sideburns. my god. drink of choice: dr. pepper. We talked a bit about our plans for the summer, how we needed to make it the most memorable time before we move off to different schools come september. This was supposed to be a meeting to determine that. How about we throw a big party at female friend's place? No, my parents wouldn't let me. They're pretty strict with the whole water polo thing. If they knew I was here with you guys drinking soda they would kill me. She sips at her drink. Why not just have the party at your place My parents work in the government and are kind of weird about me having friends over. Even for a little going away to college party? I'm not saying they wouldn't let us, but Why not have it at my place? The boy with the sideburns offered. None of us had ever been to his house. We didn't know much of anything about his family matters Are your parents in town? Nope Oh, female friend, this is perfect! How's about we have it tonight? Isn't that a bit early? Do it for Friday at least if we're gonna get drunk. Not all of us have nothing going on during the weekdays. Female friend still goes to the community center 5-days a week for water training with her coach. Alright then, Friday. It's settled! He drank a swig out of his raspberry lemonade before the straw began to suckle at only droplets left. we meet up again on afternoon of friday we pick up a bunch of sandwiches for the party and take them in the car with us the four of us get in the car then along the road we see another friend, girl walking along the street we invite her to come in and we are squeezed in the back. i am in the back left, sideburns to right of me in back middle, girl in front right, boy in front left. new girl in back right. It's raining and we aren't sure if we should continue the party, and she was actually not going to the party originally but was just stuck in the rain so we invited her over We get to the house towards sunset before heading inside with the sandwiches and the five of us. the place seems quiet, the neighborhood as well. it's a simple house with trashbins out front, a driveway, all that. we step inside everyone on this plaet knows the boy with the pink bunny ears. he is god. we have facilitated you to be presented to them. will you return to us. oh, running? we have place dalarms all around the fences and streets, you know. we are benevolent to our god. we just want to treat you well. you'll retain all of your freedom. bunny man. returned to the womb and birthed again for another infinite 18 years. - - - please continue the above story with the following draft reference. - - - Ever since I was a child, it seems as though everyone I met had recognized me from somewhere. It was often I'd hear, "Have we met somewhere before?" Most people kept it in however. In Easter of 2005, my parents got me a pair of pink bunny ears. I don't know if they thought much of it at the time, but I began to become attached to them and would never let them off my head. I'd never let them go. It seemed as though when I wore the bunny ears, people started to revere me. Maybe that's why they started asking if we had met before. I didn't wear them often. When friends at school began coming over to my house, the would see the bunny ears sitting on my dresser and tell me to put them on. When I did, it's like they began revering me. They asked if there was anything they could do for their leader. I thought it was just a joke at the time, jus a sort of play. Then it became more frequent, and not just with other children. Sometimes Dad would invite over his colleagues to drink and chat together by the fireside. They'd be walking to the restroom to take a leak sometime during the day and have a peer into my room. They'd find me playing rubiks cube, and then they'd see the bunny ears. Hey champ He had mutton chops. My god those sideburns. Must have been in his mid 40s. They'd try to play it cool, but there was a real awkwardness, and they kept eyeing the bunny ears. It wouldn't take long until the small talk moved towards them. You like rabbits? Bunny rabbits? Do you think you could show me you with those ears on? So I would be a good little boy and put the bunny ears on for him. He leaned down and kissed me. I don't know what he was doing, and once he gathered what he was he stopped and left the room without another word. That was when I found my type. I hated the bunny ears. At that point I threw them in the trash without anyone knowing. I didn't want to be involved with them anymore. Yet, they seemed to keep coming back to me. I would see myself in dreams with the ears. My classmates would give me replacements. My teachers would ask where my bunny ears are today. Everyone seemed to love them and love me. It was weird. Nobody else I knew was treated like this. I began to use the Internet more and more as I reached being a teenager. Nobody knew me as the Bunny Man here. I could be among my peers. However, and the craziest thing, every once in a while I would come across someone referencing a bunny man. There's no way it could have been related to me, they were states, countries, and oceans away. Yet I peeked at it. They had seen an individual with bunny ears in their dreams or in a vision. They had become obsessive, but didn't know why. At some point when I became part of the student council, I accepted it. I leaned into it. I became the bunny man that my school wanted me to be, and they all loved it. They ate it up like thanksgiving turkey. One day over the summer between my high school graduation and my acceptance to go to Middlesex for college, I had received a call from a couple of friends of mine asking to meet up over by our usual spot where we went for sandwiches at the old Mike's Submarines. They still haven't gotten around to changing the sign out front to Jersey Mike's since the rebranding 13 years back. I obliged them before taking my bunny ears and biking down. What took you so long? Sorry, I thought I'd shower before heading out. We got some sandwiches before sitting down to eat. The staff always seemed to like me ever since I first came here as a tween. They tell me my dr. pepper is on the house. my friends were [female friend]. she had a deeper voice than the rest of the girls, long brownish orange hair. She likes water polo, wants to play on the state team. drink of choice: sprite then there was [male friend]. drink of choice: raspberry lemonade and lastly there was [male friend 2]. thinly rimmed rectangular glasses, tannish yellow face, short black hair, and those sideburns. my god. drink of choice: dr. pepper. We talked a bit about our plans for the summer, how we needed to make it the most memorable time before we move off to different schools come september. This was supposed to be a meeting to determine that. How about we throw a big party at female friend's place? No, my parents wouldn't let me. They're pretty strict with the whole water polo thing. If they knew I was here with you guys drinking soda they would kill me. She sips at her drink. Why not just have the party at your place My parents work in the government and are kind of weird about me having friends over. Even for a little going away to college party? I'm not saying they wouldn't let us, but Why not have it at my place? The boy with the sideburns offered. None of us had ever been to his house. We didn't know much of anything about his family matters Are your parents in town? Nope Oh, female friend, this is perfect! How's about we have it tonight? Isn't that a bit early? Do it for Friday at least if we're gonna get drunk. Not all of us have nothing going on during the weekdays. Female friend still goes to the community center 5-days a week for water training with her coach. Alright then, Friday. It's settled! He drank a swig out of his raspberry lemonade before the straw began to suckle at only droplets left. we meet up again on afternoon of friday we pick up a bunch of sandwiches for the party and take them in the car with us the four of us get in the car then along the road we see another friend, girl walking along the street we invite her to come in and we are squeezed in the back. i am in the back left, sideburns to right of me in back middle, girl in front right, boy in front left. new girl in back right. It's raining and we aren't sure if we should continue the party, and she was actually not going to the party originally but was just stuck in the rain so we invited her over We get to the house towards sunset before heading inside with the sandwiches and the five of us. the place seems quiet, the neighborhood as well. it's a simple house with trashbins out front, a driveway, all that. we step inside everyone on this plaet knows the boy with the pink bunny ears. he is god. we have facilitated you to be presented to them. will you return to us. oh, running? we have place dalarms all around the fences and streets, you know. we are benevolent to our god. we just want to treat you well. you'll retain all of your freedom. bunny man. returned to the womb and birthed again for another infinite 18 years. fuck gahhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH