Pip the Bunny and the Promise of Tomorrow
In a meadow full of clover and daisies, where the grass grew tall and green, there was a snug little burrow. And in that burrow lived Pip, a small brown bunny with one ear that always flopped over.
Pip loved the meadow more than anything. All day she nibbled sweet clover and thumped her back feet in the warm dust. She hopped after butterflies and hid in the tall grass and popped up again to make the other bunnies laugh.
But when the sky turned pink and then purple, and the first star blinked awake, Mama Rabbit called softly down the burrow: "Pip, my love. Time to come in."
Pip's nose wrinkled. "Not yet," she said. "If I go to sleep, the day will be over. And I don't want it to be over. I want to stay here in the meadow forever."
Mama Rabbit came and sat beside her in the cool grass. "The day isn't ending, little one," she said. "It's just resting. And do you know a secret?"
"What secret?" Pip whispered.
"Tomorrow is already on its way," said Mama Rabbit. "It's coming with fresh clover and new butterflies and a whole meadow full of morning. It's a promise. And promises always keep."
Pip looked out at the meadow, dim and silver now under the rising moon. It didn't look gone. It looked like it was breathing, slow and soft, waiting for the light.
"It'll all still be here?" Pip asked. "In the morning?"
"Every daisy," said Mama Rabbit. "Every blade of grass. And you'll be rested, and ready to hop all over it again."
Pip gave a long, sleepy wriggle. Her one floppy ear drooped even lower. She let Mama Rabbit nudge her gently down into the warm burrow, where her brothers and sisters were already a soft, snoring pile.
"Goodnight, meadow," Pip whispered. "See you tomorrow."
And tucked in the warm dark, holding the promise of the morning, the little bunny closed her eyes and hopped away into her dreams.