Lilys Story...The full complete..By Rabswood.

Some time ago I was asked by Yvette, a dedicated bunny mummy to write a story about her little Nethie Lily who had recently gone to Rainbow Bridge. Yvette gave me some details about Lily's life and asked me to include the names of other much loved rabbits who had also gone to the Bridge.

Lily arrives at Rainbow Bridge.
Close your eyes, concentrate really hard and in a twitch of a whisker you will be in a place not too far away, a place somewhere between twilight and the dark, between sleep and awake where a soft twinkling light shows the path which leads to Rainbow Bridge. The journey along the path is an easy one and the smell of night scented stock fills the air and helps you on your way. Even though the path to Rainbow Bridge is a long one you will not tire and the closer you get the more spring you will have in your step and bounce in your hop. Those who started on the path with no sight can see a warm glow ahead and follow the light, those who could not hear are led by the night time songs of the Robins (also known by many at the Bridge as the Tweets) those who were once battered and bruised, cold and afraid now feel hopeful and renewed, the old start to run as they did in their youth and the very young binky, popcorn, leap, hop, skip and jump for joy as they race each other to the beautiful colours at the end of the path which leads to Rainbow Bridge.

When Lily arrived at the Bridge she found herself at the back of a very long queue of excited animals. 'What are we waiting for?' asked Lily. 'We are waiting to get in' said a gerbil 'some bun is holding us up'. Tapping his little paw the slightly impatient gerbil shouts up the line 'what's the problem?' a bunny with a clip board shouts back 'there's no problem, it's a security matter, nothing to worry about, I just have to check that everything is in order before letting you all through'.
Whispers start to pass down the line; eventually the whispers reach the gerbil who whispers to Lily who in turn whispers to the bird behind her who has just joined the queue. 'What?' asked the bird? Lily whispers again 'the lemons on the cushion are blue'. Over hearing the gerbil adds 'I didn't say that? I said the lemons on the cushion are stuck with glue' the sheep standing in front of the gerbil now pipes up 'I didn't say anything about lemons!' and the dog standing in front of the sheep adds 'and I didn't say anything about glue!’.
Lily stands up on her back legs and tries to peer over the now higgledy piggledy line of animals. 'Perhaps I should go to the front of the queue and find out what was really said'. 'Yes, that's a good idea' replied the gerbil. The other animals mod in agreement.
At the front of the queue there is a rather official looking rabbit. He wears his ears one at number eleven the other at number four, he has a walkie talkie radio in his paw. 'Excuse me sir, we are all wondering what's holding up the queue?' The official looking bunny replies 'before I let any more newbies over the Bridge I have to make sure everyone gets a welcome pack, has an identity photo and their, paw, hoof, claw print taken. We had a couple of coach loads of lemmings arrive earlier, they were very excitable, dying to get in, it just took us a while to organise all the welcome officers'. 'Oh I see’ said Lily. ‘I am great Uncle Beige the Third, Head of Security here at Rainbow Bridge, there's nothing to worry about little one, you will soon cross the bridge and everyone will be waiting for you'.


Lily meets her welcome officer and settles in at Rainbow Burrow.
Lily reached the front of the queue and was allowed through by Great Uncle Beige the Third on security. She was then assigned a welcome officer, Smurfy Brindle. Every creature that goes to the bridge is assigned an officer of their own kind. Monkey is met by monkey, horse by horse. Rabbit by rabbit although sometimes something goes wrong and rabbit gets guinea pig. 'It's an age old problem' said Great Uncle Beige 'one we are still trying to rectify even here at the Bridge'
'Come with me Lily' said Smurfy Brindle a dainty little doe ' I iz a girl by the way Lily. I will take you to Rainbow Burrow where you iz going to live with all the other Bridge bunnies'. The little does binky their way across a field of sweet meadow hay before arriving at the burrow entrance. The entrance is small but once inside there is enough room to periscope. There is a sweet earthy smell down the burrow and the way is lit by dancing fireflies. It is not long before the tunnel splits into five. Lily follows Smuf down tunnel number four until they reach an underground opening with grassy mats on the floor and fresh hay piled up around the edges. Bunnies are flopped out all around, grooming and being groomed, snoozing, eating dandelions and nibbling on fruit sticks while taking it easy. A group of kits are playing toss and flip with a bunch of fresh carrot tops and two others Tiger Baby and Speckled Baby drink their mother BunBun’s milk.
A group of bunnies in one corner roll on the floor with much laughter. 'What are they laughing at?' asked Lily. 'Oh it will be Grumpy Thumper rehearsing his stand-up routine for the Open Mike session on Wednesday. 'Tanya over there’ Smufy points to a bunny laid on her tummy with her legs sticking out at the back 'she writes all his jokes. They are ex-BARC bunnies. Blueberry Muffin is here too' Smurfy looks around 'as anybun seen Blue?' 'He's out foraging in the woods, he'll be back soon' replies a pretty young doe named Cloud Tuckerbunnies. 'Now Lily it is time to rest before you get ready for tonight’s welcome party' Smurfy advises 'we iz partying until dawn' all the bunnies cheer. Yous can make a nest over there next to Cinnamon and her mummy but make sure you leave some space for Munchkin she will be arriving soon with her welcome officer. There iz plenty of foods around, everybun shares just help yourself, although I do have a secret supply of Wispa Golds, limited edition, but keep it quiet' and with that Smurfy binkies off.

The Party
What was once a relatively open space with bunnies scattered here and there is now bustling with giddy bunnies of all colours and descriptions, REW’s Dutchies, Agouties, Nethies and more. Some with uppy, some with helicopter and some with tiny Nethie ears but all were twitching with excitement. There are piles of freshly cut carrot tops and aromatic herbs all around and the parsnip juice is plentiful. A mound of soil is piled up in the middle and a fluffy bunster going by the name of Womble addresses the crowd.
‘Quite all yous bunnehs, quite I say... as you’s know we are all gathered here for Lily Shane’s ‘Welcome to the Bridge’ party. Please put your paws together and welcome on to the mound Lileeeeeeeee Shayyyyyyyyne’ all the bunnies cheer and stamp their thumpers as Lily climbs to the top of the mound. She is wearing her tutu and carefully fluffs it out. ‘Speech, speech’ the bunnies cry. Lily clears her throat ‘thank you all for the lovely welcome, the Bridge is more than I could ever imagine, it is bunderful. I remember hearing stories when I was a kit but I didn’t know if it was true. If I may I would like to sing a song for those I have left behind, my hoomin mummy, my special brother BB, Lady Bun, Roland and not forgetting that noisy bird Ruby. When my hoomin mummy came to my rescue she didn’t know how long I would survives so we both agreed to try our very best but not make any promises. So this song is for my family on the other side of the Bridge. Lily begins to sing. ‘No Promises‘ by Shayne Ward ‘when we are together, doing things that we love…’ and bunnies in the crowd hold paws and start to sway. Lily’s little voice trembles ‘I don’t want to run away; I want to stay forever, through time and time. No promises’ Tears well up in the eyes of some of the buns in the crowd as they think back to their families who live at the other side of the Bridge ‘now I need to hold you tight, I just wanna die in your arms’. The burrow is now almost silent, suddenly and to the crowds amazement Lily whips off her tutu to reveal a pair of tight gold hot pants and starts to sing ‘I'm spinning around move out of my way I know you're feelin' me 'cuz you like it like this, I'm breakin' it down I'm not the same I know you're feelin' me 'cuz you like it like this’ the crowd goes wild and the bunnies start to dance. The party continues until dawn with dancing and party games. Munchin wins first prize for the best guess at ‘How high can the Guinea pig pop-corn?’ guessing game, Charlie leads the Conga line and Peggy and Sue both cheat at ‘Spin the Bottle’ so that they get to kiss all the bucks. The bunnies just manage to get a couple of hour’s sleepings in before the voice of Great Uncle Beige the third can be heard echoing down the burrow ‘Come on everybun, its dawn and time for pilates on the lawn’.

Several months later…
Much time has passed since Lily Shane arrived at the Bridge. She has now completed her training and is a fully-fledged welcome officer and has gone on to greet many buns, including Ulfric and Sir Bonkalot, to name just two, to Rainbow Bridge. She has a busy schedule. On Monday mornings she helps out at the garden centre which is run by Blackberry a cute Nethie. Blackberry never does any of the work in the garden centre himself he just sits in a plant pot and supervises all the other buns. Blackberry is keen however to take the lead when it comes to quality assurance, he personally tastes all the produce. Rumour has it that he never actually gets out of his flower pot because he can’t, all the taste testing has made him too fat and he is actually wedged in there!
Lily spends Monday afternoons under the Buddleia tree with Bertie, a handsome French lop, and his wifey buns Bif and Willow.
Tuesdays are spent roaming free with Selina, Lorelai and Indy and Tuesday evenings are always spent at the BARC bunnies Rock Night organised by Shadow (assisted by Dazy-Mae). Little Bobby and Scooby always manage to gate crash Tuesday evening Rock Nights despite not being BARC bunnies, they say it’s got something to do with their mummy baking cakes to raise funds for BARC residents which in their eyes makes them honorary BARC buns. New to the BARC bunny get together is Hope who since arriving at the Bridge has a new found love of extreme sports. She has been stopped several times by Great Uncle Beige from bungee jumping off Rainbow Bridge!
On Wednesdays Lily and everybun at the Bridge spends the day rolling around in fresh hay before spending time grooming in preparation for the evenings welcome parties and the dancings until dawn.
Thursdays are for the creative arts. Lily attends art classes eagerly she particularly enjoys life drawing and all the buns take it in turns to pose. There is a gallery in Rainbow Burrow where all the art work is displayed. Some of the still life pictures of carrots drawn by Squidgy are exceptional and much talked about by the buns. One bun, Dylan (who hangs around with Molly and Munchkin) once commented that they looked so good he could nom them right off the wall!
Fridays are spent in quiet contemplation, remembering loved ones on the other side of the Bridge and asking for permission to look into the waters below the Bridge to see what is happening on the other side. It is on Fridays that the Tweets (Robins) talk with the bunnies and receive bunny kisses to take back over the Bridge to the people and other animals that the Bridge Bunnies love. Lily has sent bunny kisses to her vet Ian for holding her paw through difficult times and to mummy Yvette and brother BB for holding her heart.
Saturday is traditionally known at the Bridge as dirt bath day followed by diggings, followed by playing in the rain before letting a gentle warm breeze dry your fur. There is the usual Saturday picnic where all the buns get together, tell stories and sing songs and Just before bedtime a game of hunt the sprout is always organised by Great Uncle Beige.
Sundays are free days and all the bunnies choose how to spend their time, some go off on rambles, some snooze the day away, others build cardboard box castles or go out with their baskets to collect Fenugreek Crunchies as they fall ripe from the trees. Whatever they choose to do everybun is happy and contented and there is always an adventure to be had and a tale to tell.

Tonight, as you turn off your bedside lamp, sleep well knowing the all the animals at Rainbow Bridge are at peace. Tomorrow if a Tweet (Robin) should appear in your garden remember he is delivering a kiss sent from a loved one now at the Bridge and send one back.

Mummy to the Rabsville bunnies

Awwww that is beautiful but sad.

Remembering Lily-Shane and the other bunnies at Rainbow Bridge.

Oh god it is such a beautiful story, so hard to think of all our babies over there.
This creates such a beautiful image in my mind glad to know Ulfrics being looked after

That's so lovely. Glad Dylan has found Munchkin and that there is a place for Molly there too - just hope she doesn't take it up too soon

I often see a little robin when I go on a walk - and now I know why

Lovely. Hard not to cry in places xxxx