The Velveteen Rabbit –

A soft and fluffy Velveteen Rabbit lived in a toybox in a Boy's

room. Each day, the Boy opened the toybox and picked up Velveteen
Rabbit. And Velveteen Rabbit was happy.
Then newer, brighter toys came into the toybox. They had special
tricks. Some could move when the Boy pushed a button. Others
bounced high. Velveteen Rabbit had no special tricks or buttons. No
wonder the Boy started to choose these other new toys.
At night, when the toys were back all in the toybox, the other toys
talked with pride about the fine things they could do. Velveteen Rabbit
was quiet. There was not much to say.
Only one other toy in the toy box was like Velveteen Rabbit. Cowboy
Horse was also a soft, fluffy toy. But he was old. Most of his hair was
worn away. He had only one eye left. Cowboy Horse said to Velveteen
Rabbit, “Soft toys like us are really the lucky ones. We get loved the
most. And when soft toys get loved and loved, we can become Real.”
“What is Real?” said Velveteen Rabbit.
“Being Real is the best," said Skin Horse. "You can move when you
want to move. When you are Real, if you are loved, you can show your
love back.”

"And when soft toys get loved and loved, we can

become Real."

This all sounded fine to Velveteen Rabbit. But how could that ever
happen as long as Velveteen Rabbit was stuck in the toy box? After all,
the Boy was playing with toys that could do special things.
One day Nana, who took care of the Boy, flew open the lid of the toy
box. She said in a busy tone, “Oh, dear! That walking doggie is
missing. I must find something else for the Boy!” In a second,
Velveteen Rabbit was plopped down onto the bed with the Boy.
This began another happy time for Velveteen Rabbit. Each night the
Boy would hold Velveteen Rabbit close in his arms. In the morning,
the Boy would show Velveteen Rabbit how to make rabbit holes under
the sheets. If the Boy went outside to a picnic, or to the park,
Velveteen Rabbit would come with him, too.
After awhile, with the hugging and holding, much of Velveteen
Rabbit’s fur got matted down. Its pink nose grew less pink with all the
Boy’s kisses. But Velveteen Rabbit did not care. It was happy.
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In a second, Velveteen Rabbit was plopped down onto

the bed with the Boy.

One day the Boy became sick. His forehead got very hot. The doctor
came and went. Nana walked back and forth in fear. Day after day,
the Boy stayed in bed. There was nothing for Velveteen Rabbit to do
but to stay in bed, too, day after day.
Then at last, the Boy got better. Such joy in the house! The doctor said
the Boy must go to the shore. How wonderful! thought Velveteen
Rabbit. Many times the Boy had talked happily about the shore, and
told of its white sands and big blue ocean.
“What about this old bunny?” Nana asked the doctor.
“That old thing?” said the doctor. “It’s full of scarlet fever
germs. Burn it at once! Get him a new bunny.”
So Velveteen Rabbit was thrown into a sack along with the Boy's bed
sheets and old clothes and a lot of junk. The sack was carried to the
backyard. The gardener was told to burn the whole thing.

"That old thing?" said the doctor. "It's full of scarlet

fever germs Burn it at once!"
But the gardener was too busy with picking the beans and peas before
nightfall, so he left the sack behind. “I will take care of it tomorrow,”
he said. The sack was not tied at the top, and Velveteen Rabbit fell
out. The next day when the gardener picked up the sack to take it
away to be burned, Velveteen Rabbit was not in it.
Then it started to rain. Velveteen Rabbit was sad. So far away from
the Boy, never again to be nice and cozy together, and now soaking
wet! A tear fell from Velveteen Rabbit’s eye, over his cheek. It
plopped onto the grass.
All at once, at the spot where the tear fell, a flower grew up. Then the
bud of the flower opened. A tiny Fairy!
“Little Rabbit,” said the Fairy. “Do you know who I am?”
“I wish I did,” said Velveteen Rabbit.
“I am the Fairy that takes care of toys that are well loved,” said the
Fairy.
By then, Velveteen Rabbit was shabby and gray. The boy had loved off
all of its whiskers. The pink lining in the ears had long turned grey. Its
brown spots, once fresh and bright, were now faded and hard to see.

"Little Rabbit," said the Fairy. "Do you know who I

am?"

“It is time now for me to make you Real,” said the Fairy.
“I think I remember Real,” said Velveteen Rabbit. Now, what was it
Cowboy Horse had said? Ah yes. When you are Real, you can move
when you want to move. If you are loved, you can love back.
With one touch of the Fairy’s wand, Velveteen Rabbit felt
different. Tickly. All of a sudden, each one of its two legs sewn
together tight, could move! A fly landed on Velveteen Rabbit’s head
and it was itchy. As quick as a wink, that foot was up at the Velveteen
Rabbit’s head to scratch it off.
“So this is being Real!” said Velveteen Rabbit. “I can move when I
want to move!”
“I will show you some new friends,” said the Fairy. And the Fairy took
Velveteen Rabbit where several rabbits ran and hopped about. Soon
they were all great friends.

With one touch of the Fairy's wand, Velveteen Rabbit

felt different.

Time went by. The Boy was back from the shore. He was all better
now.
One day, the Boy went to the backyard to play. From the trees nearby,
a few rabbits hopped out. One rabbit was brown all over, and another
one was all white. A third rabbit had brown spots, most of them
faded. That one hopped the closest to the Boy.
The Boy thought, "Why, this rabbit looks just like my old Bunny that was
lost when I was sick. I loved that Bunny!"
What he didn't know was that it was his very own Bunny, come back to
see the boy. For he was the reason the Velveteen Rabbit had become
Real.