Buffy Bunny and the Magical Adventure

Buffy Bunny was finally home. He had spent the last little while travelling around the world. He had seen Easter Island and Antarctica. He had even met a new friend, Lilly, who had come to visit his home. Buffy felt very excited to show Lilly around where he lived and introduce her to all of his friends. Mostly, Buffy looked forward to life going back to normal and enjoying the long, sweet summer days. Then, on the third night back home, he and Lilly sat at the kitchen table, writing a list of all the things they wanted to do over the coming weeks. Lilly had just been trying to convince Buffy to write “have an adventure” on the list when suddenly a bright flash lit up the sky. They looked up to see a shooting star streaking across the dark sky. Lilly smiled at Buffy.

“Quick Buffy, make a wish,” she said. Buffy and Lilly closed their eyes to make a wish, but before either of them had decided what to wish for the light shining through their eyelids seemed to get brighter and brighter. They opened their eyes and peered up into the sky. The shooting star had slowed down, but it kept coming closer and closer to Buffy’s house. 

“I wonder if it’s going to land nearby?” Lilly said.

“As long as it doesn’t land on my house,” said Buffy. They both got up from the table and ran into the backyard. They stood there looking up at the brilliant light glowing in the sky.

“It looks like it’s going to land here in your backyard!” Lilly exclaimed. 

Sure enough, the strange light moved slower and slower as it descended from the sky. Buffy and Lilly watched as it slowly lowered itself into the veggie patch at the bottom of the garden.

“What in the world?” Buffy said. Could it be an alien? Could it be a little piece of the moon? Could it be a fairy?

The two friends slowly made their way down the garden path, passed the firepit, to the edge of the veggie patch. A deep fog covered the ground.

“Um...hello?” Lilly called quietly. The friends peered into the veggie patch when suddenly they heard a faint “A-choo” and what looked like a ripple moved through the fog from the middle.

“Um...bless you?” Buffy called. He didn’t know if this was the right response when a shooting star lands in your garden and makes a fog but he thought he might as well be polite.

“A-choo!” came another sneeze and the fog moved violently from the middle of the veggie patch.

“Bless you!” Buffy called again, feeling a little more confident, as whatever had landed in his garden didn’t seem to want to attack him. He carefully picked his way through the fog, trying not to stand on his zucchinis as he walked. 

Buffy peered through the slowly disappearing fog and saw a bright white someone on the ground in front of him.

“A-choo, A-choo, A-choo! Oh, this dirt just will not come out of my nose!” Buffy heard the white thing say.

“Um, hello. Who are you?” Buffy asked as he came to stand next to the little white thing. It look like...a dog? No Buffy didn’t think it could be a dog. Maybe a tiny horse?

“Oh, hello,” it said. The little creature shook itself off as the last tendrils of fog disappeared. It stood on four short little legs. It had a long swishy tail and mane.

“Are you a horse?” asked Lilly, who had joined Buffy in the veggie patch. The little creature smiled.

“Close. I’m a unicorn,” it said.

“A unicorn?!” Buffy and Lilly both said with surprise. The little unicorn shook its head again and as it did, they could see a little silver horn glinting in the moonlight on top of its head.

“Oh my goodness, so unicorns are real?” Buffy asked.

“Of course we’re real,” the unicorn giggled. “We’re just as real as strawberries or the wind or the Lochness Monster.

“Hold on, the Lochness Monster is real too?” Lilly said. The unicorn stamped its foot and whinnied softly.

“Of course she is. Now. I am famished. What do you have to eat here in this garden?” The unicorn put down her nose and started sniffing around in the garden.

“Well, I only have some old zucchinis in the garden at the moment. I’ve been on a bit of a holiday and haven’t had time to plant anything. I have plenty of food in the house though?”

Half an hour later, Buffy couldn’t quite believe he sat in his kitchen with a unicorn. He didn’t know what unicorns eat, so he had grabbed some apples, carrots, cupcakes and a bag of marshmallows for her.

“How did you get here?” Lilly asked when the unicorn finished eating.

“I’m not exactly sure. I was with my herd, travelling to the magical meadow,” the unicorn said.

“A magical meadow? Where is it?” asked Buffy. The unicorn shook its head.

“All I know is you can find it where the sun goes down. The meadow is the most beautiful place in the world. There is magical grass there for us to eat.”

“What is magical grass?” Lilly asked.

“It’s the grass that is magical,” the unicorn said matter-of-factly. “You know it’s magical because it sparkles in the sunlight and also in the moonlight.”

“How did you lose your herd?” Buffy asked.

“I don't know. All I remember is leaving the woods where I was born. Our mothers kissed us and then blew us a giant bubble to travel beside them in. The bubbles should have carried us to the meadow. I fell asleep just after my bubble left the woods. The next thing I know, I heard a giant POP. I woke up, my bubble had disappeared, and I found myself falling back to earth. I landed in your garden, got dirt up my nose, and met you. I need to find my way back to my herd, I’m sure they will be worried about me.”

“We can help you,” Lilly said. She looked at Buffy, “can’t we?” Buffy looked at Lilly’s excited face, and then at the hopeful little unicorn. He sighed.

“Well, I had hoped we finished having adventures for now. But I can’t let you lose your herd forever. Yes, little unicorn, we can help you.” he said. The unicorn let out a loud whiny and rubbed her nose against Buffy’s leg.

“Oh thank you, thank you so much!” she said happily.

They decided the best thing to do would be to get some sleep and then start out the next day. If the magical meadow could be found where the sun set, then they just had to follow the sun. So the friends all snuggled down and fell fast asleep.

The next morning, Lilly and Buffy bustled around packing things they thought they might need for their journey, while the unicorn sat eating more marshmallows. When they had everything ready to go, the three friends returned to the backyard.

“Oh!” exclaimed Buffy as soon as they walked into the sunlight, “You’ve changed colours!” The unicorn smiled.

“Oh yes, I change depending on the weather,” she explained. Lilly and Buffy looked at her. The weather was beautiful and sunny, not a cloud in the sky, and that was exactly how the unicorn looked. She seemed to sparkle like the sun. 

“Well, we’d better get going,” Lilly said. The two bunnies climbed onto the unicorns back. It was a bit of a squeeze as she wasn’t a very big unicorn. She spread her wings and jumped into the sky.

“If the magical meadow can be found where the sun sets, then we should go the opposite way to where the sun is rising,” said Buffy. The unicorn nodded in agreement, turned her back on the sun, and sped off through the sky.

They flew for a few hours until the unicorn started to get tired. She spiralled down slowly to the ground, at the very edge of a large desert. The three friends had a snack and a drink.

“Do you think we’re going the right way?” Lilly asked. Buffy shrugged.

“The only thing we have to go on is the meadow is where the sun sets.” he looked up at the sky. “The sun is halfway up the sky now, so if we keep it behind us we should be going the right way.” The unicorn pricked up her ears.

“I think someone is coming,” she said. Buffy and Lilly stopped and listened, but the unicorn must have had much better hearing than them as several minutes passed before they heard anything at all. Eventually, a leopard walked out of the desert and stood watching them.

“Hello,” said Buffy.

“Hello, what brings you to my sandy desert?” asked the leopard.

“We’re trying to help our unicorn friend find the magical meadow,” Lilly answered. The leopard yawned and stretched.

“Ah, well you’re going the right way. Keep flying all the way over the desert until you come to the forest. The meadow is somewhere beyond the forest.

“Oh thank you!” cried the unicorn. The friends packed up their food, climbed onto the unicorns back and took off again into the sky. As they flew over the desert, the weather began to change. Dark clouds began to gather in the sky.

“Lilly look!” Buffy exclaimed, pointing to the unicorn. It was changing too. Instead of being yellow and sparkly like the sun, the unicorn now had dark patches just like the clouds.

“It’s beautiful isn't it,” Lilly said, giving Buffy a quick hug. 

On they flew. At around lunchtime, Buffy spotted what looked like a forest in the distance. Sure enough, as they got closer, they discovered it was a forest, with lots of tall trees all growing close together.

“I’m going to land here for a little while! It’s getting pretty windy up here!” the unicorn called. Just as the unicorn touched the ground, a loud roll of thunder crackled through the air and it began to rain. 

“Quick, under this huge mushroom!” shouted Lilly. The three friends ran through the trees to the humongous mushroom.

“It looks like a giant ladybug with its red skin and white spots,” the unicorn laughed as they sheltered from the rain.

“Yes, but right now it’s an umbrella for us,” Buffy said. Lilly laughed.

“It does look like both of those things. Did you know the mushrooms with brightly coloured skin are the most poisonous? So be sure not to touch it,” she said. They ate lunch while Buffy and Lilly watched the unicorn who now looked like she was being rained on even though they stood under the cover of the umbrella. Finally, the rain stopped and they set out, following the sun on its way back down the sky. 

The unicorn touched down again on the edge of a pond, glittering in the afternoon sun. They walked towards the pond and saw a little tortoise slowly leaving the water.

“Hello,” Lilly said brightly. The tortoise nodded hello in her direction and then continued on his way. Buffy, Lilly and the unicorn all bent down to drink from the water in the pond ...and got a big surprise when they heard a voice call out “watch out!”

“Who was that?” Buffy said, looking around to see who had spoken to them.

“It was me, down here,” came the voice again. The three friends looked down and saw a goldfish poking its scaly head out of the pond.

“Your unicorn friend over here almost swallowed me!” the goldfish said.

“Sorry about that. I was just so thirsty. We’ve been flying all day, looking for the magical meadow,” the unicorn said. The goldfish splashed in the water.

“Well, you’re nearly there. Just keep flying towards the setting sun and you should find it. Just try not to accidentally swallow anyone else!” with a splash the goldfish dived back below the water and disappeared.

“Do you mind if we walk for a while?” the unicorn asked. “I’m getting very tired.”

“Of course,” said Lilly. “It is starting to get late, the sun is starting to set. We can walk now."

As they walked, Buffy and Lilly watched with fascination as the unicorn changed to match the deepening colours of the sunset. Just as the sun disappeared below the horizon, and the unicorn started turning a deep dark blue, they saw a giant oak tree in front of them. When they arrived at the bottom of the tree, the friends saw a hawk sitting in the bottom branches of the tree with a salmon in its mouth.

“Excuse me!” called Buffy, “do you know where we can find the magical meadow?” The hawk looked at them with his piercing eyes and then pointed his salmon in the direction of the first stars that were starting to shine in the sky. The friends continued walking, and walking, and walking. Finally, just as Buffy was about to suggest giving up, Lilly grabbed his arm.

“Buffy, does this grass look like it’s sparkling in the moonlight?” she asked. The unicorn brayed in triumph.

“It is sparkling in the moonlight! We must be at the magical meadow at last!” she cried. “And look! There is my mother!” A larger unicorn came galloping over and nuzzled up to the little unicorn. 

“There you are my baby,” she said. The little unicorn told her mother all about their journey, how she had lost her and how Buffy and Lilly had helped her find her way back to the herd.

“Thank you for all that you did to help get my baby back to me. Let me help you get home now,” the mother unicorn said. Buffy was confused until the mother unicorn stepped back and blew a gigantic bubble that wrapped itself around him and Lilly. 

“Thanks! Goodbye!” called the little unicorn as their bubble slowly lifted off from the ground and began floating through the sky. They floated back over the giant oak tree and saw the hawk cleaning his feathers. They waved to the goldfish and the tortoise as they floated slowly back over the pond. As they flew over the forest they saw that there were lots of huge mushrooms, not just the one that they had used as an umbrella to escape the rain. They floated over the dark sands of the desert and saw the leopard out stalking prey in the moonlight. 

Finally, the bubble touched down lightly in Buffy’s garden.

“Well, we’re home,” Lilly said smiling tiredly.

“Yes, again!” Buffy laughed. “Hopefully we can stay home for a bit longer this time before the next adventure arrives.”