Side Story: Puppy, Cat, and Rabbit. (2)
Side Story: Puppy, Cat, and Rabbit. (2)
While contacting various people, they happened to reach that place.
There was that farm they'd visited once before because Arin wanted to see an alpaca, remember?
The farm had called them, offering to let them adopt a weaned baby rabbit.
"When did we go see the alpaca...? I think it's been about seven years..."
"Waaah! Alpaca! Daddy, alpaca!"
Did Arin even know what an alpaca was?
It was such an unfamiliar animal to Koreans that it didn't seem like something they'd teach at daycare.
"Arin-ah. Do you know what an alpaca is?"
"I don't know!"
Arin answered that she didn't know, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
A-ra Noona lifted Arin up, hugged her, and stroked her hair.
"It's a very, very scary animal."
"Sc... scary?"
"Yes. Compared to an alpaca, a tiger is basically a cat."
Just like making up a story about a tiger being scared of a dried persimmon, A-ra Noona began spinning lies about the alpaca being a terrifyingly scary animal.
Since they were planning to pick up the rabbit together, it was a lie bound to be found out eventually, but until then, Arin would probably perceive alpacas as scary animals.
And the reaction when she eventually met a real alpaca—
A-ra Noona probably wanted to see that.
A-ra Noona pranking her own daughter was also pretty cute.
"Ugh... alpaca...."
"Then shall we get going? Noona, you've finished all the preparations, right?"
"Yeah. I set it up so we can put it in right away when we bring it home."
Since they were getting the rabbit because Arin wanted to raise one, they made Arin do various things.
First, as soon as the cage arrived, they had her do everything from assembling the cage to setting up the litter box, food bowl, and water bottle.
And they placed a potty pad underneath in advance.
They even had her practice cleaning up.
"Daddy! What kind of rabbit are we going to pick up?!"
"Hm... what did they call it? Lop Ear?"
When people think of rabbits, don't they imagine ones with perky, upright ears?
But the rabbit they were going to pick up this time was one with ears that drooped down.
It was a Netherlands Lop Ear from the farm, and they had been contacted to come take one.
"Since Arin is going to be its big sister, you have to take good care of it, okay? Got it?"
"Yes!"
Because our Arin already took great care of the dogs and cats.
She would probably raise it well, too.
*
"Wowowah...! Alpaca!"
"Would you like to try petting its head?"
The one stroking Arin's hair and encouraging her to pet the alpaca's head was the same farm owner who had shown them the various animals before.
"Yes! Can I really pet it?!"
"Our Alpaca-paca likes having its head petted, you see."
The farm owner said she would demonstrate first and began stroking the alpaca's head.
But 'Alpaca-paca' — what kind of naming sense was that? He had absolutely no idea.
As soon as they arrived at the farm, Arin set the rabbit aside and looked for the alpaca.
She must have been genuinely curious about what the alpaca her mom had said was scary actually looked like.
But lo and behold!
Upon seeing an alpaca for the first time, Arin was completely smitten.
Her eyes sparkled and she was even drooling.
"You just stroke it gently like this."
"Sseudam-sseudam....."
The farm owner had clearly told her to pet its head, but Arin was petting its nose.
She was their daughter, but wasn't she just too adorable?
And the alpaca also seemed happy, crinkling the corners of its eyes and squirming with joy.
Did it like having its nose petted?
"Daddy!"
"Hm? We can't raise an alpaca at home."
"I know! Please take a picture!"
Oh, was that all.
He'd thought she was about to ask for something impossibly difficult, but she just wanted a photo session.
No matter how spacious their house was, raising an alpaca would have been impossible.
He had looked into various ways to do it before, too... ahem.
A-ra Noona asked him to take a picture of them together, so he thought about the pose.
Indeed, to get the best shot, a picture of A-ra Noona holding Arin up was the answer, wasn't it?
After he suggested the pose, the moment the shutter clicked, A-ra Noona kissed Arin on the cheek.
Maybe because of that, Arin had been smiling happily with her face beaming since earlier, holding her mom's hand.
"Rabbit~♪"
"Arin-ah. You're not going to hold Daddy's hand?"
"Earlier the alpaca licked Daddy's hand, so it's dirty!"
Well...
Daddy understood, but...
Calling it dirty just for that wasn't very nice...
"Arin-ah. It's not nice to call Daddy dirty."
"Hing."
"Then Mommy will hold your hand on the left side, so why don't you hold Daddy's left hand?"
"Uh... since the alpaca licked Daddy's right hand... okay!"
Only then did their daughter beam and grab his hand.
He didn't know whether to be happy about this or to sulk.
Anyway, as they walked along holding hands like that, they soon arrived at the place where the rabbits were.
Probably because they only raised rabbits here, the place smelled strongly of grass.
"Even rabbit droppings smell like grass. Because they originally eat nothing but hay, you see."
"Ah-ha..."
For reference, because of the rabbit, they bought an additional 2 million won air purifier.
They planned to put it in the rabbit's room (Arin's room).
By replacing the filter frequently, it wouldn't be bad for the rabbit's health, and Arin would have fewer difficulties or problems caused by the fur.
Since their house already had dogs and cats, they were running several air purifiers.
"Waaah... it's a rabbit..!"
"Is it because it's still a baby? It's incredibly cute."
Its eyes were round and round, but its body was as small as a palm.
It was hard to believe that such a small rabbit would grow to be as big as a small dog when it became an adult.
This little one would grow as big as a Pomeranian like Lil' One or Pipsqueak?
.......Actually, it might get along well with their dogs, unexpectedly.
"Which one would you like to take home? They're all healthy and gentle."
"Is that so? Arin-ah. Pick the one you want to take home."
"The white rabbit!"
The rabbit Arin pointed to with her finger was a pure white rabbit.
But its ears were a little reddish, a cute form that seemed like something you'd only see in a game.
"Arin's got a good eye. This rabbit is the cutest among the ones born this time."
"Then would it be alright to take this one home?"
"Of course. I'll go get the carrier."
"Thank you."
They said they would gift them the carrier as well.
From what he'd heard, it was a really excellent carrier.
"Rabbit~"
"Arin-ah. You can't touch the rabbit yet."
"I know! You said we can't touch it for a week even after we get home."
"Right. You know that well."
They weren't the only ones who had studied; they made sure Arin had thoroughly learned about it, too.
First of all, animals need an adjustment period, so you shouldn't touch them for nearly a week.
This period was the most crucial, because there were many cases where the rabbits would get stressed by the suddenly changed environment, get diarrhea, and die.
Rabbits were animals that lived robust lives once they adapted, but a lot of them died during this adjustment phase, apparently.
"You have to be careful even after we get home."
"I know!"
"Okay, okay."
Without thinking, he stroked Arin's hair.
Then, their daughter suddenly started screaming.
"Hwaeat! Daddy! Your right hand is dirty!"
"Ah."
That's why he was telling her it wasn't dirty.
His spirits sank once again.
***
As soon as they entered the house, he picked up the cage and headed for Arin's room.
Their daughter's room, always tidily kept in order.
He wondered if A-ra Noona was the very incarnation of home education.
Where on earth had she learned such educational methods?
Anyway, he closed the door as soon as they entered the room.
Lil' One and Pipsqueak approached, gently wagging their tails, then stopped in front of them.
"Woof! Woof!"
"Woof."
"Lil' One and Pipsqueak, stay there."
They couldn't leave it together with the rabbit just yet.
It would probably have to live in complete quarantine in Arin's room for a while, and then once it seemed okay to a certain degree, they would let it come out.
"The door is closed, so go ahead and open it now."
"Rabbit~ go into your house~"
Click.
When the door of the carrier opened, the rabbit that had been sitting in a loaf position slowly walked out.
It also had traces of the alfalfa they'd put in earlier smeared around its mouth.
So this was what they called grass staining?
It was cute...
The rabbit was cute too.
"It's incredibly gentle. I only opened the door and it came out and went straight into the cage."
"It's like Seong-hwan-ie when he's drunk."
"Ahem..."
He did indeed go straight to his room whenever he drank.
Fortunately, he didn't really have anything else that could be called a drunken habit.
No, this wasn't the time to be talking about that.
Now that they confirmed the rabbit had gone inside, they had to fill up its food.
"Arin-ah. Open the alfalfa bag and fill the food bowl to the brim."
"To the brim!"
Herbivores had to have grass available to eat 24 hours a day.
What if the grass ran out? Then the rabbit could quickly die from malnutrition.
That was why pellets were only given additionally at mealtimes.
It was more accurate to think of alfalfa not as feed, but as some kind of life-extending substance.
Arin tore open the alfalfa bag and filled it up a lot.
Immediately, the rabbit reacted and dashed toward the grass.
"It's good to replace the alfalfa often. Rabbits prefer the ones with a strong scent, you see."
"Mm... then what about the leftovers?"
"We have to throw them away."
"Okay!"
There was no use for it anyway.
Throwing away the ones where the scent had faded and endlessly supplying fresh grass was the best, after all.
And the feed was small pellet-type food.
All the nutrients they couldn't get from alfalfa were covered by this.
"They say to give about ten pellets when it's a baby."
"Okay!"
"Arin-ah. You have to treat the rabbit preciously, okay?"
"I know!"
Because she was their daughter, he didn't really worry.
It was just that he had some anxiety that the rabbit might get stressed and die quickly for no reason, leaving Arin hurt.