No More Jokes, Please!

Harold Hare had begun playing practical jokes on his friends in Petunia Park.  It wasn't long before Harold was the only one laughing at the jokes.  All the residents of the Park met to figure out what they could do to teach Harold a lesson.

The residents of Petunia Park were tired of practical jokes.  They were especially tired of Harold Hare.	It started in the early Spring.  Miranda and Malcom Mouse were walking through the park enjoying the sunshine and colorful flowers.
All of a sudden, a big, brown furry shape jumped out in front of them and yelled, "Boo!"	The big furry thing turned out to be Harold Hare.  He laughed as he said, "You two really looked scared."  Miranda Mouse replied angrily, "Well, I don't think it was very funny, Harold!"  Malcom complained, "I don't either, Harold. I hurt my tail when I fell on it."

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"Oh, you two just can't take a joke," Harold said with a shrug.  "Well, I don't like to be scared!" Miranda huffed.  Malcom added, "Scaring people and hurting them isn't very funny, Harold."	The next day, Harold Hare was hopping through the woods when he saw Chester Chipmunk leaving his burrow.  "Where are you going, Chester?"  The chipmunk replied, I'm going over to the park to meet Chelsea."  "Do you want to play when you get back?" Harold asked.  "I can't today," the chipmunk answered.  "It will be way too late."  Harold wiggled his nose.  "OK, Chester.  I'll see you another time."  They went their separate ways.
Harold Hare, however, didn't go very far.  He had an idea.  He crept back to Chester's home, looking around to make sure no-one was watching.  Next, he dug up a large piece of moss and carried it to his friend's burrow.  Harold carefully stuffed the moss into the opening until it was completely blocked.  Pleased with his work, Harold hopped to the edge of the woods and hid behind a bush.	A long wait and a short nap later, Harold Hare heard someone singing.  He peeked from behind the bush and saw that it was Chester Chipmunk, singing to himself as he walked.  It was almost dark and Chester was in a hurry to get home.

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Just as the chipmunk passed the bush, Harold leaped out behind him and growled loudly, "Grrrr!"  Chester jumped into the air and came down running as fast as he could.  He raced toward his burrow, and when he was close enough .....	...he dove at the opening.  Instead of disappearing safely down the hole, Chester's nose hit the moss and he bounced backwards.  Harold got there in time to see Chester sitting on the ground rubbing his nose.  The rabbit laughed, "Ha-ha, ho-ho!  What's the matter, Chester?"  The chipmunk became angry when he saw Harold laughing.  He chattered at the rabbit, "That wasn't nice at all, Harold.  I could have hurt myself!. Don't ever do that again!"
The foolish rabbit hopped away, still laughing, as Chester started digging the moss out of his burrow.	During that summer, Harold Hare played many more jokes.  One time, he smeared slippery sap all around the trunk of Sidney Squirrel's tree.  When Sidney came home and tried to climb up to his home, he slid down the trunk time after time.  Harold was standing nearby and couldn't keep from laughing.

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Another time, Harold got some honey and poured it on the ground.  The he sprinkled seeds on the sticky stuff,  When Jeffery Jay and Susan Sparrow flew down to get some lunch, their feet became stuck in the honey.  They chirped wildly and flapped their wings, but they just could not get loose.  Harold laughed so hard that he rolled on the ground holding his stomach.	All the animals in Petunia Park heard about Harold Hare's jokes.  A few thought they were funny, but most of them thought Harold should stop his tricks.  Harold didn't care what they said.  He was having a good time.
The situation grew so bad that the animals held a meeting, without Harold, to decide what to do about it. After several animals told aabout the terrible tricks Harold had pulled, Chester Chipmunk called out, "But what are we going to do about it?"  Miranda, who was a bright little mouse, said, "I have an idea that should work."  As she explained her plan, the animals' eyes got bigger and their smiles grew wider.  Jeffery Jay said, "That's a great idea!  Let's get to work right away."	Very early the next morning, they all met near Harold's burrow.  They went right to work as quickly and quietly as possible.  They didn't want Harold to wake up before they were ready.

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Finally, the job was done.  Both entrances to the burrow were completely covered.  Not a speck of light could get in.  Then they waited. When Harold finally woke up, he went to his front door.  He couldn't see any light at all so he thought it was too early to get up.  The second time he awoke, he went to his back door, but it was still dark.  "That's strange," he thought.  "It feels like it's time to get up."	Whe he woke the third time and he still could not see any light, he decided to go outside anyway.  It was so dark that Harold was unable to see his paw in front of his face.  He carefully crawled through the totally dark tunnel until he reached the end. He sould be outside now, but he saw nothing.  Harold began to worry.  "What if my eyes have failed?  What if the sun didn't come up?"  In a panic, Harold leaped from the tunnel and banged into some kind of wall.  He heard a soft giggle coming from somewhere.
"What's this?" he asked as he reached out and touched sticks and twigs.  He reached out again and felt leaves.  He pushed harder.  Suddenly, his paw went right through and a beam of light shined in on him.  The animals outside saw the paw wiggling through the leaves.  They began laughing.	Harold began jumping and kicking every which way.  At last, the covering frame tumbled down around him.  All the animals from Petunia Park were standing around looking at him and laughing.  Harold didn't know what to do.

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Miranda Mouse said, "How does it feel to have a joke played on you, Harold?"  The rabbit looked at his friends and admitted, "It doesn't feel very good.  I was afraid at first, and then I got angry."  Did it teach you anything?" asked Chester.  Harold smiled a rabbity smile and said, "I guess I shouldn't play jokes on my friends anymore."  Then he added softly to himself, "At least not so often."	The End.

No More Jokes, Please  consists of 1109 words on 21 illustrated pages.   

Copyright 2015 by T. M. Grafius, Sr.