One day, Rabbit was hopping along when he came upon Fox. As per the usual, Fox chased him all the way back to his burrow, but this time, something was different. Fox had been antagonizing Rabbit for days now, and he was fed-up with that treacherous Fox. Rabbit thought that if he were bigger, he wouldn’t have to watch over his shoulder for Fox anymore and Fox would respect him.

The next day he searched for signs of any large creature that could help him in his quest to become larger. He made his daily rounds through the garden, and found nothing, so he moved on to the woods behind it. He was cautious in his exploration, as the woods were full of predators. As if he knew Rabbit was thinking about him, Fox stuck his slender nose out of a bush and sniffed the air.

“Well,” Fox drawled. “If it isn’t the little bunny out for a stroll through the woods.” That incorrigible Fox! He is the vilest of animals.

Rabbit tensed his legs under him and gave Fox his most defiant glare. “I’m tired of this routine, Fox. I am busy today; I won’t run.”

Fox daintily examined his claws. “And why would that be? Do your poor, soft paws ache from all this exercise?”

“No, I’m going to find an animal that can help me become bigger than you.” He declared proudly.

Fox stared at him for an incredulous moment. Then he burst out laughing so hard that he fell over. “You… you thought that you could… Oh, this is great! Are you… serious? You think that you can… Wow!” He continued to roll on the ground laughing and shouting unintelligible words, but Rabbit had loped off, his head buzzing with anger.

He was so distracted by his anger that he didn’t see Elephant until he had almost run into him. “Hello Rabbit! You look upset.”
“Oh, hello Elephant. Fox has been teasing me about my size, and when I told him that I was going to become bigger, he laughed at me. Say, you’re rather large. Could you help me become big?”

Elephant frowned. “I’m afraid I can’t, but Fox doesn’t need to know that.”
“What do you mean?” Rabbit questioned.

Elephant grinned. “I’ll be back, but you are going to need a lot of cotton-wood fluff.”

The next morning, Elephant returned as promised, covered in brown, sticky mud. “Where have you been? And what on earth have you been doing?” Rabbit asked with wide eyes.

Elephant snorted. “That’s not important. Do you have the cotton?” Rabbit soundlessly pointed at the large pile he had gathered last night. “Good. Now find two large sticks and a small branch with leaves still on it.”

Rabbit was extraordinarily confused, but did as he was told and soon returned to an unexpected sight. Elephant was covered in the cottony fluff that stuck to his muddy skin.

“Perfect!” He trumpeted and took them from Rabbit in his fuzzy white trunk. “Now I just have to get them fuzzy too…” he muttered out loud while covering them in the remaining cotton.

“What are you doing?” Rabbit finally found his voice.

“Can’t you tell?” Elephant asked. “I’m dressing up like you. See the sticks are the ears, and the branch is your fluffy little bob-tail.”
“But why?” asked poor, confused Rabbit, with eyes like saucers.

“If Fox thinks that I am you, we can teach him a lesson. What do you think?”

Rabbit was silent for a moment before stating, “Bend down then, I will secure your ears.”

An hour or so later, Rabbit and Elephant were crouched behind a bush near the garden. Fox came around here nearly every day, and it seemed that today they wouldn’t be disappointed.

“Oh, Mr. Bunny,” called Fox in a sickly sweet voice. “I can smell you. Come out and play.”

“I’m over here,” called Rabbit. “Come find me.”

Fox laughed. “If you insist, Feather Tail.”

Suddenly, Elephant rose up from the bush, covered in white fluff, making a rather convincing bunny. “Boo,” he whispered, and the Fox’s eyes nearly popped out of his head before he turned tail and ran for miles without looking back.

Rabbit and Elephant watched him go, laughing at the fruits of their labors, then turned and slowly walked back to their copse of trees.
“I don’t think that there is another animal like you in all of this earth. Shall we be friends?” Asked Rabbit.

“Yes, let’s be friends,” agreed Elephant, and they lived out their days together happily, and fox free, ever after.