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Judy stood outside, a small distance from the family farm looking down to the soil under a lone tree on a hill, where a fox she loved so much was buried beneath. The concealed plot seemed so small from where she stood looking down to wonder if the coffin he was lying in was comfortable.
If he appreciated it.
“Uh…hey uh…” Judy begun, finding it hard to say his name. “You. I hope you’re doing okay…”
No response. Not that she expected one, but it only made the small breeze blowing through the nearby fields sound all the more present among the silence.
“I’m so sorry for…what happened.” Judy said, finding the memory of how he found him too painful.
Being on such a large farm with so many bunnies going about their tasks, especially with such intricate and downright dangerous farming machinery, accidents tended to happen. It was a simple rule that everyone knew all too well to keep in mind.
Never did she think that of all the possible accidents to happen to all the possible mammals, it was her fox that it had to happen to. She shook at the images of how she found him. Or really, what was once him.
It was closed casket for a reason.
“I just wanted to let you know that…you’ve done so much for me.” Judy said, a solemn sense of grief washing through her. “When I needed comfort, you were there for me to hug. When I needed to talk, you would always listen. And when I cried, you never failed to wipe away my tears.”
“Something I could really use from you right now.” Judy said with a weak chuckle, followed by a quiet sigh. She rubbed her eyes and took a deep breath. “But I just have to accept that it’s not going to happen. At least…not from you.”
She stood there for a moment, trying to compose herself once again. It was getting too hard for her as she kept thinking of the moments they shared together in her darkest hours. How she would now have to tarry on without him.
She had others in her life and knew that she would always be able to rely on them for comfort and company. She just wished she didn’t have to lose any of them.
“It’s…it’s going to be hard to move on, but I can do it.” Judy said with a clenched fist, fighting back against her heartache. “And while I’ll always miss you, I’ll never forget all you’ve done for me.” She laughed once again. “How can I?”
Once again, she was greeted with no sound from the buried plot, which slowly brought an end to her laugh. With the setting sun slowly withdrawing its warmth, the wind felt so cold to her tiny frame.
With no further words to say, she knelt down and ran her paw along the soil he was buried under before giving it a small pat.
“Goodbye sweet fox.”
…
“You uh…doin’ okay carrots?” Nick said, standing next to her somewhat dumbfounded at her devotion to this mini burial.
She lightly chuckled. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Judy said, standing up to pat the dirt off her pants while looking up to him. “Guess I got a little carried away there didn’t I?”
“Ya think?” Nick said, rubbing his paw against her cheek, surprised to feel the tiniest bit of moisture. “I didn’t think some fox plushie was going to mean that much to you. Thought you were only doing this just to pull my tail.”
“Well…at first it was” Judy said with a giggle. “But once we buried Nick Jr in the ground, I actually realized that it actually did mean a lot to me.”
“I guess that makes sense, but even- “Nick paused, needing a second to rewind the tape to hear her again. “You made a doll of me?”
“You didn’t notice its clothes?”
“I could barely tell anything that was left of it; your nieces made sure of that.” Nick said, referring to the scattered remains off cotton and clothe that was left behind when a couple of her more mischievous nieces snuck into her old room and found the doll hidden in her dresser.
Unsurprisingly, digging blunt claws into a doll to play tug-of-war for the right to play with the “funny looking” mammal tended to have shredded, unrepairable consequences.
“Why did you make me into a doll?” Nick asked. “You weren’t trying to stab it with pins, were you?”
Judy rolled her eyes with a smirk. “No, I…just needed some way to apologize for what I said at the press conference.” Nick raised an inquisitive eyebrow to her. “I thought I was never going to see you again when I quit the force, and I needed some way of saying how sorry I was.” She blushed as she rubbed the back of her head. “Turns out I was still good at sewing.”
Nick looked at with a widening smile. “And I imagine I-, I mean, HE was good company?”
Judy nodded. “I found him quite comforting when I needed someone to talk to, and…” Her blush grew stronger. “Was pleasantly surprised how huggable he was…even in bed.”
…
“…out of all the things you’ve ever said or done, that has to be one of the sweetest, most adorable I’ve heard.” Nick said, earning a small nudge from Judy. With a smile back at her, he looked back to the ground. “I know this seems a bit disrespectful to talk about this over his grave, but perhaps we can find a better replacement?”
Judy looked up to him with an expression that said ‘you’re kidding right?’, before wrapping both of her arms around him in a tight hug.
“Already have.”