Page 12 of Pick Me Up On Tuesdays

The world was silent.

The air smelled of burned rubber, remorse, and the issues of the wealthy.

I peeled my face off the airbag, massaging away the fuzzy sensation of betrayal that accompanied being assaulted by the very thing that was meant to protect me.

Beside me, Ethan groaned, pushing his own airbag aside with all the annoyance of someone deeply inconvenienced by basic safety features.

"Clark," he said, voice strained. "What. The hell. Was that?"

I barely heard him. Because there, in front of us—

The bunny.

The exact same small, fluffy, harmless forest creature that had single-handedly caused this disaster.

Only, instead of hopping away like a good, respectable rabbit, it began… floating.

Not jumping. Not bouncing. Floating.

Defying the laws of physics with the arrogant carelessness of something that didn't give a hoot if the world was rational.

My breath caught. A bunny suspended in mid-air. A levitating bunny. One of the most elusive creatures. We could have trashed the car, but—this was worth it. I guess.

The bunny hung a few inches above the asphalt, small paws fluttering as if it were doing a lazy backstroke through the air.

I pointed at it. "SEE?! SEE?! I TOLD YOU!"

Ethan rolled his head. His mouth fell open.

The bunny twitched an ear. Then, without so much as a farewell, it ascended.

Like some kind of fluffy forest deity, it kept going higher and higher until it vanished into the leaves of the tree, leaving behind only silence and cosmic confusion.

Ethan let out a slow, exhalation breath. "Okay. So. Flying bunny."

"No, a levitating bunny," I corrected.

We sat there, still strapped into our seats, trying to make sense of the fact that we had just crashed because of a floating rabbit.

Then Ethan glared at me, expression empty.

"You screamed about that?"

I glared back at him, indignant. "Screamed? Ethan, I had a totally sane reaction."

"Sane?" Ethan repeated, voice rising. "Clark, you nearly killed us—OVER A FLOATING

RODENT!"

"It was a bunny, Ethan!" I snapped. "And you were the one who yanked the wheel like we were dodging a bum missile!"

"Because you SHOUTED!"

"BECAUSE YOU WERE GOING TO WRECK IT!"

Ethan exhaled and massaged his face with one hand, muttering something that sounded eerily like a demon incantation of patience.

Then, like suddenly reality caught up with him, his eyes snapped to his car.

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