Ice Cream Doesn't Matter

While looking through the smoke and flames of the campfire at my twin brother Jake, while he sipped on his beer, I remembered the day vividly. It was back 10 years when we were 13 years old. It happened to be the same camp site we were at today. That was the day when I realized my purpose and decided I had to work with animals.

Like typical siblings we argued when we were young. Jake always wanted to be first at anything we did unless it was something like getting a needle at the doctors. It didn’t really bother me, so I let the mere 19 minutes difference between us give him the right to always decide. He’s always been the popular one while I was the one involved in science clubs and loved to read.

I closed my eyes and thought about every moment from the cool, dark night a decade ago.

“Run!” I screamed at Jake.

He was just in front of me and after hearing the scuffle in the bushes ahead on the trail I was instantly worried. Adrenalin pumping, my heart beating quickly as though it was pounding out of my chest. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew it wasn’t safe. We raced back down the winding hiking trail to our camp site.

“What is it?” He shouted back.

“I don’t know. Just keep going!” I wasn’t about to start our typical sibling argument. I knew we weren’t safe with all that rustling. Luckily, we were not far from our trailer. I didn’t stop to look back until we were safe inside and had locked the door behind us. Hesitantly we looked but couldn’t see anything through the windows. I was still shaking.

“What is your problem scaredy-cat Kat?” Jake teased me. He’s called me ‘scaredy-cat Kat’ ever since we were kids because I feared most things and Kat was short for Katherine.

I replied, “didn’t you see the bushes moving? I am sure there was something in there.”

Jake laughed and shook his head. “We ran all the way back because the bushes were moving. Kat, the wind could have been blowing them. I want to go meet mom like we planned. There’s ice cream waiting for us.”

Our mom had taken a part-time job through the summer at the parks’ café. We would often meet her and walk back together at the end of her shift. She always greeted us with sundaes. Mine was caramel and Jake would have strawberry.

I really didn’t want to go but I knew if I didn’t, Jake would start teasing me. So reluctantly, I agreed. I was nervous, anxious, and worried. Would the thing, whatever it was still be there?

As we walked, I could hear a faint ‘hoo’ of an owl.

As we got closer, I could hear the owl getting louder. We had been told there were many barn owls in the area but never had witnessed seeing one. ‘Often heard, rarely seen,’ is what the local park ranger John had told us.

There was the rustling sound in the bushes again. Jake shined the flashlight toward the sound. There it was, injured, scared, and looking just the same way I had felt moments ago. I didn’t know what had happened, but this cute fragile bunny needed to be cared for.

I took off my sweater and wrapped him up. He seemed to settle while I cradled him like a newborn in my arms. I looked up at Jake and calmly said, “we need to get mom so we can get this guy some help.”

As we continued walking, Jake teased me incessantly over my fear of the rustling in the bushes from the injured bunny. I didn’t care. I knew something had hurt this little guy and that was all that mattered now. The ‘hoo’ from the owl seemed to follow as we continued down the trail.

When we arrived at Park Side Café. Mom came out to make sure our typical order was going to be the same. When she saw the vulnerable bunny in my arms, plans changed. She asked what had happened and called the Rangers office to see if there was anyone who could help.

Park ranger John arrived about 20 minutes later. He arranged for a veterinarian to come check on the bunny tomorrow after bandaging him up the best he could. He asked, “do you want to have him stay with you tonight or would you rather have him come home with me?”

There was no question in my mind, I was going to help this bunny! Mom needed a little convincing. I begged, “mom, you always say we need to be more responsible. I think finding this guy and helping him is not only the right thing but also the responsible thing to do.”

Mom knew I was very determined when I had my mind set. She agreed and John offered to drive us back to our trailer. As we started to walk to his green F-150, we saw an owl waiting and watching from the roof of the Park Side Café. He was clearly the one who had been making the ‘hoo’ sounds we had been hearing. My mind quickly thought about a book I had read about predators and prey. I hugged the bunny close to protect him and climbed into the truck.

The next morning, Dr. Ben Smith arrived and checked on our injured friend. He praised me saying, “without my attention and care it is likely this creature would not be here today.” I felt very proud and knew I wanted to help other animals.

I wanted to take the bunny home but mom wouldn’t let us. She had arranged for the bunny to live at our elementary school. Although we didn’t attend there anymore, we were aloud to visit. They chose to name him, ‘Lucky.’ I thought that was a fitting name because I do believe he was lucky to be found and I was lucky to rescue him.

I opened my eyes back to this present moment. I looked around and took a deep breath. We had grown up and because of this magical place I knew my purpose. Here in this moment, I felt at home.

Jake starred at me and said, “Hey sis, what are you thinking about?”

I replied simply, “when are we making s’mores?”