Hari the hare did try to escape once but we chased him to the ground. The monkey, the giant squirrel and the mouse deer too had brief flings with the wide open but we outsmarted each one of them. When they finally did take their leave, it was because we took them to their new homes in the zoo. There was, however, one very special animal that left us the day it came, a fluffy white rabbit with ruby red eyes. Without bothering about whether it was a male or a female, we were unanimous in our choice of its name - Snow White. It was almost an adult and sat snugly in our hands. We took turns to hold it, rub our noses on its white fur, admire the soft pinkness of the insides of its long ears, look into its deep red eyes and, with the greatest reluctance, put it down carefully along with the other rabbits into the big cage, the same one Anna had built. As quietly as it had borne our petting, it sat quietly twitching its nose and taking in the new surrounding.

Rabbits multiply like crazy and in two years, our rabbit collection had grown so much that we had to give some away to friends though at times, they or their parents brought them back. We released them in nearby woods and hoped that they would survive the wild. The Zoo took in a few but since their rabbits constantly had litters of their own, they didn't want overcrowding in their cages. After so many acts of generosity, we still had several generations of rabbits in different colours but Snow White stood out among the browns, blacks and mixed colours. Perhaps that was why the others kept a distance from her. Our hearts went out to her.

"She'll be all right," Anna assured us. "Leave them alone for some time. Come home all of you."

He went indoors but the five of us stood outside the cage not taking our eyes off Snow White. We had all grown in the two years and only my brothers Kumar and Cheechu could still stand upright and look inside the rabbits cage. We girls had to either bend over or, as I did, squat on the ground. After a while my legs began to ache. I was also getting bored of just looking at the furry fellows.


"I'm going to get her. She's too lonely!" I declared and immediately opened the cage and entered before anyone could even think of stopping me.

Keeping my head low, I took little steps towards Snow White with the others hopping out of my way like leaves in the wind. Soon I loomed over the little ball of white when I felt something brush my back. Startled, I straightened, hit the ceiling with a bang and sat down heavily on something soft. It was Snow White. My heart slammed against the back of my throat. I was not heavy but even then my weight was too much for the poor animal and it lay limp, its red eyes fixed in a stare. Outside the cage, my siblings' eyes reflected the horror I felt. For the first time we were faced with a tragedy and I had been the cause of it.

"See the result of your disobedience?" Anna asked sternly.

"That poor animal!" said my grandfather.

"Enough of all animals," my grandmother declared. "Send them all away. I have always been against keeping them."

Manni glared at me through her glasses but seeing my quivering lips and watery eyes, hers softened slightly.
"No point in blaming her any more," she said. "Let's think of what to do next."

"Bury it, of course!" my youngest uncle chipped in. "She killed it, she'll bury it."   He thrust a spade into my hands and got me to dig a hole behind our house. The ground was hard and I had to dig quite a deep hole to prevent any stray dog from digging it out at night. Finally, with tears flowing steadily down my cheeks, I carried Snow White's body while the others followed crying behind me. I laid it in the hole and covered it with soil. For the next ten days we laid flowers on the grave and lit a lamp but Snow White still lives in our memories, especially in mine.

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