Hello. It’s Belinda.
I’m writing this early on Friday morning. In a bit of a rush.
I had something different planned for this week’s blog. But there’s a situation here and I want to “document” it. Just in case.
OK I’m just going to blurt it out.
The house stinks.
I mean it’s bad.
Little Fang noticed it first. I was sound asleep on my rug when she sounded the alarm.
“Hey! Hey!”
She was yell-whispering. From inside her pen.
“Hey!”
I opened my eyes. The room was dark, but I could feel her watching me.
Rabbits know when they’re being watched.
“Hey! Are you up?”
I didn’t move. I always ignore Little Fang when she’s in the mood to “chat” in the middle of the night. Usually she nods off within a few minutes.
Not this time.
“I smell fire.”
I sat up immediately and turned toward her pen.
What are you talking about?
“Smoke. I smell smoke.”
I raised my chin and sniffed the air.
Just then the English piped up from across the room.
“I smell it too. It’s like when the neighbor burns logs in the winter.”
Suddenly I caught a whiff of it. I hate to agree with the English about anything but he was right. The smell was faint but it reminded me of walking past a fireplace.
I didn’t care for it at all. Especially in the middle of the night. In July.
My roommate needed to know about this. “ASAP.”
I made my way through the dark to the steps. I ran up to the kitchen and crept across the dining room, then the living room.
Finally I stood at the bottom of the steps to the bedroom level.
I thumped. Then I thumped again.
Suddenly the light from my roommate’s bedroom shone into the upstairs hallway.
My roommate appeared at the top of the steps.
I thumped again.
“Belinda! What on earth?”
Her voice was scratchy. She was grumpy if you want to know the truth.
She didn’t say anything as we hurried through the first floor and then downstairs, to where Little Fang and the English were waiting.
My roommate had turned on all the lights by the way. So by the time we were all together we just stood and squinted at each other for a bit.
Then she stopped squinting and made a different face. “Scrunching” her nose up.
“I smell smoke, bunnies. Do you smell it too?”
Next thing you know my roommate did something unexpected. She turned her back to us and knelt by the door to the backyard. She lowered her head so that her face was close to the floor.
“Yuck!” She said this to the bottom of the door.
Then she stood and walked across the room. She picked up a towel from a shelf near the dryer. She rolled it into a snake shape as she walked back to the door.
“There are big fires in Canada, bunnies. Some smoke is blowing over Pittsburgh.”
She placed the rolled towel along the bottom of the door. She nudged it into place with her foot.
That would have been good enough to “clear the air” until morning. But she wasn’t done.
My roommate went upstairs and returned with an air purifier under one arm and a fan under the other. She set them on the laundry folding table and plugged them into an outlet high on the wall.
“OK everybody! That should clear up any nasty smells.”
She took a box of loops from the shelf and gave one to each of us.
When she handed my treat to me, she gave me an extra half-loop. Don’t tell the others.
“Thanks for coming to get me,” she said. “You’re a good bunny.”
Then she told us it was 5 o’clock in the morning and we needed to go back to sleep. She walked up the steps and turned off the lights.
That was two hours ago and I’m still awake. Because the fan and the air purifier are making a big racket.
If you think I’m complaining, I’m not. I just wanted you to know why I’m writing about the odor situation instead of a regular professional blog.
Also I’m trying to not think about the fires. I hope all of my friends in Canada are OK.
And anyone who is dealing with this smoky air. If you have a chance, let me know how you “and yours” are doing.
You can send a message to belinda@smallpetselect.com. I am sometimes slow at answering but I do write back to everyone.
As always, thanks for supporting me and reading my blog.
Sincerely,
Belinda
Spokesrabbit, Small Pet Select
Inventor of the First Chew holiday
Word for 2025: “Ask”
Word for 2026: TBD
Belinda@smallpetselect.com
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Disclaimer:
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