When I turned sixteen, I got what every girl dreams of for my birthday: a rabbit.
My long time friend, Caitlyn, had been a long time proprietor of purchasing me hamsters as gifts. But for such an important occasion, she decided to step up her game. So she went and got me a rabbit as a present. She brought this little ball of fluff over at my sixteenth birthday party, while a plethora of people were celebrating at my house. She entered the door and held in her arms a cage complete with rabbit and food. So my friends and I had to set about immediately cuddling him and trying to find out what to name him.
Now, my birthday being in May, it is somewhat around Easter, and for Easter that year I also received what every sixteen-year-old girl dreams of: A Complete Collection of Edgar Allen Poe's Short Stories and Poems. So, on the expedition to name my new fuzzy companion, I ran upstairs to find my new book and returned to my friends with one request.
"Pick something out of this book. Anything but the Raven, that would just be cruel and cliche."
They laughed, then realized I was serious. So they began to pass around the book, leafing through it casually, not exactly knowing what I would expect. Eventually, it got around to Kyle, my then friend now boyfriend, and he recognized a name: Israfel. Quickly, I took the book from him, read the poem aloud and fell in love with the name.
Granted, I spell his name differently than the name of the angel depicted in the poem, Izrafel, but he is still so named after an angel, and he is one to me. It is amazing what sitting a rabbit on your chest for an hour can do to relieve stress. He nuzzles and adventures and deems that he loves me enough for kissies. From the tips of his black ears to the bottoms of his paws, including the white mitten he has, I must say that I love my rabbit and miss him when I am away at school. (Which I am so glad that my parents take care of him whilst I am away).
My love of buns has not stopped at Izzy though. I follow multiple bunny accounts on all of my social media pages, and I even get a Daily Bunny picture sent to my e-mail. You could call it a bit of an obsession, but if bunnies and my Izzy are the worst things I am obsessed with, I think I'm doing fairly well. All in all, everyone should have and love a rabbit, and one day I want a Flemish Giant. Because who does not want a bun that big?!
