Zootopia: Chapter One
Judy Sneaks Out
Darkness covers the room. It crawls out of the corner and over a chair. It floods over the floor and around the bed frame. The advancing darkness halts around a small square of light on the bed. Moonlight shines through an open window. In the light, lies a small figure with wide eyes. The eyes move back and forth watching as clouds slip past the window. Moments of darkness in gulf the young heroine, but the eyes shine bright, waiting for the clouds to break. The clouds breeze by and stars gleam through the night sky, shinning bright.
The bunny rolls onto her side and clutches her doll tightly. Her eyes close, this time waiting. Muffled footsteps approach the room, then light seeps through the cracks of the door. The door handle turns, and a spring tightens. Light pours into the room, sending the darkness scurrying for the corners and under the bed.
"See, she is asleep."
"I thought I heard something."
"Well you can ask her in the morning, but for now just let her sleep."
"Whatever you say honey bun."
The door closes and darkness races from under the bed. It ventures from the corners of the room, but halts around the small square of light illuminating the bed. The footsteps of parents resend down the hallway. The bunny sits up in the bed and waits. Her ear twitches listening for sounds half imagined and half real. With a small reassurance, she bolts out of bed, with doll in hand, and gathers a blanket from a drawer. She tiptoes and skips across the room to the window and pauses. Her breathing is quick, whether from excitement, or fear of being caught, made little different to this young heroine. As she stood still, she could hear a door shut in the distance and could feel the slightest vibration through the walls of the house. She counts to three, then slides the window open and climbs out.
Light from the porch reaches wide across the back yard. Tainting the grass and dirt with rust orange light. In the quite hours, a shadow glides across the lawn and into a nearby field of corn. The figure is dwarfed by the stalks of corn, acting as a small forest. The corn climbs a small hill, but stops just short of the brow, creating a small island of dirt. The bunny lays the blanket down in the small clearing and lies down. Her small heart pounds a steady beat as she takes deep dregs of breath from the cool night air. Her eyes glisten and sparkle as the heavens open to reveal the sky above. Stars blanket the sky, like a fine mist, that glows and twinkle. A star or two skip across the sky, temporarily adding a searing white light to the mix. The moon wanes and smiles at the rabbit, teasing her that she did not come sooner.
The bunny lifts her arm into the air and tries to grab the stars. When her hands remain empty, she then tries to draw on the sky.
"Those stars look like a building… and those look like a car."
She traces the stars with a finger. Then wipes the sky, to erase the imagined lines. She lies still and clutches her doll, for warmth. Her eyes comb the night sky and stop on a single point. In the sky she can see a special star. A purple star, right over her head. She raises her doll over her head and says.
"One day I'll live in Zootopia, and I'll stand out too."