DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters of "Watership Down" and "Tales of Watership Down", which are products of the writings of Richard Adams. All references to the novels are the property of the said author. All created characters are fictional and any relation to anyone is purely coincidental. This story is rated PG, and there is very little violence but a good plot (I hope =))
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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Several people have asked me why I wanted to write the story in this way since it does deviate a bit from the book. Well, for several reasons:
1.) I wanted to picture what the WD rabbits would be like after they died and were with El-ahriarah. In other words, I wanted to let my mind create what the land beyond life was like.
2.) I always wondered what would happen if the rabbits could talk with a human, if they made friends with one and such
3.) I always wanted to know what would it be like if WD was a real thing and not just a story. This said, enjoy the story!
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CHAPTER 1"Outta my way, wimp," growled the football jock as he rudely shoved Justin into the wall of the hallway. Justin stumbled and fell, causing himself to drop the books he was carrying onto the wet floor. He reached over to pick them up, only to have a tennis shoe rudely kick his textbooks out of reach. Another jock, Justin saw grimly as he tried to gather himself with what little dignity he had. Apparently, this was going to be a field day for torment and harassment. It wasn't just the jocks, heck, the cheerleaders, the members on student council, the gangster-wannabes, the rich kids with their BMWs and recently obtained driving licenses, and the popular kids all at one time or another went out of their way to make Justin feel like scum of the high school class. After all, what do you expect from a bookworm who was a bit chubby, non-athletic, and who had less social standing than a cockroach? If Peter Parker thought he had it bad, he should have seen what Justin's life was like.
Justin angrily gathered the three textbooks from the floor, but when he counted them, to his horror, he realized he was missing one. He gasped and looked around frantically. No, please not that book, he thought, panicking, I saved my chore money for two weeks to buy that book! It's my favorite! It can't…
"Lose something?" a mocking voice laughed behind him. Justin slowly turned around to find that another jock was holding up a battered paperback copy of his book, "Watership Down". Justin felt his stomach sink even lower.
"Want this back?" the jock teased him as his football buddies just smirked at the relatively puny student. Feeling his blood bubble dangerously, Justin wisely kept his cool. If he chose to fight his tormentor, he knew he wouldn't be able to live to see another sunrise. It happened many times before, the stolen papers, the bruises, the convenient legs sticking out to trip him in the hallways as he passed by, the times Justin had to walk home in the pouring rain because several bullies stole his backpack and umbrella. It just never ends. Still, maybe there was a chance that Justin could get his book back, though there was as much chance of that happening as there was of the rabbits from the book coming back to life to head-butt the jocks in the gut.
"Please, can I have my book back?" pleaded Justin. The jock thought for a moment, grinned, then held it out to Justin. Relieved, Justin reached for it, only to have it jerked away again. Justin was beginning to lose his patience, but he didn't say anything. Hoping to see Justin cry and fall to pieces, the jock looked at the cover of the book in disdain. The cover was a simple tan color with the pictures of rabbits of various sizes and color along with the design of a compass pointing north in the background.
"'Watership Down'??" the jock scoffed loudly at Justin, whose face was turning scarlet, "You like rabbits?? What are you, some kind of queer fairy? What kinda ass would fall for this crap? Oh wait, I know, you." With that final insult, to Justin's horror, he opened the book to the middle and ripped it in half mercilessly, tearing along the binding. With a final flick of his arm, the jock tossed the now ruined "Watership Down" onto the floor, and he and his group walked away. The laughter and jeering conversation rolled in the hallway seconds later as passing by students giggled and laughed at the sight of Justin gingerly picking up the torn novel, hot tears threatening to leak out of his eyes. In his heart, he wished for some friends, he wished he could have the courage to fight back, he wished…he could go away to somewhere else.