Direct
"If I may be so bold as to give some advice…"
Oh no.
No. No. NO!
Rabbit knew that voice, and a tremor sent itself though out his body. There were only two creatures that could do that to him. In his eyes, they were the worst of the worst.
And the fair furred critter was pretty sure there were no woozles around.
"Hallo Owl." Rabbit took a quick glance and saw the bird perched upon his fence. Ol' Long Ears had been busy working in his garden. He wearily swiped some sweat off his forehead, with the back of his paw.
"Ah yes, how very rude of me! I was getting a head of myself." Owl chuckled. "Hallo, my dear companion."
"Not to be rude, but was there something you wanted? Seeing as I'm kinda busy here, I'd like to get this visit over with." The hare went straight to the point. He was in no mood for trifle conversation.
The fowl's beak curved into a grin. He normally would have found such comments to be quite rude. However, the feathered friend knew why Rabbit was in such a sour mood.
"Oh-HO! I think I see the problem now! And it is quite a humorous situation, too. In fact, it reminds me of the time my great uncle Henry (the fourth) once-"
"Oh, for Pete's sake! What are you blabbering about?"
"You've been busy thinking about our orange and black striped friend, haven't you?"
Rabbit would be lying if he said that he wasn't taken back by the utterance. Just the notion that the bird knew his thoughts was startling. The hare dropped his gardening utensil from surprise.
He wanted to be in denial. Rabbit wished he could have merely inquired to what the crazy old coot was implying. Unfortunately for him, his mouth spoke before he could sort out all of his thoughts.
"H-How did you…?"
"That isn't relevant. What just happens to be is this: you're finding yourself becoming fond of Tigger. If one could stretch out on a limb, I'd say it is closer to a deep affection. But here is where the problem occurs- you wish this wasn't so. You have the inclination of thinking that this is a negative consequence."
Owl stopped for a moment to make sure Rabbit was still listening:
"However, Rabbit, you need to get such notions out of your head. One can't help who they fall in love with. That's why I brought up my relation. (What you people fail to realize is that I always have a reason for bringing them up.) Great Uncle Henry, you see, found himself madly in love with a rooster. (Such a nice fellow, too, I hear.)
"But, this is the thing. He never told his dear friend. My uncle's pride got the best of him. How could someone like he fall for such an unrefined fowl? And he lived the rest of his life thinking that way, pushing his sweet heart away. What did such nonsense do to him? It ate at him, and Henry lived a sad sort of LONELY life."
The hare found himself looking away. He didn't desire to be alone anymore. He didn't want to spend his remaining days in a shadow of pain.
"But…What can I do?"
"You can tell Tigger. What harm can come from it?"
"What if," Rabbit gulped, "what if he rejects me?"
Owl tilted his head. "Ah…But what if he doesn't? If you expose your true feeling, then you have half of a chance of succeeding. However, if you don't say a thing…Then you automatically lose."
The yellow animal hated to admit it, but the bird knew things. He was smarter than what Rabbit gave him credit for. The hare smiled.
"So…how should I bring it up?"
"When it comes to stratagems, I always found that the direct approach works best."
