Remembering Pip

Pip was Lucy's first pet, a small brown rabbit who came home in a cardboard box in the spring of 2020 and taught a six-year-old how to be gentle. He was patient with small hands, forgiving of clumsy cuddles, and endlessly interested in whatever was going on.

He had the run of the garden on summer evenings, where he would dash in mad circles for the pure joy of it, then flop over on his side in the grass as though he had never moved. He loved parsley, the top of a dandelion, and being read to, or at least he never objected.

He died gently in the autumn, four years old, held by the little girl who loved him first. For a small animal, he leaves a very large space. He was a good first pet, and he was very much part of the family.