Ryder Rabbit's Thanksgiving

KIDOONS™ Network presents
Ryder Rabbit's Thanksgiving

Paddy the Beaver: Hey everyone! Thanksgiving is a time to think about the things that are good in life, and to be thankful for them. But some people forget that, eh? Like my buddy, Ryder the Red Rabbit. Let me tell you a story about him.

Ryder Rabbit sat in the Briar Patch, and he was grumpy. Here it was Thanksgiving, and if he wanted a good dinner he had to go hunt for it. He'd have to work hard even to find a wild carrot. He really thought he shouldn't have to hunt for dinner on Thanksgiving Day. He totally forgot that it was his own fault, eh?

Happy Jack Squirrel and Chatterer the Red Squirrel and Striped Chipmunk and Jerry Muskrat and me – Paddy the Beaver – even little Danny Meadow Mouse, had plenty because all through the fall, we worked hard and stored away food while Ryder had just had a good time.

But little Ryder didn't think of this, eh?
"I don't see what I have got to be thankful for," grumbled Ryder as he looked out over the bare, brown meadow. The meadow reminded him of the time he had barely escaped Roughleg the hawk. Ryder laughed. "That time I fooled him, but if it hadn't been for that old stone wall I wouldn't be here now."

At the far the edge of the forest Ryder saw an orange spot. "There's Granny Fox," he said. "She won't eat Ryder Rabbit for her Thanksgiving dinner, that's for sure!" He remembered the time she chased him out on the meadow, and he only got away by crawling under a tangle of barbed wire.

And then there was the time that Reddy Fox had chased him into a hollow log. "Lucky that log was right on the edge of a hill, or he would have caught me!" Ryder laughed.

And then there was the time he had been caught in a box-trap set by Farmer Brown's boy and Bossy the Cow had come along and kicked it over, setting him free.

And then there was the time that Bowser the Hound had chased him until he was almost ready to drop, and he had found one of Jimmy Skunk's old houses just in time.

And then there was the time Hooty Owl almost caught him! Ryder was up late at night, and so was Hooty!

Ryder sat perfectly still when Hooty the Owl came sailing right over him in the moonlight. If he had moved so much as one of his long ears, well that would have been the end of him, eh?

Oh, man! When Ryder thought about all these adventures, it seemed there was no end to the narrow escapes he had had.
A sudden thought popped into Ryder's head.
"Hey! I ought to be thankful that I'm alive!"

"Dee, dee, dee, chickadee! Of course you had, Ryder Rabbit! Of course you had!" said a voice. "Everybody has something to be thankful for."
Ryder looked up. There was Tommy the Chickadee. "I guess you are right, Tommy. I know you are right," replied Ryder. And with that Ryder started off happily to hunt for his Thanksgiving dinner.


Happy Thanksgiving from me, Paddy the Beaver, and all your Animazia friends!