What a cheerful morning!
And what else could it be in carefree childhood, when your whole life is still ahead and holds so many adventures?
The little rabbit nimbly slipped through the fence and hid in the bushes.
There was complete silence, only the faint rustle of grass and leaves.
Another small jump into the neighboring bushes — and again the little rabbit froze, pricking up her ears.
They, in turn, were visible above the grass, giving her away completely, like a periscope on a submarine.
And again silence, broken only by the chirping of insects.
That meant she was still unnoticed.
Half the way was done, but it was the easiest part.
Somewhere nearby, right by the fence, a barely distinguishable whisper came: “Come on, Jude, you can do it!” It gave her strength.
Because her poor, unfortunate animals were sitting there, so hungry they couldn’t even get up on their paws.
Judy pulled herself together, furrowed her brow for a sterner expression on her face.
And she didn’t care at all that it was just a child’s game; right now everything seemed real to her, and the lives of many unfortunates depended on her.
She took a deep breath and ran quickly across a small clearing planted with vegetables.
She nimbly jumped over one bed, then another — and there she was at her goal.
A huge tree, abundantly covered with juicy apples.
Her fans were delighted, frozen in anticipation, eyes wide open.
Judy made a powerful jump and quickly scrambled up the tree.
Grabbing the nearest branch, she gritted her teeth, pulled herself up, and finally found herself on the branch.
The wind, which had swept from the fence across the grass and the clearing, reached the tree, carrying the words of her fans: “Hurray, she did it.
Hurray, Judy!” But that was just the beginning.
Slowly, trying to keep her balance, she moved further along the branch, toward its very tip.
Ahead, just a few steps away, hung a juicy, ripe apple.
How happy everyone would be when she brought it to them.
The branch trembled involuntarily under a sudden gust of wind, but brave Judy kept her balance nimbly.
She took another small step toward the juicy fruit.
It was so close!
She was about to take another step, but the branch bent under her weight.
Judy stretched her paw forward, hoping to reach the juicy apple.
A little more, just a little more… Everyone held their breath in anticipation.
Judy herself felt her claw touching the apple.
And it, in the most insolent manner, swayed on its little twig from side to side, refusing to be picked.
Judy strained with all her might, trying to stretch just a few more millimeters.
And now her hard work was bearing fruit.
The crowd cheered, watching the juicy, fresh fruit in her little paws.
A red, ripe apple glowed in the sun, beckoning to be eaten.
Judy smiled happily, looking down at her yard from the branch of the apple tree.
She had done it, she had succeeded.
She had overcome her fear!
The little rabbit looked at the huge, juicy apple and suddenly realized it was too big.
She tried to keep her balance, but the apple pulled her down.
It didn’t even occur to her to let it go.
She had worked so hard for it!
She struggled to stay upright.
Balancing, she still lost her footing and fell.
To the loud hum and shouts of her friends, she landed on her side.
A sharp, dull pain shot through her right side.
Sparks flew before her eyes, her head spun.
Judy lay on the ground, seeing the broken, juicy apple a meter ahead of her.
She opened her eyes.
And came to.
A red fox’s paw was gently stroking Judy’s frozen fur.
At his touch, the thin crust of ice covering her fur instantly melted, turning into droplets of water.
Nick was bent over Judy, holding her tenderly in his paws.
He tried not to move, afraid of hurting her.
There were no visible serious injuries, which reassured Nick.
“Judy,” he whispered softly, as if trying to wake her.
“Judy, wake up!” A crowd of various animals scurried around, but for Nick they were just a gray, gloomy backdrop.
All his thoughts were on Judy.
Finally, the technicians from the Lemur Bank reached the main security control center and unlocked the windows and shutters.
The iron bolts opened as if on command, making way for the light.
Bright rays of sunlight instantly flooded the hall, illuminating everything around.
The darkness recoiled, leaving only a shadow behind.
At that same moment, Judy opened her eyes.
“Nick,” she whispered slowly but clearly, recognizing his familiar face in the sunlight.
“Is everything okay?” “Yes, yes,” Nick exclaimed joyfully in response.
“Everything’s fine, we did it.
You did it.” “That’s great,” Judy whispered again, and trying to sit up, leaning on Nick’s paw, she added, “How are you?” “I’m fine,” Nick answered happily, watching Judy sit up, leaning on him.
“And you, are you hurt badly?” “No, Nick,” Judy replied, looking around and surveying the scene.
“I just tripped and fell.
I got bruised and passed out, I guess.” “Well, honestly, you really scared me,” Nick said tenderly, supporting Judy.
At that moment, two raccoons in white coats with red armbands rushed towards Judy and Nick with a stretcher.
“What’s wrong, Officer Hopps?” they asked in a flurry.
“Does it hurt here?
How many fingers do you see?
Any strange sensations in your head?
Do you taste pepper in your mouth?” Nick had to step aside to let the doctors work.
He moved away and watched from the sidelines.
Judy, still not fully recovered, tried to answer the doctors’ questions.
“Here, take this and drink it,” one of the raccoon doctors said, handing her a pill.
Judy obediently took the medicine.
And immediately her gaze fell on the Lemur Bank security guards, who were leading the animals that had locked themselves inside out of the building.
The very ones who had barricaded the vault door.
Among them were the three ram accountants who had so desperately hidden behind their desks.
They were talking among themselves.
They walked right past her without even noticing her.
They were followed by two horse porters, old Oscar and young David, who had so cleverly delivered her to the ventilation shaft.
Behind them, a mouse named Sam, the head of the bank’s accounting department, walked under the escort of a snow leopard.
“Gren…” Judy whispered, remembering the brave mouse who had been her “partner.” She quickly threw off the warm blanket the doctors had covered her with and rushed forward, to everyone’s surprise, feeling a terrible pain throughout her body.
Limping, staggering, nearly falling with her first steps but somehow staying upright, Judy rushed forward, towards the precious ventilation grate.
“Stop, Officer Hopps!” one of the doctors called after her.
“Judy, what are you doing?” Nick didn’t understand her behavior.
He ran after her.
On her way, Judy nearly collided with one of the Lemur Bank guards, a large black panther.
“Excuse me,” Judy said, carefully going around the guard.
Her behavior aroused the involuntary curiosity of everyone around.
“Look, the rabbit’s alive!” old horse Oscar said cheerfully and somewhat mockingly.
“Hopps, where are you off to?” Chief Bogo shouted from the doorway, seeing the limping rabbit trying to push through the crowd of animals passing by.
“Damn, she’s quick…” Nick panted, unable to keep up with Judy.
As Judy ran up to the open ventilation grate, not far from her, a small mouse named Sam — the same one who had commanded the accounting department and led the barricade in the basement — was whispering something to Sangu Eisi, standing on his shoulder and pointing at the rabbit.
Nick, who had rushed after Judy and was now also trying to push through the animals, caught this out of the corner of his eye.
By the time he made it through, Judy had already disappeared into the ventilation shaft.
“Well, that’s it…” said the hippo Jonsi, standing next to Bogo, commenting on what he had seen.
“My partner lost his mind the same way.
Remember Hank?
The giraffe from the savanna?
After his injury, he thought he was a jerboa and lived in a burrow.
Well, a burrow… a huge sewer pipe, but…” “Oh, shut up!” Bogo waved him off.
Nick was about to go after Judy, but he could only get his paw up to his shoulder into the ventilation shaft.
Trying to catch his partner, he only felt her small strap and her phone with the connected headset.
Pulling everything out, he examined his “catch.” Everything was wet, as if it had been at the bottom of a pond.
Apparently, the ventilation had been covered in ice, and after the shutters were opened, the warm air melted the ice and flooded the shaft.
“Where are you going?” Nick looked into the dark ventilation shaft in despair.
“What’s in there?” Bogo came up to him.
Nick shrugged in response.
He held Judy’s things in his paws and looked hopefully into the shaft.
“Maybe there’s something we don’t know?” Nick suggested.
“Was she acting normal when she came to?” Bogo asked again, addressing both Nick and the raccoon doctors.
“Wait,” Nick cut in.
“Do you hear that?” Nick twitched his ear slightly, listening.
There was a splash of water.
Another.
And another.
Louder and louder.
And suddenly, Judy’s face appeared in the ventilation shaft.
“Judy, at least explain what’s going on!” Nick greeted her excitedly.
“Get the doctors, now!” she said, out of breath.
Two little rabbit paws appeared from the ventilation shaft, as if shielding Gren.
She carefully lowered him onto the tiled floor, showing everyone her find.
“Well, damn…” the raccoons said.
On the tiled floor lay a small, frozen, and soaking wet mouse.
He wasn’t moving, remaining in the same position the terrible cold had caught him in.
“Help him,” Judy whispered from the ventilation shaft.
Of course, the emergency doctors, as soon as they saw Gren, rushed to him and carried him out of the bank to a minibus.
So only Nick heard Judy’s last words.
He slowly leaned over the ventilation shaft and, through the semi-darkness, saw his partner sitting in the water on the cold floor.
She wasn’t crying, just looking down.
“Well?” Nick began quietly.
“What’s wrong, Judy?
Don’t cry.” “I should have sent him back to everyone,” Judy replied, raising her eyes.
She looked at Nick’s face, which was smiling tenderly at her, trying to cheer her up.
“You’re worried about the mouse,” Nick’s slightly more cheerful voice encouraged her.
“Don’t worry, they’re rodents!
They can survive any disaster.
I had a case once, back when I worked for Mr.
Big,” Nick lowered his voice a little, talking about his past.
“So, there was this mouse, Lari or Elvin, I don’t remember.
Anyway, he lost a lot of money gambling and owed a lot.
He was punished for it.
They froze him right under a house, threw him under an ice floe.
That’s it, they taught the rodent a lesson, Mr.
Big’s guys thought.
Yeah, right!
Well, long story short, the guy not only swam under the ice floes, in complete darkness and terrible cold, but he also got out through the sewers back into the house and robbed the boss.” Judy, listening to Nick’s story, smiled back and, looking at him, replied: “Oh, Nick, that’s just a crazy story!” “Don’t worry, Judy, he’ll be fine.
Come on out!
Let’s go outside.” Nick extended his red paw to Judy.
“Okay,” she responded, “just help me.” Carefully, constantly feeling the pain in her right side, but also smiling at Nick’s constant kind jokes, she climbed out into the bank’s hall.
The sun’s rays brightly illuminated the entire square, which was so crowded you couldn’t swing a cat.
The police had to call in additional medical units.
It was needed by many who had suffered from the smoke.
And although everyone got off with minor bruises, cuts, and scratches, and of course, smoke inhalation, the press was churning out reports about the incident one after another.
Since the police were stingy with comments, journalists interviewed the injured bystanders standing nearby, whose comments were, in turn, contradictory and highly emotional.
“Tell me, what did you see?” a young, handsome lion reporter asked, holding a microphone to a small hamster lying on a cot near one of the ambulances.
“Light,” the hamster replied, as if mesmerized, staring straight ahead into the huge microphone.
“And then?” “Darkness,” the hamster said in the same monotone.
Another film crew was nearby.
“Sir, what can you tell us about what happened here?” a rabbit suspended from a balloon asked, holding a small microphone near a giraffe’s mouth.
Two other rabbits were holding him from below by ropes.
Next to him, also hanging in the air on a balloon, was a cameraman.
The things you do for fresh material!
A film crew from Channel One was crowded nearby.
“And then there was an explosion!” a young deer shouted, answering a reporter’s question.
“And then, boom!..
And again, o-o-oh…” The young deer got so carried away with his story that saliva was flying in all directions from his excitement.
“The others were all like, ‘Oh, no!’ And I, like, went there, and there, like, something went boom!
And everyone came out of there… and then it was all chaos!
And vroom-vroom… the flashing lights, like, you know…” The young tigress in the strict outfit of a main channel reporter, holding the microphone near the young deer, involuntarily glanced at the cameraman, who looked back at her in response.
Very close to them, a young elephant, answering journalists’ questions, criticized the police’s actions: “This is complete nonsense, they did everything wrong.” “Why do you think that?” “What, you’ve never seen any hostage crisis movies?” the young elephant asked in surprise.
Nearby, in a car, sat the reporter Mei Darwin, who had been caught by Judy during the ambush.
He watched all this chaos, and his eyes burned.
This was such an opportunity for him, and he had missed the chance because of that little rabbit.
He sighed in disappointment, but then smiled slightly, clutching his recording microphone in his paws.
All the time he had been in the police car, he had been recording everything the police said over the radio.
“Something can be cobbled together from this!” he said quietly.
Nick was sitting on the steps of the bank, and Judy had just sat down next to him.
They were terribly tired.
Nick’s throat was constantly scratchy, and any sudden movement sent a sharp pain through his head.
His body ached from fatigue and the aftereffects of the gas.
Under his police uniform and red fur, large bruises were hidden.
He didn’t show that his whole body hurt like a skydiver whose parachute hadn’t opened before a hard landing.
However, despite all this, he was glad and quite satisfied that everything had ended well.
Judy was also in pain.
Like an old rabbit, she could barely move, constantly on the verge of stumbling and falling.
Her entire right side felt like one big piece of beaten dough.
She involuntarily curled up, warming herself in the sun and watching the animals that had been saved.
She was smiling.
It hadn’t all been for nothing; they had succeeded, even if they had been hurt.
She also didn’t want to show Nick her pain.
“It’s a shame my phone got flooded,” she said.
Judy, smiling and a little sad, examined the phone.
“It’s probably broken.” “That’s not the worst thing,” Nick replied, looking at her.
They exchanged a glance, full of joy and a little sadness.
Then they turned their gaze to the square, looking around and observing the huge throng of animals.
Somewhere in the distance, a strained siren wailed.
“Carrot?” Nick said, looking at the square full of animals.
“Yes, Nick?” “When does our shift end?” “Uh,” Judy thought for a moment.
“Today at twenty-three thirty.
I think.” Nick glanced at his phone screen, where the numbers had stopped at “11:30,” then lowered it and said: “Well, da…” His last words were lost in the noise of police sirens.