Jack O' Hare In Stanley Park

Written for Amanda- my little friend who I never met and shall not meet in this lifetime- Rest in peace, little one. May the Lord shine His countenance on thee.

Jack O' Hare the wild hare jack rabbit from the Canadian prairie province of Alberta was wandering through the large Stanley Park of Vancouver, British Columbia.

He was searching for his friend Christopher.

His friend Christopher had suddenly left his house in Sherwood Park one day.

This was about a year after his other friend- Christopher's father George- had left the same house the day some noisey vehicle with a siren and flashing lights had come and taken George away on what looked to be a small bed.

He had heard that his friend Christopher had moved to the nearby City of Edmonton.

So he went to Edmonton.

But he could not find Christopher.

Then he had heard that Christopher had moved to far-away Vancouver.

So Jack O' Hare crossed the treacherous Rocky Mountains over the Great Divide from Alberta to British Columbia and eventually made his way southwest down to Vancouver.

Vancouver was a very very large city- Jack discovered- even larger than Edmonton.

And Jack searched and searched.

But still Christopher could not be found.

But Jack did enjoy hopping around Stanley Park- full of nice trees and grass and flowers- and in some spots, you had a really nice view of the ocean.

One man that Jack watched every day in the Park was a man that he heard other humans call a "magician".

The man performed for children.

He used to hide things under eggs and then move the eggs around and children would try to find the hidden object.

The man also had an old black hat that he kept on top of the table.

The man told the children that he was going to pull a rabbit out of the hat.

But the trick never seemed to work.

There was no rabbit.

And the children would cry.

One day a little girl who looked very sad and her mother who looked very sad came walking through the park.

The man they called the magician did what he called his "magic tricks" for them.

The little girl seemed to start smiling.

And then her mother started to smile too.

Then the little girl pointed at the hat and said, "Pull a wabbit out of that hat."

She had seen a similar trick once on television.

Jack noticed the magician started looking sad.

Probably because that was the one trick of his that never seemed to work here in Stanley Park on the little blanket covered table where he worked.

But nevertheless the magician started reaching into the hat.

And Jack suddenly moved at lightning pace- so quick that no one could see him- he ran under the blanket covered table and when he saw the man sticking his arm into the top of the hat- Jack went leaping into the air and came out of the hat.

The little girl laughed and laughed.

The mother smiled and smiled.

Even the man they called the "magician" who looked surprised at first started to smile and laugh.

And the little girl who once looked sad went away looking happy as did her mother.

And the magician was happy.

And Jack felt happy too.

And a new precious angel in Heaven called Amanda looked down at what Jack had done and smiled...

she was happy too.

-A short story written by Christopher

 Saturday, March 23rd 2013.