Nobody was ready. Everyone came anyway.
The Camera Blinked First
Click.
The camera took a photograph before anyone had decided where to stand.
Seven rabbits froze.
The rabbit holding the camera lowered it slowly.
“I didn’t press the button.”
The rabbit with the skateboard looked behind him.
“Did the floor?”
The floor said nothing, which made it the most suspicious member of the group.
A Very Important Arrangement
They had gathered for a proper photograph.
There was a schedule.
There was a location.
There was even a small green book containing instructions on how to look natural.
Unfortunately, nobody in the group looked natural while reading instructions on how to look natural.
The rabbit on the far left raised two fingers.
“Should we smile?”
“No,” said the rabbit with the camera. “We should look spontaneous.”
Everyone immediately stopped smiling and began looking intensely concerned.
The camera clicked again.
Click.
This photograph contained one ear, three shoes, half a skateboard, and an impressive amount of pale gray background.
“Excellent,” said the smallest rabbit.
“Excellent what?”
“Evidence.”
The Missing Pose
They tried standing.
They tried sitting.
They tried leaning casually against one another, although nobody knew what to do with their hands.
One rabbit held a green book upside down.
Another rabbit placed both hands on the skateboard and looked as if he had just remembered an appointment elsewhere.
The rabbit at the back lifted one arm.
“Perhaps we should all do the same thing.”
“What thing?”
Nobody knew.
For several seconds, all seven rabbits raised one hand.
The camera clicked.
Click.
The result looked less like a portrait and more like a very polite emergency.
The Rabbit Behind the Camera
“Your turn,” said the rabbit holding the camera.
“My turn for what?”
“To be in the photograph.”
He placed the camera on the floor, set the timer, and ran toward the group.
The skateboard rolled away.
The rabbit with the green book stepped on it.
The book flew into the air.
The rabbit holding the camera reached the group at precisely the wrong moment and collided gently with three friends, one shoulder, and a surprisingly firm ear.
Click.
The photograph was taken.
Nobody was looking at the camera.
Everyone was looking at the book.
The book had landed perfectly upright.
Its cover read:
HOW TO LOOK NATURAL
The rabbit beneath it blinked.
“That seems useful.”
One More
They decided to take one final picture.
This time, nobody would pose.
Nobody would smile.
Nobody would hold anything.
Nobody would try to look as though they had not been trying.
They simply sat together.
The rabbit with the camera placed it on the skateboard.
The skateboard stood still.
Mostly.
The timer began.
Five.
Four.
Three.
The rabbit on the right whispered, “Who is taking this one?”
Two.
The rabbit in front whispered back, “The camera.”
One.
Click.
Whose Frame?
They gathered around the little screen.
The photograph showed seven rabbits in a soft gray room.
One was holding a camera.
One was holding a book.
One was holding a skateboard.
One was holding absolutely nothing and looked strangely proud of it.
Their ears leaned in different directions.
Their feet pointed toward different places.
One rabbit was smiling.
Another was not.
The smallest rabbit noticed something.
“There’s no empty space.”
Everyone looked again.
There wasn’t.
Not between the shoulders.
Not beneath the ears.
Not even near the shoes.
The camera had somehow found room for all of them.
The rabbit with the book turned it right-side up.
“Perhaps this is the natural position.”
Nobody answered.
The camera blinked once more.
Click.
This time, no one moved.
Apparently, the best photograph belonged to whoever stayed.
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