I wrote most of a novel back in 2006 and Tiny was one of the "comic relief" characters (along with Miss Bea).
Here are some of their scenes...
[line]In this passage, Kate (main female) is going to the pet shelter to adopt a CAT. Her grandmother's 18 year old cat, Punky, died two months earlier. Kate lives alone and realizes she'd like some company. Stan is the one who will become her love interest - he has decided to adopt a dog.
Kate walked into the shelter and was overcome by the smell. Yes, this was definitely a place where animals lived. Still yet, she would be able to get a cat or maybe a kitten and give it a good home. Perhaps she'd find an older cat no one else wanted. Then again, a kitten would be fun too. Either way, she wasn't going home without a cat and she had Punky's cat carrier with her.
A young woman approached her with a smile. "Hi, I'm Abby. It looks like you came prepared to adopt someone. Can I help you?"
Kate smiled, "Yes, thanks. I want to adopt a cat. My cat died two months ago and I'm very lonely."
Abby beckoned to a door andsaid, "Right this way. We keep the cats and other small animals on thisside of the building so they aren't bothered by dogs."
The women chatted as they walked through the door. Kate explained how Punky had passed away in his sleep and Abby expressed her sympathies. They talked about Punky's personality and relationship with Kate as Abby tried to get a sense of what Kate was looking for in a pet.
Kate was shocked when they walked into the pet room. They were surrounded by cages on three sides.The animals were stacked three and four high. Some of them ducked to the back of the cage when they heard people enter, while others raced to the door for pets and possibly a treat.
There were cats of all colors and sizes. Black cats, calico cats, brown cats and more. There were Maine Coon Cats, tabby cats and even a litter of Manx. How was she going to decide? She almost wanted them all.
As she wandered around the room, a tall black pile of fur in the largest cage stood and stretched. She looked at those ears as they stood tall. This was no cat. It looked like a rabbit but it was the size of a monster. She backed away from the cage.
Watching her reaction, Abby laughed and said, "Don't mind him. That's Tiny."
"Tiny? He must weigh 25 pounds!"
"Actually, he weighed 17pounds when he came in here three weeks ago but he's down to a little over 14 pounds. His owner passed away and he's still grieving for her.He will eat and drink some but he's very unhappy."
Hearing his name, Tiny stood and pressed himself against the door with all of his weight. Kate backed away a couple more steps. Still yet, she found him fascinating.
Abby had a keen awareness about people and she sensed that Kate might be the right owner for Tiny. Tiny had not acted this lively since he came in and he really seemed to be fascinated by Kate's voice. Perhaps she reminded him of his former owner. Abby had to find a way for the two to interact.
"Would you like to meet Tiny?He's a flemish giant and he's very gentle. In fact, this breed of rabbit is bred specifically for their gentleness."
"Will he bite me?"
"He's really very gentle.He's actually pretty affectionate and tame for a rabbit too. Why don't you let me bring him out of the cage. He's too big for the playpen, so I'll just shut the door and let him run around the room so you can see him."
Kate hesitantly agreed. She had always wanted a rabbit but a little rabbit, not some monster rabbit. Still yet, his eyes seemed to plead with her to at least give him a chance to get to meet her.
Abby opened the cage and Tiny sniffed the door and then bounded out onto the floor. He hopped around the room for a moment or two and sniffed their feet and then rubbed his chin on his cage. Abby explained that he was marking his cage with his scent so others would know it was his.
"Come, sit on the floor with Tiny. I have a few yogurt chips you can give him when he comes to you."
At the word "yogurt', Tiny came running over to Abby and started pawing at her clothes. She laughed and said, "Busted. I sneak in here to give Tiny a chance to get some exercise and get some treats. I've been worried about him."
Kate and Abby sat on the floor together. Tiny crawled on Abby's lap and started hunting for his treats. She gave him one and then handed the rest to Kate. Before Kate knew it, Tiny was in HER lap and nudging her with his nose. When she didn't immediately offer a treat, he went looking for them in her handand tried to paw at it.
"I'm scared. He'll bite me."
Abby replied, "Just open your hand and let him pick it out of your hand. He won't hurt you."
Kate held out her hand with the yogurt chip in the middle of it. Tiny sniffed it and then grabbed the treat and hopped away. He almost seemed as scared of her as she was of him.
Abby and Kate watched as Tiny ran around the room a bit more and then suddenly made a mad dash for his cage. Kate asked, "What is he doing? I thought he wanted the exercise."
After watching Tiny for a moment, Abby replied, "He ran for his litter box. He realized he had to go to the bathroom and that is where he knows to go."
"You mean he's litter box trained? Like a cat?"
"Yes. If I didn't already have five rabbits, I'd take him myself. I've never seen a rabbit so tame and well-trained come into the shelter. But I'm worried that if he doesn't stop grieving, we'll lose him."
"Well, I don't think I can take him. He's just too big and I really did come for a cat."
Abby sighed softly and said, "Ok" as she shut Tiny's door. Together the two women turned to the cats when a loud sound filled the room. Turning to his cage, Abby said,"Tiny, stop it." She explained to Kate that Tiny was thumping his back feet to get their attention. He continued thumping while Kate looked at a kitten. She put the kitten back in the cage and was looking at a tabby when a rattling noise filled the room. Both women turned to see Tiny rattling his cage doors with his teeth. "He's never done that before. He's having a temper tantrum."
Abby walked over to Tiny and talked to him quietly, "We'll find you a home buddy. I promise. But you have to behave."
"I'll take him." Kate spoke up.
Abby paused a moment and smiled at the big rabbit. She knew Kate was the right person for Tiny but she wanted to make sure that Kate knew she was the right person. She needed to press her just a little bit and make Kate realize that she wanted Tiny and wasn't just taking him out of pity.
"Kate, I don't think you understand. You can't just take Tiny because you feel sorry for him or because he's having a temper tantrum. He's going to be a big responsibility for you. Not only will he need to be fed and have his litter box changed, he's going to need time outside in the sun sometimes. At least I find that my rabbits thrive with outside time.But what he really needs is love. He's lost a beloved mistress and was found next to her body from when she collapsed. Can you give him love and wait for him to grieve before he can love you back?"
Kate walked over to Tiny's cage and stared at him. He'd laid back down and was in the back corner of his cage now. He stared back at her and twitched his ears. He was scary looking. He was huge. She knew nothing about rabbits. But reflected in his eyes was the loneliness she felt in her heart. She whispered his name softly and he came over to the door and tried to nudge her hand through the bars. She whispered his name again and realized that they needed each other.
"Can I give him love? I don't know. He's huge and he scares me. I know nothing about rabbits even though I always wanted one as a kid. But I know that he needs me and I need him. We've both lost people we love and we can help each other through the pain. I want him. I know I'll grow to love him once I learn to trust him."
Abby smiled because she knew that Kate had made the commitment in her heart to Tiny and she would not abandon him. She loved it when she was able to match up an animal with the right person. It gave her a feeling of peace.
"I have one problem though, "Kate said. "Will he fit in my cat carrier?"
"We'll make him fit." Abby said.
[line]
This is Kate's first morning w/ Tiny...
Kate woke up at daybreak on Sunday morning. She didn't want to wake up that early but it is hard to stay asleep when a 14 pound bunny lands on your belly as he leaps on the bed. The leap was only the start of his fun though as he ran laps around the room at a pace that made her dizzy. How could something that large move so fast? By the third leap on the bed, she'd learned to move out of his way. She had observed that with every other lap of the room he took a shortcut across the bed for the other side.
What Kate didn't understand was what Tiny was doing in her room. She'd made him a bed last night out of a cardboard box and an old towel of her grandmother's. He was supposed to be sleeping in the kitchen.
She tried to make sense of his presence in her room but she couldn't help falling back to sleep once he stopped running around. She wasn't worried about him getting into trouble because he jumped up on the bed and settled down by her feetfor a nap. She could live with a pet like this.
When the alarm woke Kate three hours later, Tiny was still by her feet. He appeared to be asleep but as she snuck out of bed, she noticed him sit up and yawn. Man, he was a big rabbit. She still was scared of him but so far he had been very gentle and kept out of trouble.
Kate walked out to the kitchen with a bit of trepidation. Had Tiny destroyed the carpet? Had he used his litter box? What had he done all night?
She learned the answer as she entered the kitchen. Tiny had used the litter box alright. Almost everything was in it although you could see where he must have had his rear end over the corner once when he used it. She made a mental note to buy him a larger litter box when she went to the store next time. The rest of the kitchen seemed fine, except for his box and towel. The stinker had knocked over his box, chewed on the towel enough to put multiple holes in it and then chewed on the box too. It looked like she better add some sort of chew toy to her shopping list.
Kate made herself some tea and grabbed a banana while she thought about what to have for breakfast. As she peeled the banana, she heard the thwump thwump of Tiny running from the living room into the kitchen. She got out of his way in case he needed to use the litter box again. Her eyes opened wide as he headed straight for her instead of the litter box. He was supposed to be gentle but she could see the headlines flash before her eyes, "Mystery shopper killed by giant angry rabbit". Then Tiny braked to a halt directly in front of her and stood up on his hind legs. He pulled on her right shirt sleeve and tried to lower her arm. She moved the banana to her left hand and he let go of her right shirt sleeve and grabbed the left one. He became frantic to pull her arm down and as she lowered her arm, he knocked the top half of the banana onto the floor and started eating it.
"Thief!" she yelled, without even thinking. At her loud voice, Tiny grabbed the banana and retreated around the corner into the living room. She didn't mean to scare him but he'd startled her and then stolen her breakfast. It looked like she better add bananas to her shopping list also.
She snuck into the living room and stretched out her hand to Tiny. It held the last of the banana and was a peace offering. He looked at her and twitched his nose and then grabbed the banana and headed for her bedroom. Perhaps they would learn to trust each other soon. Until then, she got another banana and started writing out her shopping list.
(I wrote this before Amy came for a visit - and Tiny once went running (thwumping?) into her room pretty darn fast when he smelled a banana. I'll never forget watching her try to "shoo" him out. You never "shooed" Tiny...you picked him up and moved him...).
