The Bay Hotel - Rabbit & a short story

Rabbit kept asking himself the same question. Why, if he was so obviously smarter than most of the dumb fuckwits he came across, was he so broke, alone, technically homeless and almost certainly about to get fired?

Bad luck had settled in like a broken leg struck with septicaemia before the car crash! Rabbit's problem however was that he had never learnt how to quit. Not in Year 7 when pretty much the whole school turned out to watch Rabbit stand up to the youngest of the Brownlee bothers. What they got was an exhibition on one-sided tag wrestling as each of the brothers took their turn to pulverise the soon to be hospitalised Rabbit. Thank god Mr Finch had turned up with his huge mad dog because without him it is likely the Brownlee's would have served terms for manslaughter.

Not when Jenni Braithwaite said she'd had enough of him, and he, like a love sick puppy dog, followed her home and camped on her front lawn until Mr Braithwaite came outside, full of pity, and spent the third night with him under the dry ash trees laid silent by the missing breeze. Only then did the shame of his rejection allow him to retreat to his devoted mother. That she was devoted only to the god of drink never caused Rabbit to give in on her either.

Not when he got overlooked for the school ruby team, football team, tennis team, pretty much any team. His problem was his surname. His father had been sent down for murder and Rabbit was never to find the heights that got him over that hurdle.

Not when idiots got appointed ahead of him, total nondescript assholes got the job of a lifetime over the far more capable Rabbit who was left to swing his balls in the vice of misfortune.

Not when he asked for upgrades and the smug assistants shook their pretty samey heads whilst the deserving few got to rub Rabbits well oiled nose in it.

In short, Rabbit was screwed. Royally, one could say. And so this day, just another day in most people's well turned over books, was to be a line in the sand. Rabbit knew that for some time he had sure as hell been losing every battle going. Today could sadly be terminal...

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