Sora and the World of Zootopia

Bunny Beginner

The wheels of the Zootopia Express had been moving steadily for several minutes before Judy Hopps saw the rainforest district pass her by in the observation car. She was about four feet tall with violet eyes and a plucky type of personality. At the same time, she wore a grey Tech Lite shirt with a puce colored section at the bottom and black shorts. An iPad placed in her right rear pocket with earbuds plugged to her large ears of advanced hearing quietly blasted the feminine vocals of "Try Everything", a song about positive experiences and never giving up if nobody ever tried anything.

She seemed pretty excited throughout the hour that passed, watching the large parrots, hornbills, toucans and raptors glide their way in the bright colors of red, green, blue and a large area of yellow mixed into their feathers. The armada swept their way above the window roof, chasing the train and gliding downwards towards the river where the rails ran over the bridge, going under it and heading upwards towards the treetops. Everything that had transpired so far seemed like the happiest part of a new chapter in her life.

The sad part had come in the morning when she left her family behind in Bunnyburrow.

She had been standing in the family living room with her suitcase when the family patriarch, Stu Hopps, came in with a bundle of money and put them down on the kitchen table. Ten one hundreds and three hundred fifty dollar bills added up to one thousand and four hundred dollars. Stu had been fanning them casually, announcing that he was buying an apartment for his first-born daughter (who else?) in Zootopia. Her mother, Bonnie Hopps remained calm and casual as she went through the dishes and glasses that needed to be cleaned. But after Stu sat down on the couch to watch television, Bonnie finished the dishes and placed the money very tediously in a brown envelope, sealing the flap before she handed it to Judy.

"Here, your father says you'll need it...what's the matter Judy? Are you worried? I know everybody is on their first day."

"Maybe I am," Judy said at last. "But I was going to ask if I left now instead of tomorrow. I'm all caught up with my packing and I'm not going to start work until Monday. Maybe it will give me some extra time to learn more about the city before my first day on the job. As for the money, I really don't need this much, especially if it's to pay the rent. Why not I have ten percent and leave you with the rest?"

Bonnie smiled at her daughter. She and Stu were in good standing. Ten percent of one thousand and four hundred dollars was one hundred and forty dollars. With that amount of extra money shared between herself, her husband and Judy's two hundred and seventy-five brothers and sisters, they could buy an extra amount of carrots, blueberries and other mixed vegetables before the fall.

"Of course, dear. You want me to walk you to the train station?"

"No thanks, I can manage. I am old enough to take care of myself after all."

"That's the ticket."

Her mother smiled and threw her arms around her daughter in a quick hug that seemed to have absorbed an hour, but was actually thirty seconds.

"Call me when you get there," she whispered.

Her daughter nodded, looking out at her father coming out from the living room with his arms open for a hug of his own. But Judy had smiled at them very sweetly, then walked out of the house and out of their lives. Inadvertently taking the one thousand and four hundred dollars with her.

Some rabbits never got that kind of opportunity every day in their lives. In fact, when they come right down to it, some rabbits never seemed to get any opportunities at all.

Judy Hopps had waited over twenty-four years for hers.

The opportunity to go on to college came late at seventeen, when Stu was struck in the crown by a home run ball during the ninth and final inning of a baseball game, causing him to gain momentary amnesia from the blow that damaged his brain. While her father recovered (and regained all his memories), Judy helped to support Bonnie and her siblings during her spare time.