Mr. Rabbit had had a very tiring week, harvesting his bountiful garden. Now that that was done he was exhausted and in need of some quiet relaxation. And who better to spend a quiet day with, he thought, than with his good friend, Mr. Turtle.

“Yes, a nice quiet day with my good friend Mr. Turtle would be just the thing I need,” Rabbit mused. “Especially as tomorrow is my birthday. I shall give him a call right now.” Mr. Rabbit did so and was gratified when Mr. Turtle accepted enthusiastically.

“Why, that would be just grand,” Turtle said. “And I have just the thing for us to do on your birthday too.”

“Oh, and what is that?” Rabbit asked curiously.

“Ah! But that must be a surprise,” Turtle chuckled. “Yes, a grand surprise for your birthday.” With that, Turtle hung up, giving Rabbit no more opportunity to question him.

Rabbit thought about what Turtle said for a bit but finally figured that anything his friend would think to be grand couldn’t be that bad.

The next day Rabbit packed up a snack and headed over to where Mr. Turtle lived near the big lake. It was a bit earlier than would be normal for him to show up, but Rabbit was anxious to start his relaxing birthday with his good friend.

“Hello Mr. Turtle!” Rabbit called out as he knocked on Turtle's door. There was no answer, however, and Rabbit got a bit worried. That’s when he heard an unusual noise coming from around back. Curious, he ventured to see what it could be. As he turned the corner, his eyes beheld a most unusual sight, for down near the lake shore was Mr. Turtle. And what he was doing amazed Rabbit to say the least.

“Mr. Turtle!” Rabbit called out in stunned disbelief. “What is going on here?”

Mr. Turtle looked at Mr. Rabbit and smiled. “My good friend Rabbit,” he replied. “You are early and have caught me before I could surprise you.” Mr. Turtle, Rabbit noticed, was dressed in a most outrageous and colorful outfit. So much so that he hardly even recognized his friend. But that wasn’t all that confused Rabbit, for in Mr. Turtle's hands was what looked to be an electric guitar.

“What is going on?” Rabbit wanted to know.

“Why, a concert!” Mr. Turtle replied with a grin. “I started my own band. That is me and a couple of friends, both of whom you know.” Just then two more voices entered the conversation and Rabbit turned to see Mr. Raccoon and Miss Fox coming down the trail leading to the lake’s shore.

“Mr. Raccoon! Miss Fox!” Rabbit responded in shock. “I don’t understand what is going on.” Rabbit couldn’t help but notice that both Mr. Raccoon and Miss Fox were both dressed similarly to Mr. Turtle and that Mr. Raccoon was pulling a wagon, which looked to have in it, a set of drums.

Rabbit’s mouth hung open. “A band!” he exclaimed.

“Yes, yes,” Mr. Turtle responded gaily. “We wanted to surprise you on your birthday and to ask you to join us.”

“Me!” Rabbit said, flabbergasted.

“Naturally,” Miss Fox answered, also grinning. “We all know about your secret.”

Rabbit looked at her with a guilty expression but remained quiet.

Mr. Turtle began to laugh. “Oh my friend Rabbit. Did you think you could keep your secret hobby playing the horn from your friends? We’ve seen you on a number of occasions, sneaking away from the brier to play your music in the woods.”

Rabbit was stunned once again, and with a red face meekly replied, “It’s a saxophone.”

“Of course,” Raccoon spoke up. “And a most hip hop’n saxophone it is too. I can dig your swag.”

“Huh?” Rabbit responded to whatever it was Raccoon had said.

Mr. Raccoon began to laugh heartily. “My son,” he explained with a grin, “said that I should sound more like one of those rock stars. I must confess I’m not very good at it.”

Miss Fox laughed openly and placed her hand on Raccoon’s. “Not even close, dear friend,” she said.

Mr. Turtle then reached inside a colorfully decorated box by his feet and retrieved a gleaming object. “Here my good friend,” he said holding a brand new saxophone in his hands. “As it is your birthday we all wanted to make it a grand one.”

Rabbit openly looked at the beautifully polished gift and, with a tear running down his cheek, joined his three friends. Turtle, Fox, Raccoon and Rabbit sat down and began to jam. In no time, a large crowd had gathered: hooting, cheering and dancing to the music.

Although Mr. Rabbit had wanted 'a nice quiet day of rest,' this day had turned out to be much grander.

Happy birthday, Mr. Rabbit.

Rock on.