“Running away will never make you free.” – Kenny Loggins
Maybe all it takes to make yourself free is just being honest about why it’s your instinct to run away.
Sometimes, when there’s nothing but wordsandwordsandwords that feel like all you’re doing is conning yourself and everyone else who might become important to you, saying everything and revealing nothing, the right words are the ones that are the hardest to find—the words that say all you want is for someone to touch you and then hold you tight to his chest and make you feel safe right where you are. The problem is convincing yourself you’re worth the effort, and convincing yourself you’re worthy of the gifts you’ve been given because every single one of them feels like a priceless and irreplaceable treasure, a piece of the giver that you’re not sure you deserve—or that you’re brave or capable enough to protect.
So, when you want to run, you make yourself be still because being still means becoming something to someone. When you want to con, you make yourself be honest because being honest means you can’t hide anymore. When you find that kindness is all you have to give, you are kind because you want the people who’ve become like family to be kind to you in return. And suddenly you find that all you want is to be what one very significant person in your life needs—for you to be the kind of guy who stays even when you feel like making tracks.
Jeremy no-last-name can’t be nameless if he’s going to become someone, but Jeremy Stillson’s the only guy he’s ever been, so that has to be good enough even if the last name carries the burden of the man he’s trying very hard not to be anymore. Beneath the polished and practiced veneer of the artful dodger, is plain-spoken Jeremy Stillson, a guy who, when the façade finally wears thin, just wants to become something to Aiden, but he’s also afraid of that want because the one very significant something that Aiden has to give isn’t something Jeremy can throw into a sack and rabbit off with when he gets scared of being himself. So Jeremy has to dig deep and find the courage. The courage to be…better, to have faith, to live simply and love openly and sincerely so the one he loves isn’t afraid to love him back, so that the one he loves doesn’t have to be afraid of waking up one day and finding that every shred of hope has disappeared and left a Jeremy-shaped hole in its place, as though it never existed at all.
How to Raise an Honest Rabbit is the story of a man whose second chance at life is born at the moment of his father’s death, and whose redemption is found in a place of simplicity and friendship and longing. He is a man whose bravery shows up when his past comes knocking on the door of his new life, just in time for him to realize that where he is, who he has become, and what Aiden has come to mean to him are all he could possibly ever dream of, because they all mean he is home, and home means freedom.
All this from a bunny tale, and the promise of a sequel too? What more could Amy Lane’s fans possibly ask for?
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