Ears Like None Other

Dove stared hard into the mirror, turning their head back and forth, frowning deeply. Something still didn't seem right.

 

Being raised without exposure to sin, unless one is of a very certain nature, very rarely precludes anyone from being capable of sinning still. On the contrary, when one is malleable, anything that the world has to offer can become an immediate influence on one's character.

 

That is to say, it is little wonder that Dove, co-dwelling with a bunny doused in a coating of jealousy, should happen to start becoming a little jealous themself, here and there. 

 

It started with little things--a twinge of disappointment when another bun picked up the last sweet roll from a tray before they had the chance; the way someone at a gathering laughed at a joke while they still struggled to find the words to even break into the conversation; a sense of longing while gazing in a shop window at a ribbon they could not afford. Over time, they had begun to accept that this was their new mode of normal--that with freedom came inequality, with a lack of oversight, a lack of assurance. Not all buns were created the same, much as they had been convinced otherwise up in the clouds above.

 

However, there was one thing which ate at Dove more than any other.

 

Like Jackal, Dove was one of the first of their kind to enter this realm, the first in fact, though others were slowly beginning to follow. This meant that little was made to cater to them--almost nothing, in fact. But like any other bun, there were things that they wanted; to be beautiful, for one. Not in the sense of any vanity (they hadn't quite developed that particular vice yet) but simply in the way that anyone wishes to be accepted, to be admired. 

 

It had taken them some time to even feel comfortable removing their hood for long enough for others to take them in, and at first they were enough of a curiosity that they got far more attention than they wanted. But it was not how they wished to be perceived. And so, they tried to do as other buns did, act as they did, talk as they did; it was still a learning process.

 

But still, there was one particular trend they wish so desperately to follow, but which nearly eluded them.

 

They sighed again, fogging the mirror, running their hands through their short hair and glancing down again at the magazine spread on the table. "Flip or a Flop?!" read the article headline, "50 Ear-Dos to WOW the crowds this season!"

 

Throughout the article, there were suggestions and styling examples for buns of all looks and textures--smooth, fluffy, fiery, wispy--yet, unsurprisingly, no one seemed to have the remotest idea about feathers. Not that their ears were exactly feathers, of course, but close enough in their look that half the styles they attempted looked simply ridiculous. If they tied them up, they flopped out like a fan, if they pulled them down, a broom. They even tried wrapping them neatly to the sides and it gave a bit of a bouquet look...but that wasn't what they were going for.

 

Dove looked at themself again, eying the various styling products they had borrowed, and pouted. How could they fit in in a place they never knew if they couldn't be happy with something so simple? Could they even really make it here at all? Perhaps they should have stayed.

 

Yet, as they consoled themself, they stroked their hands along their ears, and a thought occurred to them. Wasn't the whole point of achieving a personal style...to be unique? In that case, didn't they already have something that no one else did? It hurt, in a way, to be so different, yet at the same time, this did make them special--and not just in a gawking way.

 

Dove looked at their ears again, and turned their head back and forth. They gave their neck a little shake, seeing as their hair swayed this way and that. They pulled at their ears and fluffed them out to the side, not even stopping to worry about the places where they should have had horns.

 

There was so much about life in Burrowgatory to get used to, and a lot of hardships still to face, but there was no sense in placing more hardships upon themself. Dove was the only Dove there was, and they would find their own Dove-like way to show the world exactly who they were.