Farmers join together in cooperation; only by banding together do they have strength

"So

you're leaving?" the rabbit asked.

The mother guinea pig nodded. Several little guinea pigs jostled and pressed around her feet.

"These little ones will be just fine here." The rabbit patted its chest. "We'll take care of them, won't we, Beaver?"

Beaver nodded too, and smiling, turned to look at the little guinea pig that had climbed onto his tail.

"Doctor Badger asked us to bring these to you." The rabbit handed over a small packet. "He said these are chrysanthemums; you can steep them in water to drink, for you to use on your journey."

"Chrys...anthemums?" The mother guinea pig took the small packet.

"Yes. Doctor Badger said that steeping them in water and drinking it will calm your mood, so you won't be so anxious." Beaver scratched his head. "I don't know why he wanted you to drink this either."

"Doctor Badger..." The mother guinea pig hesitated. "Did he see through it..."

"See

through what?" The rabbit rummaged through the small packet. "Let me tell you something fun, something Mole told me."

"Mm, okay."

"Look, this is a chrysanthemum, right?" The rabbit held up a chrysanthemum, as if about to do a magic trick.

"Yes..."

"Hehe," the rabbit glanced at Beaver, "actually this is lots of chrysanthemums!"

"Is... is that so?" The mother guinea pig hesitated.

"This looks like petals here, right?" The rabbit tore off a strip of petal. "Actually it's one flower! You can tell if you look closely. Here! See it?"

"Oh... it really is."

"This looks like the flower center here, right?" The rabbit carefully parted the petals. "Actually it's also one flower! Impressive, huh?"

"Im...impressive." The mother guinea pig nodded.

The rabbit nodded, satisfied. "So one chrysanthemum isn't one chrysanthemum, but lots and lots of chrysanthemums."

"I see."

"Oh, and also, this is from Mole." The rabbit patted Beaver. "Take it out."

Beaver also pulled out a small packet. "Guess what this is?"

The mother guinea pig's nose twitched a few times: "Sunflower seeds?"

"Right!" The rabbit's ears perked up. "Mole said you like these, so he prepared some for you. These and the chrysanthemums Doctor Badger gave you are the same kind too!"

"Is that so." The mother guinea pig nodded.

"They're both a big cluster of flowers gathered together, becoming one big flower." Beaver added. "Mole said it's called a flower head, right?"

"Mm hm!" The rabbit nodded. "There's something even more amazing! Do you know why they need so many little flowers to gather together and become one big flower?"

The mother guinea pig gently shook her head.

"Because..." The rabbit blinked. "Only by gathering together do they have strength!"

The

mother guinea pig trembled, staring into the rabbit's eyes.

"That's just how it is, Mole said so." The rabbit looked at Beaver. "Right?"

Beaver was wholeheartedly playing a running race game with the little guinea pig on his tail.

"That's just how it is, Mole said so." The rabbit said helplessly. "See, chrysanthemums also need bees to pollinate them."

The mother guinea pig nodded, confused.

"And then, the cost of blooming one flower is too high." The rabbit counted on his fingers. "You have to make petals, and make the flower center, and so on. Anyway, it's very laborious."

"But chrysanthemums don't have that much strength. What to do? If there were only one flower, it would be too inconspicuous, and the bees might not even see it. So just put many flowers together and bloom them together! That way they can attract the bees over."

"This is what it means to have strength when gathered together!" The rabbit blinked, satisfied. "Did I explain it well?"

"This is what Mole said." Beaver muttered while carefully tending to the baby guinea pig that had climbed onto his back.

"Close enough, close enough." The rabbit glanced at the mother guinea pig. "Hey, what's wrong? Moved to this extent?"

From the mother guinea pig's eyes, big drops of tears were rolling out.

"No..." The mother guinea pig sobbed. "You all saw through it, didn't you... thank you..."

"Saw through what?" The rabbit curiously perked up its ears.

Beaver carefully held the little guinea pigs in his palms and said nothing.

The mother guinea pig took a deep breath, and only then did her sobbing stop. "I escaped."

"What?" The rabbit's mouth fell open.

"We

have many guinea pigs, all living together." The mother guinea pig said. "One day a very fierce big fellow suddenly came, and he told us that from then on we all had to obey him. Several who wanted to resist were all eaten by him."

"What?" The rabbit's ears also perked up. "How... so..."

"Everyone had no choice but to obey him. He made us not allowed to leave, and he came by every few days to eat one or two of our companions..." The mother guinea pig started crying again. "Everyone was very afraid. Several who wanted to run away were also caught and eaten by him."

The rabbit's eyes went wide, and it clenched its little fists. Beaver was also so startled that his mouth hung open, and he even forgot to chew the tree bark.

"I didn't want my children... to be eaten too..." The mother guinea pig said, sobbing. "So I ran away."

"I fainted on the road and was saved by you." The mother guinea pig wiped her tears. "I originally thought I'd go find stronger animals to come and drive him away..."

"Let's go deal with him!" The rabbit clenched its little fists and looked at Beaver. "Call Doctor Badger, Doctor Woodpecker, Mole... uh, never mind, forget Mole... if only Fox were still here..."

"No need..." The mother guinea pig shook her head, wiping the teardrops on her face. "Doctor Badger and Mole were right; only by gathering together do we have strength..."

"We can come with you too." The rabbit said anxiously. "No matter what, we're all a bit bigger than you, and better at fighting too, right?"

The

mother guinea pig continued shaking her head. "This is a matter for us guinea pigs, and it can only be solved by ourselves... If we rely on you, or rely on other big animals, you'll always have to leave eventually..."

The rabbit thought for a moment, and its eyes dimmed.

"Although each of us guinea pigs is very small." The mother guinea pig said. "We have great numbers. Gathered together, our strength is great too."

"I won't go looking anymore."

"I'm going back, to tell my companions, to put everyone's strength together." The mother guinea pig raised her head, clenching her little fists. "We will drive him away. Although we're small, we also have teeth and claws. We're just... too scattered."

"Just like a chrysanthemum." The mother guinea pig plucked off a petal. "But when we gather together, there's no problem!"

"Really..." The rabbit hesitated. "You really don't need us to go back with you?"

The mother guinea pig gently yet firmly shook her head. "I just need to trouble you... to take care of my babies... is that okay?"

"That's no problem..." The rabbit said. "Really... you don't need us to come with you?"

The mother guinea pig shook her head, and in her eyes was a light the rabbit had never seen before. Like the light of stars.

"We'll solve it ourselves. Only by gathering together do we have strength, just like the chrysanthemum, right?"

To be continued