Today Fred felt rather sentimental

Having discovered an old record player, Fred listens to some John Denver and gets rather carried away.

Despite not really knowing where he came from, or who or what he really is, he began to wonder and felt rather nostalgic dreaming of his beginnings...

Fred's on top of the world...

Today Fred started to read an old classic, 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea' by Jules Verne.

The book was a little big and awkward for him to read but he was keen to catch up on his classic literature.

The old book and lovely cover illustration filled Fred with a wistfulness.

He dreamed of being a sailor and an explorer, travelling on the high seas, the wind in his sails... and his ears.

As he sat reading the book, his whirring imagination lit up his face like a set of fairy lights might, and despite being technically under the sea he felt like he was on top of the world.

Fred invents an electric blanket...

In an attempt to find himself, Fred sat and thought very hard about the things he knew about himself.

"I used to play guitar!" he suddenly remembered.

Fred loved playing music and he used to have a lovely hand-embroidered semi-acoustic guitar when he lived in the art college.

Unfortunately the Owl had borrowed it to take on a trip with the Pussycat and they'd been away for at least a year and a day by now, so he wasn't sure he'd ever get it back.

Fred hadn't played guitar in such a long time and thought it would be fun to play again.

But he didn't have a guitar.

What would he do?

Fred thought perhaps he could draw one.

He looked at some books, and drew out a really cool electric guitar.

It didn't quite sound the same but it was brilliant!

Fred sat and practised all day.

The guitar was very very quiet though so Fred wondered if he could amplify the sound.

"I could draw an amp as well," said Fred "But I don't any electricity to power it."

"Hmm," he thought, "what could I make I wonder?"

Fred sat and daydreamed of all the things he could invent.

"An electric blanket!" he thought. Fred had heard of ones before, but he thought one that could power a guitar would be perfect.

"It would even be a great stage show set..."

So Fred sat and daydreamed of being a musician and playing on stage, and of being an inventor...

Fred questions the bunnies...

Fred is still confused by his identity.

Looking into the mirror at his happy bunny face, Fred tries to understand.

"Am I a bunny rabbit when I wear this mask?" he says aloud,

"Or just pretending to be one?"

"Am I anything like the real rabbits so bouncy and cute?"

"Or am I more like a shy Irish hare? Or are they very rare?"

Fred's head began to hurt with the confusion of all these questions, but he remembered that some bunnies lived in the hall and decided to go ask them if they knew about rabbits.

"Hello," said Fred, "I think I'm a bunny too, but are you real rabbits?"

"Of course we're not real. Have you ever seen a pink rabbit? We're toys! Toy bunnies!" said the white bunny.

"I don't think you are a bunny, you have the ears but where is your fluffy tail? And your arms and legs are awfully long and gangly," mused the pink bunny.

"You must be something different," agreed the white bunny, starting to feel sorry for Fred, "you don't want to be a real rabbit anyway, they live outside in the cold."

Still, Fred wasn't very happy to hear all this.

In fact he was more confused than ever.

The bunnies felt bad for Fred. The white bunny felt that they'd been a bit harsh, especially when Fred seemed like a rather innocent, vulnerable creature. The pink bunny said Fred was still a bit weird though, and needed to work these things out for himself anyway.

So they left him to it, and Fred sat and tried to think of what he could possibly be then if he was only half bunny...

Fred meets sweet William...

Fred thought his wee house in the drawer needed something.

Something alive and fresh to brighten up the dusty confines of his home.

In the house's big kitchen Fred found a vase of flowers.

"They're so pretty!" he thought.

SWEET WILLIAMS, a little label beside them said.

"I want a Sweet William for my house," Fred said.

So he took a little shorter flower, put it in a tiny glass of water and carried it up to the spare room where he placed it pride of place in his sitting room.

Fred sat and looked at them all day, and he felt like a little bit of sunshine had settled in the dusty old drawer he called home.

Fred gets hungry...

Fred wondered what to do today.

He sat and read his book for a while.

He felt hungry and thought "I have a kitchen and I haven't even used it yet."

Fred went over and sat down and looked at his kitchen.

"Hmm," he thought, "I've lots of things here I could make."

Eventually Fred decided upon having a chocolate fish from Cornwall. This decision was based largely upon his lack of culinary expertise and the fact it was ready made, just sitting waiting to be eaten.

So Fred sat down again on the couch to eat his chocolate fish.

He looked at it and sniffed it and the thought suddenly occurred to him "do rabbits eat fish? Or are they vegetarians? Is a chocolate fish a meat or a vegetable? Am I a rabbit? Or am I something else?"

Fred was so confused by this whole concept that he decided he needed someone to answer this multitude of questions.

Fred asked teddy but, as always, teddy was completely silent on the whole matter.

So he just gave up and went back to reading his book.

Fred's new home

Realising a pile of fabric was not a home, and yearning for a place of his own, Fred looked around the messy spare room and thought, "there's potential here, I think."

Clambering over cardboard boxes and bulging bags left cluttering the floor, Fred brought back anything interesting he could find.

Thanks to the old toys and miniatures left to gather dust, Fred's very empty drawer soon enough looked like a little room, just for Fred.

Now settled, Fred sat and had a cup of tea.