It was a sunny Sunday afternoon in Bright Burrow, and Ruby, Sky, Star, Petal, and Diamond scampered along the shiny green cobbles of Cucumber Row. The five friends were heading toward their favorite tail salon, Fur Real, where they went every Sunday to have their tails trimmed, brushed, and styled.

“Ooh, look!” said Sky, skipping up to a gift shop called Mrs. Whiskers’s Pawfect Presents. “Bunny balloons!” She pressed her extremely furry head to the window. It was filled with brightly colored balloons that had been shaped, stretched, and tied into floating rabbit figures.

Everyone turned to look at the impressive balloon display, apart from Star who kept striding ahead. “We’ll be lucky to get spots at Fur Real if we don’t hurry up,” she said.

Sky took a last longing look at the balloons, then ran to catch up with her friends.

“I’m sure we can go there later,” said Petal when she saw Sky’s disappointed face and turned-down whiskers.

They reached the entrance of Fur Real, where glittering disco balls spun across the top of the window. Star pushed open the door, making the bells on it tinkle like a triangle. As she was about to step in, a tiny blur of mint-green fur hurtled past them outside.

“Twinkle?” Ruby called out into the street. Their friend Twinkle was supposed to meet them earlier that day, but he’d never shown up.

The little mint-green blur skidded to a stop, grinned, and did a double backflip over to his friends.

“It’s lucky we bumped into you!” said Petal. “Is everything all right?” she asked Twinkle as the friends hopped into Fur Real. The walls were covered in glossy pictures of tails of every size, shape, and color.

“Yes, I’m fine, thanks,” Twinkle squeaked. “Furbulous, in fact! Look, that’s lucky, too—there are six spare seats for us!”

They took turns dipping their tails in the bathtub full of Bunny Bubbles in the corner of the salon, then jumped up onto the line of toadstool chairs. Beside each chair stood a smiling salon worker with a comb in one paw and a pair of scissors in the other.

“So where have you been?” asked Ruby as she shook out her wet tail.

“At home, doing a bit of paw-painting,” said Twinkle. One of the tail-dressers handed him a Five-Flower Fizz drink, and he took a long, slurping sip through the straw. “I think it might be my very best one yet! Why do you ask?”

“You’re late!” said Star, with a twitch of her nose. “We were supposed to meet this morning.”

Twinkle flicked his tiny ears up in surprise. “Is it the afternoon already?” he squeaked. “Oh, sorry! I lost track of time. What burrow-tastic adventures did I miss?”

Ruby held up a red paw and counted her four fingers. “So much! We went for brunch at Crocus Cafe, rode the Clover Train to Paradise Beach, went swimming in Mirror Lake, then had a totally delicious picnic! Diamond even found a magical shell in the sand on Paradise Beach, didn’t you, Diamond?”

Diamond leaned over to Twinkle and held out a glowing yellow shell. “It lights up like magic,” she said in her shy, quiet voice. “I was so lucky to find it! I’m going to put it on my bedside table at home.”

The bunnies often went digging at Paradise Beach, not just because they loved to dig, but because sometimes they could find magical surprises hidden in the sand if they searched hard enough.

“What do you call a rabbit who’s late?” asked Sky all of a sudden in her chirpy voice.

The friends went quiet while they tried to think of the answer to Sky’s joke.

“I’ve got it!” said Star with a nod. “Paw timing!”

“Nope,” said Sky, shaking her fluffy blue head. “Bunny-hind!” Sky thumped her foot as she laughed at her own joke. “Get it? Be-hind … bunny-hind!”

Her friends giggled—everyone except Star. “I think paw timing was better … ,” said Star. “You know—poor timing?”

“Anyway,” Petal said quickly, thinking she’d better change the subject before her friends started arguing. “What is everyone having done today? I’ve been wondering whether I should get my tail dyed red …”

Twinkle turned to Petal and frowned. “Won’t it clash with your pink fur? And your tail is a furbulous color already, Petal. So pearly-pink! Whereas Star … Star, you could really pull off a red tail. With your yellow body, you’d look like a beautiful bundle of fire!”

“I don’t think so!” said Star. “I’m having just a trim and blow-dry, like usual. I want my tail to look perfect for Bounce-a-Lot on Saturday.”

Bounce-a-Lot was a festival that took place in Bright Burrow every year, featuring all sorts of bouncing events. Every Lucky Bunny looked forward to it, whether they were chosen as Bouncers to take part in the festival, or came along to watch the amazing bouncing displays.

“I’d forgotten about Bounce-a-Lot,” said Petal, flapping her big ears in excitement. “I don’t think I’ll be lucky enough to get chosen as a Bouncer, but I don’t mind at all. I just love to watch!”

Diamond jumped down from the toadstool chair to check out her tail in the mirror. The tail-dresser had fluffed and combed it into a perfect heart shape.

“That looks absolutely stunning,” squeaked Twinkle, putting his paws to his face in admiration. “You’re so lucky to have fur like that. I wish mine was thick enough for that style!”

Diamond smiled shyly. “Thanks,” she said quietly as she hopped to the door. “See you tomorrow for school?”

“Aren’t you coming to Strawberry Fields later?” Ruby asked Diamond. “They’re showing the movie 101 Velveteen Rabbits. It’s supposed to be awesome!” Strawberry Fields was Bright Burrow’s theater and cinema. Next to Paradise Beach, it was one of the friends’ favorite places, partly because it served the most delicious strawberry shakes—which refilled like magic whenever a bunny reached the bottom of the cup.

Diamond gave a little shake of her shimmering white head. “No, I can’t come tonight. I’ve got science homework to do. I’ll see you in the morning.” The bells at the door tinkled as she opened it. She scampered out toward Warren Street, the maze of burrows where all the Lucky Bunnies lived.

“Hey, what do you call a squished strawberry?” chirped Sky. Her blue eyes twinkled with the thought of her new joke. This time she answered before anyone could guess. “Jam!”

Everyone laughed, the tail-dressers, too.

“That was much better, Sky,” said Star. “It was actually quite funny.”

“Tell us another one?” Petal asked. She sat forward on her toadstool chair to listen, and her long, drooping ears almost touched the floor.

“Sorry, nope, I can’t right now,” Sky said. The tail-dresser gave Sky’s very furry fur a final brush, and Sky leaped from her chair. She did a dizzying jump and spin in front of the mirror, which undid almost all the tail-dresser’s hard work, although Sky didn’t seem to notice. “Star has reminded me—I’ve got to go home and practice my bounce-moves for Bounce-a-Lot,” Sky explained. “Mom said she’d buy some hopcorn, too, to help give me extra springing power. Ooh, I can’t wait for next Saturday!”

The bells tinkled again as Sky rushed out into Cucumber Row with a hop and a wave.

“Who do you think Mr. Nibble will choose to be Bouncers?” said Twinkle as his tail-dresser snipped oh-so-carefully at his tiny little tail. Tomorrow, their teacher at Dandelion School would decide who from their class would be taking part in the Bounce-a-Lot festival.

“Maybe Mr. Nibble will choose everyone?” said Petal hopefully. She couldn’t bear to see any of her friends disappointed.

“I don’t think so!” Star replied. “Only six from each class are chosen. And having everyone wouldn’t be fair when some bunnies have been preparing for it all year.” Star herself was one of those bunnies. She always practiced hard, and it paid off—she’d been chosen as a Bouncer every single year so far.

“Life’s not always fair,” said Ruby with a flick of her curly red whiskers. “It’s important to work hard, but sometimes you also need luck!”