Chapter 257: Rabbit Doll
Ash O’Malley didn’t believe it either, but having just witnessed that kid’s interaction with the giant bear, a spark of curiosity had ignited within him. It seemed the prizes from the lottery shop were truly beyond imagination.
"You can, but you have to establish a connection with it," Lily Hart said, patiently guiding him.
’He is my customer, after all. If he doesn’t understand something, of course I have to answer.’
Frank O’Malley found it even harder to believe. ’Establish a connection? With a rabbit doll? Is that even possible?’
Ash O’Malley slapped him on the back of the head again. "Just do what she says," he said impatiently. "Enough with the nonsense." In truth, he was quite looking forward to it himself.
"I know, I know..." Frank O’Malley said helplessly, rubbing the back of his head.
He held the rabbit doll up with both hands, looking it over from left to right, turning it this way and that. Finally, his gaze met its stitched, oval eyes.
ZING... It was like an electric current shot through him.
He felt as if he could actually perceive what the rabbit doll was thinking. It was saying, ’Put me down!’
The voice seemed to spring from the depths of his mind. Startled, he instinctively let go. The rabbit doll fell onto the table, splayed out on its back.
’Aaaah, my butt hurts!’
He heard the rabbit doll wail again.
Frank O’Malley scrambled to set it upright again, placing it primly on the tabletop. He then heard a soft ’hm’ in his mind.
"Can you get bigger? Show me you getting bigger? Please?" Frank O’Malley asked, his tone practically pleading.
’Hm.’ The rabbit doll gave another soft reply. Then, it started to grow, the change visible to the naked eye.
’It was originally palm-sized, and now it’s about as tall as my forearm. It got bigger, but not by much...’
"A little bigger?" Frank O’Malley asked. He sounded so meek, he might as well have been pressing his palms together in prayer.
The rabbit doll reluctantly grew a bit more, now standing half as tall as a person. But what Frank O’Malley wanted was a *giant* rabbit!
A giant rabbit that could rival that giant bear! He pleaded again, "Bigger, a little bigger!"
Then it hit him—maybe there wasn’t enough space. With some effort, he placed the rabbit doll on the ground.
He only heard her furious curses, ’Dirty, dirty, dirty! It’s filthy! I don’t want to be on the ground!’
Frank O’Malley scrambled to pick her up again. ’But... once she gets bigger, she’ll have to stand on the ground, won’t she?’
’I don’t get it, but I’ll respect her wishes.’ The thing wasn’t light, and he was struggling to hold it.
And so, the onlookers watched as the rabbit doll grew bit by bit in Frank O’Malley’s arms, until it was even taller than him.
Frank O’Malley finally heard the words he’d been waiting for: ’You can put me down now.’
He hastily but carefully crouched down and placed the rabbit doll on the ground.
The next second, the rabbit doll suddenly swelled to countless times its size, growing taller than the RV.
As it changed, Frank O’Malley’s eyes widened, and he stammered, "It-it really can get bigger... And... this big!"
Ash O’Malley also looked up, but at this point, he couldn’t even see the rabbit doll’s eyes.
He could only see her round chin, her fur fluttering in the wind. She was actually a little cute, with her huge hands and feet.
The surrounding customers who saw this scene quickly backed away, a sense of inexplicable panic rising within them.
They had seen too many scenes of mutated animals hurting people, let alone a rabbit that was so huge and... vacant-looking!
Lily Hart hurriedly explained, "She won’t hurt anyone. Carry on, everyone, carry on."
Frank O’Malley remembered that kid being taken for a ride by the giant bear, sitting on its hand and shoulder, looking incredibly cool.
He couldn’t help but plead, "Bun-bun, can you let me sit on your hand?"
The rabbit doll snorted lightly. Although it didn’t move, Frank O’Malley could still sense its disdain.
"Please, please, please~" Frank O’Malley pressed his palms together, truly yearning for that experience.
Seeing this pathetic display, Ash O’Malley fought the urge to kick his brother. ’The dignified Second Young Master of the O’Malley Family...’
’How can he be so pathetic!’
But thinking that Boss Hart was still watching, he resisted the urge to kick him and settled for slapping the back of his head. "What kind of behavior is that!"
Frank O’Malley managed to straighten up and lower his hands, but he still gazed longingly at the rabbit.
"Fine~" the rabbit doll said with a haughty air.
With that, she lowered her fluffy, grayish-white paw, but she didn’t let it touch the ground, leaving a meter of distance.
Frank O’Malley was about to climb on, but then he thought, ’Her fur is so clean and greyish-white, but my shoes are kind of dirty...’
So he went to Boss Hart and got two plastic bags, which he put over his feet like shoe covers.
Then he deftly scrambled onto the rabbit doll’s paw. It was like a big bed, very soft and fluffy.
There was fur everywhere; Frank O’Malley couldn’t bear to get it dirty.
Then, the paw retracted. Frank O’Malley truly felt like he was flying, and on a giant, flying bed at that!
"Go! Let’s go over there!" Frank O’Malley exclaimed excitedly. The rabbit doll obliged him, suddenly accelerating.
He was almost thrown backward by the inertia, but luckily he managed to grab a tuft of fur just in time to steady himself.
When he realized he had grabbed the rabbit’s fur, he broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly let go before she could notice, not forgetting to give the spot a couple of soothing pats.
Ash O’Malley raised his hand, wanting his foolish little brother to take him along, but the latter didn’t see him at all.
And so he just watched helplessly as one rabbit carrying one person ran off into the distance. He turned and gave Lily Hart an awkward smile.
Lily Hart shrugged nonchalantly and comforted him, "Kids are like that. The moment they find something fun, they forget everything else."
"Yeah..." Ash O’Malley laughed awkwardly again. ’It feels a little weird talking about this with Boss Hart.’
"Come in and have a seat? You can wait for that rich idiot—I mean, Frank O’Malley, haha." Lily Hart laughed, trying to cover her slip-up.
’Whoops, did I say that out loud...?’
Ash O’Malley pretended he didn’t hear. Following Lily Hart’s direction, he went to the RV door, opened it, and stepped inside.
’I’m still a bit dazed. I tried so hard to get on yesterday and couldn’t. How did I just get on so naturally today?’
Before he could dwell on it, he saw five or six types of fresh fruit on the table, all washed and neatly arranged.
Lily Hart said generously, "Help yourself."
’Now that the garden’s been expanded, I can grow pretty much any fruit I like. Stan Sterling brings me a fresh batch every day.’
’I can’t even finish it all...’
Ash O’Malley casually picked up an apple. ’Why doesn’t she seem to care at all? Even the elders of my family are obsessed with these scarce resources.’
’Then again, she has so much... To her, these aren’t scarce at all; they’re practically abundant.’
"Have a seat," Lily Hart offered.
’He’s just standing there like a statue. Like a turtle that only moves when you poke it.’
’He’s like... a well-behaved little kid visiting someone’s house, too polite to eat the nice snacks or sit down without being told.’
Ash O’Malley sat down across from her. The two were silent, but the atmosphere wasn’t awkward.
He searched his mind for a topic and asked, "Boss Hart, how long have you been at Central Command?"
’Good question. I honestly can’t remember... How many days has it been?’
She casually pulled an answer out of thin air, "I don’t remember. It can’t have been ten days, has it? Time’s been a bit of a blur."