Follow Jax the rabbit through a harrowing journey of anxiety and hallucination at an old campground. When the terrifying shadows of his peers close in, a moment of panic leads to unexpected reality, and a true friend helps him find his way back to calm.
Write me a middle school style chapter book about a rabbit named Jax who lives in an old campground. The story begins in a black void, where we see horrifying shadows that resemble some of the other characters in this story: Grace the fawn, Luna the wolf, Chestnut the Clydesdale, Butterscotch the filly, Frost the lynx, and Poppy the fox. They are all circling Jax and laughing at him. Jax, who's trembling, curls into a ball on the floor as the laughter grows louder. Suddenly, the shadow of Chestnut grips Jax's ears in his teeth, yanking the struggling rabbit closer. In perfect unison, Frost and Luna's shadows leap out and begins to peel away Jax's fur with their razor-sharp claws until there's nothing left on Jax's body but scraps of fur and pale pink skin. Everyone's still laughing at Jax as he yells at them to stop. Butterscotch's shadow now slowly approaches the rabbit, and she reaches out her hoof towards him. Jax stares at the filly and, screaming at her to leave him be, lashes out with his hind legs, striking her square in the nose. At his sudden attack, the scene swaps from the black void to the old campsite where Jax lives. All of the other animals are there, but are no longer laughing at Jax, as we realize that up until now, everything that happened was all just a hallucination. As Jax gasps for air and frantically looks at his fur, which is back on his body, we see that Butterscotch is laying in the grass, rubbing her bruised snout with a single hoof. Jax, who is now about to have a full-on panic attack, runs off into the trees, the evil laughter ringing in his ears. He could still feel Chestnut's teeth and Frost and Luna's claws digging into his skin. Eventually, Jax accidentally rams his head into an old willow tree that lays in a clearing. He collapses into the sandy floor, hyperventilating and trembling. The clearing slowly begins to distort and morph into the black void again, and the shadows of the other animals emerge from the darkness, laughing and smiling. As Jax cries out in fear, we hear someone call his name. Jax whips his head around to see Poppy the fox staring at him. Jax is hyperventilating too hard to be able to talk, and he gasps for air as he claws at his fur in a panicked manner. Poppy hesitates for a moment, seeing the rabbit in such a frenzy, but eventually settles down next to Jax. Jax jumps at the sudden feeling of fur against his side, his panic rising as the laughter deafens his ears. After a split second, Poppy wraps her tail around Jax's shoulders, ignoring his cries. Seeing that Jax is practically gasping for air, she slowly tells him to try and take a few deep breaths. Jax doesn't seem to hear her at first, but eventually he does try to take a deep breath, but between the laughter in his mind and the panic throbbing in his veins, his own breathing sounded...wrong. Seeing that Jax is struggling, Poppy tells him to look at her. Jax turns towards Poppy, ashamed and embarrassed that he was failing at one of the most simple things in life. He stammers that he just can't do this, that the laughter won't stop, but Poppy quiets him down with a flick of her ears. She tells him that it doesn't have to be perfect, he just needs to try. So, attempting to tune out the laughter, Jax takes a few more deep breaths, focusing on each inhale and every exhale. Poppy helps guide him through his breathing. Eventually, Poppy tells Jax, who has snuggled up close to her chest, to relax his body and listen to her heartbeat. Jax perks his ears up, focusing on the soft beat. Eventually, after he'd fully calmed down, Jax turns to Poppy, thanking her for helping him. She just smiles at him, saying that she's always liked helping him no matter what happens.
