“Your classes have been selected for a government sanctioned culling.” The principal delivered the news that morning, sat in front of the three teachers who would be tasked with delivering the hard news to the children. Their school was one of two in the county that exclusively admitted bunnies. So it was common for them to be the states first stop when the local bunny population was becoming too large.

“And..will we also be…?” Mrs Rosie, the 7th grade teacher, didn’t finish the question but she didn’t have to. The principal gave a nod.

“Yes, but only after your students have been taken care of. Make sure they stay calm and follow the soldiers commands”

“Do we have to call the parents?” came the kindergarten teacher, Ms. Ray’s question.

“The office will take care of notifying the parents. But it’s up to you three to inform your students in whatever way you see fit”

Ms. Maple, who taught the 3rd graders, raised her hand.

“What time will they be starting?”

“After the lunch period your classes will be called down one at a time. Make sure they’re ready when called for.” With that the principal sent the three back to their classrooms

~~~

When Ms. Maple reached the door she saw an armored canine soldier stationed in front. . His face was covered and he held a heavy looking gun. She watched his ear twitch as he heard her footsteps. She waved at him and received a stiff nod in response.

The noisy classroom only grew more so when she entered. The children had seen the soldiers coming and going from the gymnasium, and they all rushed her with questions when they saw her.

“Why are the soldiers here?”

“Is there gonna be a war?”

“Who’s that?”

“I wanna gun!”

“Who are they fighting?

“Bang bang!”

“Children, children, quiet down!” Ms Maple had to shout just to have a chance of being heard. The ones who didn’t get the memo were quickly shushed by the others. “We have a very special lesson today that will explain everything. Everyone back to your seats so I can take attendance.”

With order somewhat restored Ms Maple did her usual roll call, checking off names one by one. Everyone was present thankfully. But all were practically vibrating in their seats, waiting for her to explain the soldiers' presence

“Alright students, I know you’ve all seen the soldiers here in the school. Today is going to be a very exciting day, and no, we aren’t fighting a war in the gym.” The student who had originally asked that visibly deflated, suddenly losing all interest in the lesson.

Ms. Maple took a deep breath. “The soldiers are here today to help with culling the bunny population. Does anyone here know what culling means?” Noses twitched as each student tried and failed to come up with the answer. She was about to continue when Sarah nervously raised her hand.

“Um..my neighbor says it means bunny meat gets cheaper.”

Ms Maple smiled at her. “Yes, that is certainly something that will happen because of the culling. But culling is something they do when there are too many bunnies.” Ms Maple turned to her whiteboard, hastily drawing a handful of bunny-like shapes. “Too many bunnies eat too much food. Which means everyone goes hungry.”

She grabbed the eraser. “When this happens the government steps in and takes a few bunnies away to become meat.” She erased a couple of the figures on the board. “This means more food for everyone, prey and predators”

“So the soldiers are here to turn bunnies into food?”

“That’s right Tommy, good job”

“So why is there a soldier standing outside your door Ms Maple?”

“Well Vivi, our class is one of the ones they’ll be culling today.”

A new silence settled over the class. Noses began twitching, this time from fear.

“They’re gonna turn us into meat?”

“Are we gonna die?”

“Are we dying right now?”

More frantic questions bombarded Ms Maple. She waved her hands signalling the students to quiet down. There were a few tearful gasps around the room. Sarah’s lip was trembling. Ms Maple sighed internally. This was the hard part. Her class was in that age range where death wasn’t a foreign concept to them, but they had not yet been desensitized to it.

“Yes, we will be dying today, no it’s not happening right now”

At this Sarah full on started crying. Ms Maple hurried over, gently shooshing her and rubbing circles into her back.

“Sweetie what’s wrong?”

Sarah spoke between sobs, “I’m scaaarred”. Ms Maple could see a few other students were spiraling.

“There’s nothing to be scared of. I promise it will be over before you know it. It's just like going to sleep” Fat tears rolled down Sarah’s cheeks, her nose twitching furiously. Ms Maple could hear a few other students crying. “It’s okay it’s okay.” She was losing control. Her gaze drifted to the door. She could see the soldier standing outside with his back to them. With only a few hours left to live what harm could asking a question do?

She left Sarah for a moment, cracking open the door. “Excuse me?” The soldier turned at the sound of her voice. “I’m sorry to bother you. I think the children would be excited to meet you. Would you..care too much to come in and talk with them for a bit?” He was silent for a beat. Ms Maple had no way of knowing what expression he was making.

“Uh…sure?”

~~~

Soon the children were crowding around the soldier. Dave was the name he gave them. Well the name they had gotten when the children asked was, “ummmmm…..dddavve…Dave” Despite his intimidating appearance he was surprisingly awkward, but easily took cues from Ms Maple when the children asked a hard question.

“Will it hurt?”

“I don’t reall–..nno. It won’t hurt.”

One student pointed to his gun, “Is that how you’re gonna do it?”

“Oh this? Nah only if you try to– Uh, this gun is only for the bad bunnies.”

“Do you like bunny meat?”

“I. Love. Bunny meat.”

“Will you eat us?”

“Maybe”

Ms Maple caught sight of the clock. She clapped to grab everyone's attention. “Speaking of food, it's time for lunch!”


~~~


Lunch passed without incident. The children said goodbye to their friends. Now they were back in their classroom, waiting to be called. Ms Maple saw no reason to continue with lessons and so declared it a free period. She walked through the rows of desks watching the students enjoying their final moments. When she came to Sarah's desk the girl was hunched over a paper, scribbling away.

“Oh Sarah, what are you drawing there?”

Sarah looked up and, seeing Ms Maple, pulled away from the paper to show her. “Not drawing. It’s a will.”

So it was. Written in crayon. Detailing who would get what. Next to her brother's name was a large “Nothing”, underlined multiple times with an angry face. Tommy spoke up from a few desks away. “You can’t have a will. Those are for old people!”

“Actually”, Ms Maple cut in before an argument could start, “I think that’s a great idea. Everyone! Sarah just gave me a fun idea. Why don’t we all write letters to our families? I’m sure they’d love that.”

Soon everyone had their notebooks out. Writing, drawing, whatever they wanted to put down on the paper. As the children were working a loud bang could be heard. Followed soon after by another, and another. Everyone’s ears twitched and turned. The writing came to a pause.

“What’s that?”

“That must be Ms Ray’s class. Just ignore it. Focus on finishing your letters okay?”

Most of the children listened but some migrated to the window. Trying to see where the sound was coming from. Ms Maple found herself counting the gunshots as a timer. If she was remembering the class size right there should be three more students and then Ms Ray left.

Bang.

Two more students and then Ms Ray.

“Alright children. I think they’ll be calling us soon. Finish up your letters quickly and put them in your cubby so your parents can collect them.”

As the last few children were finishing their letters Dave opened the door. “Time to go”

~~~

They were led out single file to the field behind the school. Several more canines dressed in similar gear were there. Some were moving the bodies of Ms Ray and her students into reefer trucks. A few simply stood guard.

One was waiting next to a patch of grass with a line of bloody splotches trailing across. The man was cleaning his gun and nodded to Dave and Ms Maple as they approached.

“Classroom 105 sir, all present and accounted for.”

“Good. Let’s get this over with quickly.” He turned to look at Ms Maple, at least she had to assume he was. “We’ll have you and your students strip.” He gestured to a pile of clothes under a tent. “Then line them up here.”

“Of course.” Ms Maple led the students to discard their clothing where the man indicated. She helped out with buttons and zippers where it was needed. Once all the students were done she pulled off her own clothing.

“Ms Maple i’m chilly”

“It’s just the breeze sweetie. It’ll feel warmer once we’re in the sunshine.”

One by one the class lined up in front of the man. Some hiding behind others were quickly pulled away and made to stand next to each other. One of the girls was blushing, trying to cover herself up as best as she could.

They were instructed to kneel down on the grass and look forward. Ms Maple heard the first gunshot and saw Vivi fall face first into the grass. Another. Then another.

Her ears followed the sound of a hiccup, then a sob. She glanced over just enough to see Sarah had started crying again. Ms Maple couldn’t hold her now. There wasn’t much she could do but give useless words of comfort. Sarah was sobbing in full earnest now, deaf to any attempts to console her. She was abruptly cut off mid wail with a bang and her tear streaked face hit the dirt.

“Ms Maple I gotta go potty!”

“You can go on the grass Piper, it’ll be fine.”

“In front of everyone? That’s gross!”

The problem thankfully solved itself when the man reached Piper. With another bang she slumped forward, her bladder releasing of its own accord.

“Ewww. Piper just peed herself~”

“Be nice” Ms Maple scolded gently, “A lot of people pee when they die”

“Not me, I'm not gonna–” Bang. The child who’d been making fun of Piper was gone, and unsurprisingly peed themselves as they lay dead.

There were two children left now.

“Five little bunnies sittin in the shed. Axe goes chop and one is dead” Lillie had begun singing the children's rhyme not long into the process. She was so focused on it that she didn’t notice when it was her turn. “Four little bunnies sittin in the shed. Axe goes—” Her voice died away with a breathy squeak as the bullet tore through her skull.

Now there was one little boy left next to her. He looked up, wide eyed and twitchy nosed.

“It’s just like going to sleep?”

Ms Maple nodded, “Just like going to sleep”

“Okay…Goodnight Ms Maple.” With a final bang her last student was dead.

The man stepped behind her and she could feel the cold metal pressing against her head. “Goodnight..”