A Shaggy Rabbit Story and Weird Clocks

Demi had a bad day. We took her to her friend Sarah's for a few hours. She had been there for less than an hour when she called us to ask if she could keep a bunny that someone-or-other had given to her. It needed a home. As predicted, Demi's mom was not receptive to this idea at all (the kids already have a dog) and we told her nooooo. "We're sorry the bunny has no home, but no."
By the time we picked up Demi, the situation had changed dramatically. I got the story from Demi, who was extremely upset, while Richard got the story from Sarah's dad (who was also upset in his own special way). Here's a capsule: An East Indian family in Sarah's neighborhood wanted to get rid of a rabbit, so they fobbed if off on Sarah and Demi, cage and all. But first, the little girl who had once owned the bunny wanted to give it a bath because it was filthy. Sarah said it was too cold outside for a rabbit to be soaking wet (she has a rabbit of her own), so the two girls scooped it out of the water and wrapped it in a towel. They wanted to get it back to Sarah's house fast, so the little East Indian girl loaned them a stroller of some kind for the three- or four-block trip. Needless to say, the bunny freaked and hopped out of the stroller as Demi was pushing it, and she accidentally ran over it. Sarah's neighbors saw this happen and rushed over to help. The bunny's back leg appeared to be broken - he couldn't move it. The neighbors explained that it would have to be put down, and took the rabbit to their own house to call the SPCA.
Demi has a major soft spot when it comes to homeless or injured animals, and all of this was rough on her. She felt it was all her fault that the rabbit got hurt. Richard was just peeved that she didn't want to go over the details with him, not realizing that she had told me the whole story and was too upset to go over it all for a third time in less than an hour. I had to sit them both down at the kitchen table when we got home, with orders to talk calmly and listen OR ELSE. (I can be a good ref when necessary.) Anyway, they managed to talk it over quite nicely and everyone calmed down. It came out that Sarah and Demi met the little girl in the park. She was petting the rabbit and asking other kids if they wanted to pet it, too - then she told the girls, "If you like my rabbit, come to my house." There the girl's grandmother (who didn't speak much English) looked on as the little girl handed over the bunny, its cage, and some food with the explanation that her dad didn't want the bunny in the house. She said they'd bought it from a pet store just today, yet it was filthy and underfed. At first she wanted money for it.
I was more pissed at this weird, lying family than at Demi. I assured her, and her mom assured her on the phone, that these things happen. I also told her not to touch strange rabbits that strangers try to dump off on you in the street. It's a good rule of thumb for everyone, really: If someone tries to give you a rodent-like animal for no good reason, politely tell him or her to f*** the hell off.

On a lighter note, all of the clocks in our apartment are behaving weirdly. They work like a charm one day, and go all wonky the next! The alarm clock worked this morning; now it's dead. The cuckoo clock hasn't worked since we moved in, but it suddenly kicked into life for no apparent reason just an hour ago. WTF???? We just bought three identical Ikea clocks and set them for Greenwich time, Taipei time (Richard's oldest son lives there), and our time. What will happen...? Stay tuned for The Mystery of the Funky-ass Clocks...