Flashback Friday: Buried Alive?!?

Date: Late Springtime sometime in the mid-1980s.  

Place: Edgehill Drive

 I wish I had a picture...but no scanner currently available so we will have do without.  

The grass was green and the dark earth of the flowerbeds were beckoning to be dug under in preparation for the flowers waiting to bloom.  After a day at school, we all headed out into the back yard to enjoy the warm sun that had been missing for so long.  My mother worked in the yard while the rest of us played on the grass.  There were probably four or five of us (my youngest sister probably missed out on our fun) and we decided to get our pet rabbit, Mr. McGregor, out of his cage after a long winter in the garage and let him enjoy the fun in the sun.  Failing to realize that after a long winter spent in a small cage, Mr. McGregor had put on a few pounds, we laughed and hollered as he bounded around the backyard with several children playful (or so we thought) chasing him.  Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks and the most awful, blood-curdling screams...sounds that no one would ever guess could come from a cute, white bunny...filled the air.  After a few seconds that seemed like minutes, the piercing screams gave way to a soft moaning and then he drew in his last breath and died.  We could not believe it:  Mr. McGregor, our bunny, dead of a heart attack caused by overexertion  after a long winter spent getting fat in the garage.  A cousin and uncle living across the street came over to pronounce him dead, gather his remains and help us bury him in the pet cemetery in the orchard behind their home.  We dug a grave and all stood round as we paid Mr. McGregor our final respects.  Imagine our surprise and shock when his little body was placed in the grave and he let out a little squeal.  "He is alive!" we exclaimed. Explaining, that it was merely the leftover air leaving his little lungs, our uncle finished the burial.  We nodded our heads in understanding, but still our hearts wondered as we trudged back home, "Bunny buried alive?!?" I guess we will never know...