It was dark under the bed, and quiet, except for little sneezes. They had trouble breathing in the growing crowd. More and more dust bunnies were moving in. Their ears were so droopy that they looked like solid fluff balls. Most were quite content to stay in dark corners, but not Dusty. He said to himself, “I want to get out and see the world, but I don’t know the way.”

As he thought about this, he could hear Nicole’s mother saying, ‘’When you clean your room, be sure to get in the corners. I especially don’t want to see any dust under your bed.”

‘’Yes, Mom, “ Nicole said, as Mother left her alone. At least she thought she was alone—until she heard a noise under the bed. Being very curious, she looked. There was a little dust bunny hopping around, sneezing, with his long ears flopping over his eyes. Their eyes met. Nicole squealed with delight. The dust bunny ran, terrified, to the darkest corner.

“Come out and play with me,” Nicole called. The dust bunny sat quietly in fear. Nicole got the dust mop, pushed it across the floor and under the bed. Dusty hopped on it, and so did his friends so they wouldn’t get squished. Nicole pulled the mop back from under the bed and reached for the soft, fluffy dust bunny. Picking him up, she asked, ‘’What’s your name?”

‘’My friends call me Dusty,” he said.

‘’How did you get here?” asked Nicole. “I didn’t see you last week.”

‘’I can’t tell you. It’s the dust bunny secret,” he said.

Then Nicole heard Mother call, “Are you finished dusting your room?”

“Almost done,” answered Nicole, as she headed for the outside door. She put Dusty back on the dust mop, opened the door, stuck the mop out, and gave it a good shake. Dusty hopped off, along with all the other bunnies, who floated along on the gentle breeze.

Nicole heard Dusty say, ‘’I’m free at last to explore the world. “