....."I give up!" he howled. As his weary, blood-shot eyes met with those of the buzzards high above, he stumbled with all four tired feet and sailed head over tail, right into a clump of thorny cactus. "Yeeow!" he painfully howled.

.....The two rabbits stopped to catch their breath, knowing that they were in no immediate danger.

....."Could you run any slower?" screeched Swifty, the larger of the two. "Can't you at least try and keep up? I'm ashamed to call you brother! If you'd spend half as much time running with us other rabbits, instead of sitting in your burrow reading, then maybe you could be swift and Fast like me!"

.....Pokie, the smaller of the two rabbits, bit his lower lip while adjusting his glasses. He looked down at his two big furry feet and grieved. His brother's words had stung him as hurtful as any bee's sting could have done.

.....Pokie loved to read. He wished that he could be like other rabbits, but he just loved his books too much to put them down and spend his days out on the landscape chasing dust devils.

.....Swifty sped off leaving Pokie behind to catch up. Soon they were in view of their Aunt Pea's Cottage. Every weekend Aunt Pea would bake her famous honey and carrot pies for the two nephews who were her pride and joy. Aunt Pea preferred to live outside the warren.

....."Look!" cried Betty the Bluebird, perched on her limb outside the cottage window. "Here they come!"

.....Aunt Pea looked out on the blinding landscape.

.....Aunt Pea was proud of Swifty because no other rabbit could run as fast. It was Swifty's job to run the messages between all the nearby warrens. If it weren't for Swifty, neither Aunt Pea or anyone else would know what was going on where or with whom. It was important to be informed.

.....Pokie watched in awe as his brother stuffed himself with pie. Pokie had learned to limit himself to only one piece, sometimes maybe two, but never three, or more! He had read all about nutrition.

.....Time passed, and as Pokie and Swifty repeated their weekly visits to Aunt Pea's cottage, Swifty's tummy grew, and grew. It seemed to Pokie that there was no limit to Swifty's appetite. Pokie had begun to notice how sluggish Swifty had become. Others had begun to talk about it too. It was down right embarrassing to Pokie. Lately Pokie had even had to lead Duster Coyote off in another direction, nearly getting caught several times, just to save Swifty's hide.

.....On one particular Sunday evening, Pokie and Swifty left Aunt Pea's Cottage. Swifty, having stuffed himself like a Thanksgiving turkey, seemed especially sluggish. He had eaten over a dozen of Aunt Pea's pies! It was a disgusting thing to watch. Pokie knew he would never make it past Duster Coyote. Luckily for Swifty, Pokie had a plan all figured out. Pokie was a thinker. Tucked within his book bag was the object of his plan. It was in the bag!

.....Off they ran! Soon they were being followed by Duster Coyote. "I'll catch you this day!" he howled. His beady eyes smarted from the dust and sand.

.....Suddenly, Swifty slowed and moaned! "I can't run any further. I am all done in. Go, save yourself!"

.....The coyote was quickly closing the gap between them. Pokie knew it was time to put his plan into action. He stopped, reached into his treasured book bag, and carefully removed one of Aunt Pea's famous honey & carrot Pies that had taken earlier that day from Aunt Pea's windowsill. He placed the pie neatly beside a clump of prickly cactus. Pokie then grabbed his brother's damp furry paw, and they took off running again.

.....The keen eyes of Duster Coyote had missed nothing. Curious to see what the rabbit had left beside the cactus, he stopped to take a look. The rabbits were soon out of sight. "Whatís this?" he said, seeing the tasty looking pie. Then he sniffed it. He gobbled it right down and wished he had another.

.....Back at their warren, safe and secure, Swifty proudly told the others of how his smart little brother had saved his life by outsmarting Duster Coyote. Pokie was a hero.

.....Pokie looked on. His head proudly erect. All was well.

.....Months later, Barney the buzzard watched in fascination at the coyote below. He just sat there, as if he had nothing better to do. Barney figured he'd stick around.

.....Soon two tiny figures appeared in the distance. They were speeding along the dusty surface of the desert, leaving dust trails behind them. One kept running right past the coyote, while the other stopped for only a second to leave something behind on the desert floor.

.....Duster Coyote very slowly sauntered over to where the object was left. He began eating his pie. Life was good these days. Now that he thought of it, though, he had become a little sluggish.