The doctor told the boy's parents he needed to go away to the seaside to get better. On the day he left, the boy placed the rabbit under their favorite tree in the woods.
"I want you to remember all the wonderful times we had together, Bunny," said the boy sadly.
When the boy went away, the rabbit became very sad. He became so sad that he began to cry. A real tear slid down his velveteen cheek and fell to the ground.
Suddenly a flower had grown out of the place where the rabbit's tear had fallen. Its white petals opened, and out stepped a beautiful fairy.
"Do not cry," said the fairy. "I am the fairy of nursery magic. When toys have been loved by a child as much as the boy loved you, I make them real." And with that , she kissed the velveteen rabbit.
Suddnely the rabbit's nose began to itch. Without thinking, he scratched it with his back leg. "I can move!" he cried.
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