While Big Bunny visited the garden, she wondered about Easter. What was Easter? She knew that today was very special. The family was happy. The children had eaten candy before breakfast. The kitchen smelled like hyacinths and pancakes. Big Bunny had shared a carrot with her hutchmate. After breakfast the family had put on special clothes and shoes which tapped on the kitchen floorboards. The man had pinned a corsage on his wife's spring coat, and the family had rushed out in a big flurry to get to church on time. Later she had heard squeals and laughter while the children hunted Easter eggs in the garden.
Now it was the quiet afternoon and the Easter egg hunt was over. Big Bunny was curious. What was Easter? She hoped to find some of the eggs. Maybe then she would know what Easter was all about. She looked here,
she looked there,
she looked everywhere.
She didn't find any Easter eggs, whatever they were,
but she found forsythia,
she found scilla,
and she found daffodils.
It all looked so good and smelled wonderful. Is that what Easter is? she wondered.
She wasn't ready to go in when she heard the girl calling her.
She hid for a moment, pretending to be a wild bunny.
But the girl called her encouragingly, and Big Bunny pricked up her ears. She couldn't resist that voice.
She hopped home.The girl held her securely. The bunny's nose wiggled as she smelled the sugary girl. Was Easter the candy, the special breakfast, the pretty clothes? Was Easter the mysterious Easter eggs? Or was it something else, that something else which Big Bunny just barely sensed, the very cause of the whole celebration?
She still didn't know what Easter was, but she felt that it was something very special. It was the excitement in the family. It was the cool fresh air, the green things coming up everywhere in the garden, the flowers, which the people had waited so many months to see, and the feeling of the girl wrapping her arms around Big Bunny, holding her close in such a way that she knew she was loved.Copyright 2010 Beth Curtin.
