HAPPY SUNDAY
Luke nibbled a piece of grass and held his ears up straight to catch the warm sunshine. His sister, Lilly, was taking a nap, but he was too excited to sleep. It was almost Easter, and that meant it was almost their birthday.
How could anyone sleep when two wonderful things were going to happen so soon?
Of course, his dreams were wonderful too, so sleep was good for something.
The more he thought about his dreams, the more he just couldn’t sit still. He hopped in a circle around his people’s big garden, then he hopped in straight lines. He wanted to be able to fly the way he did in his dreams.
“What are you doing?” His sister opened one eye. “Did you have one of those dreams again?”
“I did! And it felt so real, even more real than the last time.”
Lilly smiled. “And the time before that and the time before that?”
“I know you think my dreams are silly, but they do seem more real every time.”
His sister sat up and rubbed her front paws over her ears. “I don’t think they’re silly,” she said. “I just think you have to be careful not to believe them. Tomorrow is our first birthday. We’re grown-up rabbits now.”
Luke sighed. “I know. They’re just dreams, but it would be so great if they were true.”
“What’s great,” Lilly said, “is that we have children who love us, a nice fence so that bad animals can’t come into the garden and a bunny house for when it’s rainy or cold.”
“That’s all true,” said a very soft voice, “but Luke’s dreams are special.”
Lilly jumped up and looked all around her. “Who was that? I can’t see anyone!”
Luke sat very still. “I know who it is,” he whispered. “It’s the Easter Bunny.”
“Oh dear,” Lilly said. “You do believe your dreams. It’s not Easter yet, and besides, the Easter Bunny isn’t real.”
“Yes, I am,” the voice said, “and I’m right here.”
A spot between them and the fence became brighter, then so bright they couldn’t look at it. Then there was a rabbit where the light had been, a huge rabbit with blue eyes and a pink nose. He was wearing a vest that matched his nose. When he stood up on his hind legs, he was taller than a human. “Believe now, Lilly?” he said.
“Oh, my,” Lilly said. “Oh! Really? Really real? Oh!”
“She believes now,” Luke said.
“Good,” the Easter Bunny said, “then she might be able to help.”
“Help? How? With what?” Lilly’s nose wiggled.
“Help Luke,” the Easter Bunny said. “Help him get ready. Help him hide that he’s gone.”
“Gone?” Luke said. “Where am I going? Will I come back?”
The Easter Bunny smiled. “What do you do in your dreams, Luke?”
Luke could feel his ears getting warm all by themselves. His voice was very soft when he
answered. “I fly…”
“And what else?”
“I take Easter baskets and candy and sometimes presents, to children.”
“So, you dream that you’re the Easter Bunny.”
Luke looked at the ground. “I’m sorry.”
“Nonsense, Luke! You have those dreams because you believe. Because you believe, you’ve
been chosen to be an assistant Easter Bunny.”
Luke couldn’t say anything. Lilly hopped in a circle. “What’s that? What does he have to do?
How can I help?”
The Easter Bunny sat down. He was still so big that Luke and Lilly had to look up to see his face. “The Easter Bunny delivers treats to children all over the world, but I don’t have a magical sleigh and reindeer like my friend Santa Claus.”
Lilly’s eyes widened into shiny brown circles. “You know Santa?”
“Of course.” He smiled at her. “So, even though not all the children in the world celebrate Easter, it’s too much for one Bunny to do. Every year, I choose a few young rabbits who have dreams like yours, Luke, to help me. Do you want to be my assistant this year?”
“I do! But it’s almost Easter and I don’t really know anything about being an assistant Easter Bunny. What if I make mistakes and miss children I should visit?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll explain it to you, and magic will do the rest.” He held out a very large paw. “Agreed?”
“Yes!” Luke patted the Easter Bunny’s paw and realized how small his own paw was. “I’m not very big,” he said. “Will I be able to carry things for the children?”
“Good, Luke! You’re already thinking like an Easter Bunny! I’ll explain in a minute. First, I’ll tell Lilly how she can help.”
“How? How? What can I do? I want to be an assistant for the assistant Easter Bunny!”
“First, you have to make sure Luke gets a lot of rest for the next two days. No running games. Lots of naps. That will be harder than it sounds. It’s hard to rest when you’re waiting for Easter Eve to come. The other thing is hiding that he’s gone so that your family doesn’t worry.”
“How do I do that?”
“Luke has a brown spot on his right side; your fur is all white. In the evening, after he leaves, hop around the garden as you are, then put a little damp soil on your side and let your people see that before it gets dark.”
“So I pretend to be Luke?”
“Exactly.”
Lilly looked back at her soft white fur. “With MUD?”
The Easter Bunny laughed. “I won’t be here to do it with magic, and mud is easier. Of course if you don’t want to help…”
Lilly sighed. “I want to help, and I don’t want my people to worry about Luke. I’ll do it.”
“Wonderful! Thank you, Lilly.” The Easter Bunny turned to Luke. “Now, it’s time for the magic. First, don’t worry about being small; on Easter Eve, you’ll be as big as I am – just for one night – and your sack of baskets and treats will keep refilling as you go. There are a few rules…”
Luke was still his usual size when he used Easter Bunny magic to fly over the garden fence.
“Wow!” Lilly said. “That was so great! I wish I could do that.”
“I wish I still could after tonight, but I’d probably get in trouble with wild animals.”
“Won’t you have trouble tonight?”
“Tonight, I have magic to protect me. And I’ll be much bigger soon. I can feel myself growing
already.”
Lilly put her paws on the fence. “Just be careful.”
“I will. Thank you for putting mud on your fur to pretend to be me.”
“That’s not anything compared to zooming all over the world!”
“Only part of the world. There are quite a few assistant Easter Bunnies.”
“Any part of the world is a lot. You’d better go. You have to pick up your magic sack and everything.”
“Right. See you in the morning.” Luke looked back as he hopped away. Lilly was waving. He tried not to be afraid. He really wanted to be the best assistant Easter Bunny ever, but Lilly was right. Compared to his people’s yard and garden, even a small part of the world really was a lot.
Flying was even more fun than it was in his dreams. It rained in two of the towns he visited , but magic kept him and the sack of Easter treats dry.
Every house where children celebrated Easter had a magic light on the roof that only he could see. In buildings where a lot of families lived, the doors inside had magic lights too.
Sometimes he left baskets at doors, sometimes he used magic to go inside and hide candy for the children to find.
He left chocolate bunnies and eggs wrapped in foil, marshmallow chickens and soft plush toys.
And lots and lots of jellybeans.
Many times, Luke was afraid that the sack wouldn’t have enough for everyone, but there was always more when he reached inside.
He flew and he hopped and he flew again. There were so many children and the night was so short! One more town and he would be finished with his part of the world. He had to hurry, the sky was starting to brighten in the East. Soon it would be dawn.
Two more houses with magic lights, one more.
Done! Time to go home and be just ordinary bunny Luke again. He took off from the last house and flew over houses without magic lights. One house had a garden that reminded him of his people’s yard.
In the yard, looking up, was a little girl.
He was so surprised, he nearly fell out of the sky. Children weren’t supposed to see him. Maybe she didn’t see him; maybe she was looking at the pretty dawn light.
She waved.
Oh, oh. Would the Easter Bunny be angry? That was one of the rules. Don’t let children see you.
She waved again. With both arms.
Luke didn’t know what to do. She wasn’t supposed to see him and her house didn’t have a light. Everything was WRONG. What would the Always Easter Bunny do?
He flew in a circle around her yard. He couldn’t just fly away, that would be rude. She might even cry. He couldn’t make her cry.
He landed, very softly, in front of her.
“Uh, hello,” he said. He didn’t know if she spoke rabbit, but the magic must have worked for words too, because she said “Hello” back.
“Are you the Easter Bunny?”
“Um… Sort of. I’m an assistant.”
“My family doesn’t celebrate Easter.” She looked down at her bedroom slippers. They were getting damp from the dew on the grass. “Are you angry at me?”
Luke patted her shoulder. Even though she was a little girl, he had to reach up to do it. He was very slowly shrinking back to his normal size. “Of course not. Why would you think I was angry?”
“You never leave a basket for me.”
Luke didn’t know what to say. “Well… The Easter Bunny and his assistants only leave baskets and other things for children who celebrate Easter. It’s not because we’re angry, it’s just that the Easter Bunny and Easter sort of go together.”
The little girl looked like she might start to cry after all. Luke had to say something to make her feel better. “Do you and your family celebrate other holidays where everyone gets together and has good things to eat and maybe give each other presents?”
She nodded and he went on. “Those holidays are special for you, right? Just as special as Easter is for other children?”
“I guess so, but we don’t have a bunny.”
“Hmm…” Luke said, and picked up his magic sack. It was empty after the last magic light house he had visited. He hoped there was just enough magic left. He held his breath and reached inside. Yes! His paw felt something soft in a corner. He pulled out a small plush rabbit. It wasn’t dressed like the Easter Bunny, it was white and had a brown spot on one side.
“It looks just like you!” she said.
Luke laughed and gave her the toy. “Now you have a bunny. You don’t have to call it an Easter bunny, it can be any kind of bunny you like.”
“Thank you!” She hugged him. The tips of his ears didn’t even reach her chin. He was shrinking fast now.
“It’s almost morning,” he said. “I have to go,” He tried to fly, but that magic wasn’t strong enough anymore. He hopped to the edge of the little girl’s yard and turned to wave. He wanted to say “Happy Easter!” but that didn’t seem right. “Happy Sunday!” he called.
She waved with one arm and hugged her un-Easter bunny with the other. “Happy Sunday!”
Luke had just enough magic left to hop, jump, fly over the fence around his own yard. Lilly was waiting for him and so was the Easter Bunny.
Oh, oh! he thought. I must be in trouble.
“Good morning, Luke,” the Easter Bunny said. “Did you enjoy your journey?”
“Yes, Sir.” Luke’s voice was very soft. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Wrong?”
“The last house. The little girl who didn’t celebrate Easter. She saw me and I gave her a plush rabbit.”
“Luke,” the Easter Bunny sat down so he was closer to Luke’s size. “why would you think that
was wrong?”
“Her house didn’t have a magic light, and children weren’t supposed to see me.”
“Both correct, but accidents like that happen from time to time and you did everything
perfectly.”
“I did?”
“You did. You made a sad little girl happy; what could possibly be wrong with that?” The Easter
Bunny wiggled an ear. “As a matter of fact, I came early to ask if you would like to help me train assistants next year.”
“Me?”
“As I said, accidents happen, and do you know what most assistants do? They run away, or
worse, say something unkind. I want you to help make sure that doesn’t happen. You are the
perfect bunny for the job.”
“I… Thank you!”
The Easter bunny smiled. “I’ll be in touch before Easter next year. I’m counting on you, Luke.”
He was gone. Luke rubbed his eyes. “Did you see that?” he asked Lilly. “Was that all real?”
“Really real as real can be!” Lilly said. “Can I be the assistant to the assistant again next year? Can I?”
“Of course you can.” He yawned. “If I take a nap, would you wake me up when our people come outside to hunt for Easter eggs?”
“Absolutely for sure! But…”
“But what?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Before you go to sleep, could you help me rub the brown mud spot from my fur?”
