Coloured Egg Catastrophe
It’s chocolate egg hunting season, and it’s up to Carrie and Connor to save their town from the evil bunnies residing within.
“Wake up, Connor!” Carrie screamed, banging her tiny fists against her twin brother’s bedroom door. “It’s easter!”
Carrie pressed her ear against the wooden door, squinting her eyes as she focused on detecting any sounds of movement from the other end of the door, before the door was pulled open abruptly, and she stumbled forward. Connor, her brother, was glowering at her with one eye, while the other was being lethargically rubbed by his tiny fingers.
“Carrie, I’m sleepy.” He grumbled grumpily, but Carrie latched her grip onto her brother’s wrist and yanked him forwards, dragging him with her towards their stairs.
“You won’t be sleepy for long!” She promised. “It’s easter – and you know what that means!”
Connor’s annoyance dissipated when he put two and two together. “Egg hunting!”
“Egg hunting!” Carrie confirmed as the two siblings entered the kitchen, where their mother stood, her back facing them while she hummed a soft tune to herself and flipping a pancake over on the stovetop.
“Good morning, mummy!” Carrie greeted her mother eagerly, while Connor very quietly slipped himself onto a chair by the kitchen table, his tiny legs struggling slightly to hoist himself up on the chair, but eventually succeeding.
The mother turned, a bright grin adorning her face as she leaned forward and placed an affectionate kiss onto her daughter’s cheek. “Good morning, my little one.”
Her gaze instantly clocked her son sat on the chair, his vision resting outside through the backdoor’s glass window facing the back garden, and she smiled.
“Good morning, little man.”
Connor diverted his sight to his mother and he smiled while his sister approached him to have a seat.
“Morning, mummy.”
“Who wants pancakes, then?”
“Me! Me!” The children eagerly bounced in their seats while the mother laughed softly to herself, placing two plates of pancakes in front of her children, drizzling maple syrup on top, and sprinkling sugar powder over it and blueberries dotting the pancakes artfully.
“This is a magical pancake.” Carrie declared, picking up the top pancake with her fingers that were now sticky from the maple syrup dripping across her tiny hands and taking a bite.
Connor rolled his eyes, cutting a piece of his pancake with his fork while their mother took a seat next to them. “Not everything has to be magical, Carrie.”
The mother observed her children lovingly. She was so fond of them both, and was so fascinated by how despite being twins, their personalities and mannerisms couldn’t be more different. Carrie was whimsical; she climbed trees in search of fairies, dug the earth in their back garden for hiding trolls, uncapped mushrooms for gnomes, and wholeheartedly believed in Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and definitely the Easter Bunny.
Connor was an opposing character. He was very practical; a rational boy who calculated things before acting out, and liked to read the newspaper with his grandfather on Sunday mornings over a cup of tea. He did not know how to read yet, but he made his grandfather read the paper for him. He told his mother once that when he grows older, he would like to pursue a career in medicine to help sick people.
And she adored both of them infinitely and equally.
Carrie stuck her tongue out to lick the maple syrup coating the corner of her mouth, entirely ignoring her brother’s comment, and picked up a blueberry and popped it into her mouth.
“Mummy, are we hunting chocolate eggs after breakfast?”
The mother nodded as she sipped on her coffee, and pointed a slender finger towards the kitchen counter, where two little baskets sat.
“Of course you both are, so make sure you finish all your breakfast so you can go.”
“I’m only going to hunt for chocolate eggs so I don’t leave my sister alone, mummy.” Connor decided firmly, and the mother resisted the urge to laugh.
He behaved as though he was too mature for a chocolate eggs hunt, but the excited glint in his eyes told her otherwise.
“Of course, Connor.” She replied instead. “Thank you for taking such good care of your sister.”
Connor straightened his back satisfactorily, feeling rather proud of himself for getting praised by his mother, before cutting another piece of the pancake and eating it.
After breakfast, Carrie and Connor ran out into the back garden, their baskets gripped tightly in their small hands as they giggled with each other, ready for an exciting game of finding the hidden chocolate eggs that the Easter Bunny left for them.
Connor was searching in one of the bushes, when Carrie’s ears perked up at the sound of rustling leaves behind her. She swivelled round swiftly, narrowing her eyes at the bush behind her, before she spotted a pair of long ears that quickly vanished in the greenery. Carrie gasped, yelling, “CONNOR! I SAW THE EASTER BUNNY!”
“You what?!” Connor turned to look at his sister, his face scrunched up in confusion.
“He was right there!” She pointed at the bushes. “I saw his ears!”
“Maybe it’s just a regular bunny, Carrie.” Connor reasoned as he approached her.
“No it was not.” Carrie insisted. “It was the Easter Bunny. Come on, we need to find him.”
Connor pouted and gazed longingly at the bush he was inspecting mere moments ago. “But … the chocolate eggs …” He whined, but Carrie was already diving into the bushes in search of the Easter Bunny.
“Show yourself to us, Easter Bunny!” She exclaimed. “I promise we’re nice people!”
Connor sighed resignedly, and joined her. “Yes, we are very nice.”
Carrie squealed suddenly, alerting her brother, whose eyes widened in fright and pulled his sister back from the bushes, the two of them stumbling backwards and falling onto the grass, their baskets flying off.
“I – I saw him!” She spluttered. “He was right there!”
When the bushes rustled again, Connor gulped, terrified, and held onto his sister’s arm, whispering, “I think we should go inside.”
“No, he won’t hurt us! It’s the Easter Bunny!” Carrie reassured her brother, and soon enough, a rabbit hopped into view, twitching its nose and ruffling its ears as it set its eyes on the twins.
Connor blinked at it indifferently. “That’s a normal rabbit.”
“Who are you calling a normal rabbit?” The bunny retorted sassily, and Connor screeched, backing up and away from the rabbit while his sister laughed delightedly.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Easter Bunny.” She greeted him happily. “I’m Carrie, and this is my brother, Connor. Please forgive him for calling you normal, he really didn’t mean to!”
The bunny bowed its head in acknowledgment and forgiveness. “That’s quite alright, little one. I’m afraid I’ve come bearing some sad news.”
Carrie frowned at the announcement, not paying attention to Connor, who was still too stunned to speak a word when he just realised that the rabbit was actually speaking.
“What’s wrong?” Carrie asked curiously and in concern.
The Easter Bunny sighed. “My rabbits have gone out of control! They’ve eaten the chocolate eggs I’ve set around the town and now they’ve turned into evil rabbits!”
“What?” Connor squeaked behind Carrie. “Evil bunnies?”
Carrie glanced back at her brother whose face paled considerably.
“How can bunnies turn evil after eating chocolate eggs?” Carrie tilted her head.
The Bunny tapped his foot against the the grass stressfully. “Bunnies are not supposed to eat chocolate eggs. They’re meant to place them for the children to find and enjoy!”
“What can we do to help, Mr. Easter Bunny?” Carrie asked determinedly, and Connor made a noise of objection.
“Help?” He shot his sister a look of sheer disbelief.
“The Bunnies will turn back to normal if you can find them and demand a chocolate egg!” The Easter Bunny revealed. “Tell them you demand a chocolate egg, and they will be back to their normal selves!”
“We’ll help you, Easter Bunny!” Carrie decided, and Connor hid his face in his hands anxiously.
“Thank you so much!” The Easter Bunny’s eyes lit up excitedly. “You will be saving Easter, little ones!”
Carrie turned to Connor with a bright grin on her face. “Come on, Connor! We’ve got bunnies to find!”
“Carrie, this is so weird!” Connor cried out. “First we find a talking bunny and then he tells us to go find other bunnies to save Easter?”
“Are you questioning the Easter Bunny?” She placed her hands on her hips. “Connor, this is out moment to be heroes! You’ve got to be brave!”
Connor sniffled, and lifted his head when he heard a sudden thud in the distance, alerting Carrie as well, who whispered, “I think it’s an Evil Bunny.”
Connor’s breath hitched in his throat, before a bunny made an entrance into their back garden and hopped its way towards them.
“Carrie!” Connor gasped, ready to make a run for it, but Carrie stopped him.
“Face the bunny, brother!” She encouraged him, and Connor turned again to face the fast approaching bunny.
He squeezed his eyes shut and screamed “I DEMAND A CHOCOLATE EGG!”, before the bunny stopped in its tracks and it spoke, “Thank you for saving me!”
Connor’s eyes snapped open and he eyed the bunny uncertainly, which pulled out a pink chocolate egg from its magical bag and handed it to Connor in gratitude.
Connor wordlessly glanced to Carrie, who smiled at him a toothy grin, her bottom two milk teeth missing.
“I told you!” She laughed. “Let’s go find the rest of the bunnies!”
Connor finally relaxed, and he carefully placed the egg into his toppled over basket on the ground, before he giggled and scoured the back garden with his sister, the two of them laughing.
From the window of their home, their mother stood watching them with the brightest smile possible. She felt her husband stand next to her, peering outside at their children.
“Carrie seems to have finally gotten Connor to enjoy chocolate egg hunting, hmm?” He asked her amusedly, and the mother laughed.
“Yes, all he needed was an encouraging nudge from his sister.”
“They’re two sides of the same coin, they are.”
“Indeed they are.” The mother turned to face the father. “Apparently they’re demanding chocolate eggs from imaginary easter bunnies so they are not evil anymore, and in exchange they get a chocolate egg from each saved bunny.”
The father laughed lightly. “I’m guessing that’s Carrie’s imagination talking?”
“And she got Connor on board.” The mother grinned. “Would you like some hot chocolate while we watch them?”
“Yes, please!”
Two hours later, Carrie and Connie’s baskets were full of chocolate eggs, the bunnies were saved, and so was their town, according to the twins, and the parents couldn’t be more proud of them, for Carrie for maintaining her youthful imagination, and for Connor for allowing himself to be more adventurous.
