The Easter Bunny

March 27, 2016

"Do I really have to?" I complained, a whine in my voice.

"Yes, take your little sister to the Easter Eggstravaganza. You better hurry or you'll be late." My mother says, as she's preparing to go to work. Grabbing her purse, keys and heading towards the door. "Remember, it starts at 3 pm. Don't be late."

"Geez, I know already." Looking around the house, "Mom, where's Leah?"

"Your sister is getting her jacket. She'll be down in a minute or so."

Then just on cue, my six-year-old sister thuds down the stairs. Her black curls bouncing on her tiny shoulders, and her eyes brimming with excitement. With a sigh, and grabbing my own coat, I take one of Leah's tiny hands. "You ready?" I ask.

"Yeah! LET'S GO!" Together, after mom, we headed outside....

As soon as mom said her "good-byes" and "I love yous", before zooming away in her car, I let go of my sister's hand. "Do you really want to go to the egg-hunt Leah?"

"Yes, why?" My sister asks, looking confused. With an impatient hand, I run it through my own black locks:

"It's just, I'm too old for this stuff. I'll walk you halfway, but it's too embarrassing for a guy like me to be seen...." I was trying hard to think of a word to persuade my sister when two boys walked by our house. One of them saw us and started laughing. "Hey look! It's Leah the leopard and her big brother Jayme!" The other boy joined in and when they started pointing at my sister, and making cat noises, I took her hand and lead her to the town park. When we arrived, my sister looked at me with tears in her eyes. "Big brother, why are they making fun of me?" She asked. Looking at her with my own blue eyes, "Because you are special." I say, before slightly turning red at how lame I sounded. "But why?!" She shouted.

"Because you are different from other kids." I tried explaining to her. It wasn't my sister's fault she had a skin disease called Vitiligo. Apparently, it discolored your skin or something. Our mom tried explaining it to me, but eventually gave up and told me she'd tell me when I was older.....okay, was all I said and now I'm having to explain it to my sister. "Look," I finally said, "your skin is unique. See mine?" I then showed her my arm. "Mine is one color where your arm has two colors. Isn't it cool having two colors of skin." Apparently my sister didn't like that answer and cried even harder. Luckily, as I checked my watch, it was only 2:55pm.

Taking a deep breath before letting it out, I grabbed my sister and hugged her. Almost immediately she stopped crying and hugged me back. After a while, and after some uncomfortable staring from others, we split and she held my hand again. Then, when it was 3pm sharp, the Eggstravaganza began. Happy once more, my sister started the egg hunt in excitement. Leah was really good at finding the eggs: an egg in a tree trunk, another in a hole by the swings, and even finding one taped to the top of the monkey bars. She was a natural. While watching her, I found myself happy because she was happy. It was fun being a big brother, even though at the same time I found it annoying, but it was fun overall...

The Eggstravaganza continued for about another ten minutes. The eggs were now almost all found and my sister had the biggest batch in her rainbow-colored basket. When time was up, the eggs were counted in each basket and my sister was so happy when she heard that she had won. Out of ten other kids, Leah had the most eggs. They gave her a pink stuffed rabbit and told the kids to keep whatever they had found in the eggs. With excitement, my sister then ran back to me and gave me a huge hug. Laughing, "Did you enjoy yourself sis?"

"Yeah, and look at what I got too!" Showing me her basket, Leah opened a couple of eggs. Inside were mostly chocolates, but some of them even had coins: nickels, dimes, quarters, even pennies. My sister loved the chocolate though and gave me the money. "No, you keep it." I told her, but she insisted that I have it, so I pocketed the change. When she was ready, we started heading home. To our dismay, rain was beginning to fall and we were going to get wet. "Come on!" I shouted, as the wind picked up and the rain was coming down harder. We were almost home, actually at the intersection two blocks away, when Leah dropped her rabbit in a puddle. We were already halfway across the crosswalk, and we could barely see as it was. I told her to forget it, and tried to drag her the rest of the way. It wasn't any use, she struggled and eventually, broke free of my grip and ran back across. After quickly picking up her rabbit, I watched as she started running back towards me--a smile on her face with that stupid muddy rabbit in her arms--when suddenly, out of nowhere, I see her body flying through the air and the rabbit inches away from her arms. A car was now in the crosswalk and my sister was dead....

I watched my brother from behind him as he ran towards me, or at least my body, tears streaming down his cheeks. It looked sort of like the rain that was pouring down, but it was coming from his blue eyes. I noticed how gently he held me, and how he whispered "sorry". What was he sorry for? I'm the one that went to get my rabbit, not him. So why? I then notice another person, the driver of the car. He looked shaken and tried to help my brother but Jayme pushed him away and held on to me. The man pulled out a phone and dialed somebody before asking my brother questions: Where was your parents? Is there someone I can call? What's your name? Her name? lastly, he too apologized. Saying "sorry" and "What have I done?" It was like listening to a broken record, over and over.

I didn't really understand what was happening. The rain made it hard to hear the police cars and the ambula---nces? (My brother taught me that word last week, it was a part of my vocabulary test at school). The sirens weren't even loud amidst the noise of the rain falling. As I watched from the other side of the street, I saw strangers pick up my body, with Jayme's permission and carry me to the ambulance. They then poked strange things into my arms and legs before taking it and the car to the local hospital. Jayme, with nothing to do, shouted and hit the ground with anger and frustration. The police tried to calm him, but for some reason Jayme didn't listen. Walking over to him, I tried to take his hand, but sadly, my hand just passed through his and a terrible thought hit me: I no longer exist and Jayme can't see me. At this realization, I cried, along with my brother...

More minutes pass and before long, a familiar SUV pulls up and my mom rushes out. I see her hugging Jayme and for a moment, I wished she would hug me too, but I had already forgotten that my body was moved elsewhere and she could no longer hold me in her warm embrace. Saddened, I continued watching: mother and Jayme leaving with the policeman and the driver of the car following them to the station.......Bored, from the policeman's interrogation and emotionally spent, I walked to the hospital. It wasn't hard, it was more like flying than walking, and when I found my body in the ER, I watched as so many strangers tried to help me. After an two hours, I heard a man say, "Leah Joanne Grant. Time of death is 17:30. May 27, 2016. Cause of death was a car accident." They then placed a white cloth over my body and prepared me for many things: cleaning, dressing me up in my clothes and then my visitation before they put my body into the ground in a box. I watched as my relatives cried; especially my mother and brother--who had somehow found my pink rabbit and was now cradling it in his arms. I listened to an older man give a boring speech about a place called heaven or whatnot and then watched in fascination as people threw white and red roses into the hole where my body now was. When all was said and done, and the hole filled in, everyone went about their lives as if I never existed. Of course, my mom still grieved, as did my brother, who blamed himself for everything. I had no way of consoling them.....

Eight years have passed and I continued to watch from a distance. Jayme had grown big and has become quite handsome. I had also grown up as well, but of course only I would have noticed and mother is now trying to begin her life again. For the past eight years, I've spent everyday with Jayme. Waking up, eating, doing fun things, school, homework, sports, and sleeping. He doesn't see me of course, watching him as he goes about his routine. For the first year after my death he had to go to therapy and on Sundays he'd visit my burial place and leave me flowers, crying and apologizing for not protecting me. Two years after, he starts getting into trouble--specially with the neighbor kids. Every time he sees one of them, he'd get angry and blame them for making fun of me all those years ago.....It was during the six or seven years of me watching over him, that he began to realize what he wanted to do in life: he wanted to become a doctor. Someone who helped kids, like me, learn to overcome the hardships of life and to believe in themselves.....

Another ten years pass and I watch my brother become a fine young adult. I watch him meet his girlfriend, break up with her, date a few more, until he ends up marrying one. I watch them have children, get a house, a dog and a car. He's even a doctor now, one of the best pediatrician's around. Helping million's of kids who were once like me. After so many years of learning and experiencing my brother's life, I've come to realize that this wasn't where I belonged and had made the decision to go home--or wherever souls went. Waiting to tell Jayme good-bye, I sat on a chair in his room one day. Looking around, I noticed textbooks, models, and other things; but what caught my eye was the pink rabbit on the top shelf. It was clean now; smiling, I got up to touch it, rubbing the soft, pink fur and realized that it was time. With a last look at the rabbit, I said good-bye and left, wishing my brother all the happiness in the world, even though he probably thought he didn't deserve it.............