The Bunny in the Woodwork

"What's that hole for?" the chubby little girl asked her daddy, pointing with her finger. "Why is there a round little hole, right there in the wood that goes around the window?"

The big man peered at the window casing and smiled, as he sat with the little girl on their front porch. Just like her mother, he thought to himself. Notices everything. I must've missed a nail hole when I was puttying up the window casing.

"Where?" he asked the girl, pretending he didn't see the hole there at first. He took the cap off his head and laid it on his knee. "Oh, that. That's just where the bunny sleeps." The little girl laughed at that, and tried to put her finger in the hole.

"A bunny!" she said. "That's silly! A bunny could never fit in there!"

"No?" he asked her. "You don't think so? Bunnies do sleep in holes, don't they?"

She looked at him, then back at the hole. The girl felt a little confused, he had never told her anything that wasn't true. But, how could this be? "That hole's too small though..." she answered, still feeling unsure about it.

But the little girl couldn't stop thinking about the story of a little bunny, asleep in that little hole; the thought made her smile. She looked over at the yellow house across the street, and remembered the pet mouse that belonged to the boy who lived there. But even that tiny, little mouse could never fit in that hole!

He was watching her, and followed her eyes to where she looked across the street. "Where else could the Easter bunny take a nap, when he's all done delivering Easter eggs?" he asked her. "He needs a hole to sleep in."

The girl turned her head to look at him, then laughed out loud again. "Easter bunny! What do you mean?" She almost added, "There is no Easter bunny!" But she didn't say it, seeing the expression on his face.

He was still staring across the street, nodding as he said, "He comes through Mr Burke's yard over there, that's the route he takes."

"He does?" The little girl asked, squinting her eyes as she looked across the street. "Why does he come from Mr Burke's yard?" she added suspiciously. Even so, she was intrigued by what he told her. She could almost picture that little bunny.

"Well, bunnies live in the woods, and Mr Burke has woods next to his house," the kindly man said slowly. Oh, the little girl thought, that's right. Bunnies DO live in the woods!

She looked up at him in surprise. Suddenly, she felt very happy. "Tell me, Daddy!" she said. "Tell me all about the bunny! Tell me about how the bunny does it!" the little girl said, delighted.

"Does what?" he asked, wrinkled his brow. "What do you want to know?"

"How does he become the Easter bunny?" she cried. "How does he deliver the Easter eggs?"

"Oh, that!" The man smiled knowingly, "Well, gee, that's easy. It's easy for the bunny!"

"But, how can it be easy?" All of a sudden the little girl felt deflated, shaking her head as she said, "It can't be easy for the little bunny," she felt almost ready to cry. Her Daddy could see how sad she had become. "How can a little bunny fit in that hole in the wood, and how can he bring Easter eggs to all the little kids?" she asked him. Maybe it wasn't real, after all.

"Ohhhh," the girl's daddy said. He could tell that it didn't seem possible to her anymore. He must have seen the small tear as it fell down her cheek. But, he knew how to make it right. "Of course, he has help, you know!" he told her. "The bunny's friend, the tortoise helps him!"

She looked at him, "What's a tortoise?" That was a strange sounding word, one she didn't think she'd ever heard before.

"A tortoise is a turtle," he explained.

She wrinkled her nose. She didn't like turtles much. She may have told him that.

"They play together in the woods, and when the bunny has to deliver the eggs on Easter, the turtle is happy to help him," the very wise daddy told her. "The turtle can carry the eggs for the bunny, in a basket on his hard shell."

She looked at him, her eyes big. "Oh! Are they colored eggs?" she asked him, feeling excited all over again. It was making perfect sense to her now!

"Yes," he said, smiling warmly. "They're colored eggs, all different colors!"

She could picture it in her mind's eye; the turtle with the big basket full of pink and blue and yellow eggs, balanced on top of his round shell. And the bunny who sleeps in the little hole on her front porch; she pictured him as the Easter bunny, with a beautiful blue ribbon 'round his neck.

The girl gazed at the woods next to Mr Burke's house for awhile longer. She even thought she saw a glimpse of the bunny and the turtle, as they played together amongst the trees. The little woods across the street had suddenly become a magical place. Daddy looked at his daughter's face, and he saw the joy and the wonder there.

"Do you see him? he asked her, as they looked across the street together. "Do you see him hopping through the woods?"

"I think I do...yes, I do!" the happy girl said. "I do see him, Daddy!"

Daddy was very glad his daughter could see the little bunny as he did.

"And when he comes to visit me, he sleeps in the little hole, on our very own front porch!" she said, turning her face to look up at her Daddy, her eyes shining. Daddy smiled at her.

"That's right, my little balloon. The bunny sleeps in the little hole, right here on our front porch!"