Easter Bunny's Arc

Chapter 14 of 15

Eight baskets were gone from the altar. Eight heroes had received their tributes and departed. The painted eggs he'd woven for Easter Flowerette sat untouched in their willow basket beside the glass marker she'd left behind. Easter Bunny lifted the basket and carried it to the fence line, then set it down where the warning sign stood. He walked the clearing at dawn, watching the eight heroes gather one final time before they scattered. They stood along a path lined with flowers and painted eggs, each one pausing to look back at the altar before continuing forward. Racum touched his feather marker. Mrs. Robin circled the platform in her tree. Baby Acorn pressed a root against the oak sapling's base. Then they turned and left, moving in different directions until the clearing was empty again. Easter Bunny stood alone at the altar, feeling the weight of what came next. The ceremony was finished, but the watching never stopped. He already saw moments worth remembering—a stranger sharing food at the community centre, a child clearing debris from a pathway, someone speaking truth when silence would have been easier. The list was forming whether he wanted it to or not. He climbed to a wooden platform built high in an old oak at the clearing's edge. From here, he could see the entire forest and the paths leading away from Easter Corner. He settled onto the railings and watched the world below. Next year's eight were already out there, doing things no one else would witness. A small office sat empty at the forest's far edge, waiting for him to begin recording what he saw. But for now, he stayed on the platform and kept watch, knowing the hardest part wasn't choosing who deserved honor—it was accepting that most goodness would disappear without it.