Easter Bunny's Arc

Chapter 3 of 15

Easter Bunny stood at the altar the next morning and looked at the seven remaining baskets. Racum had taken his place in Easter Corner, but seven heroes still waited for their moment. He picked up the second basket, smaller than the first, with Spot's name carved along the wooden handle. He had watched Spot for months, trying to understand what made devotion worth honoring. The black and white cow wore a frilly dress that caught on fences and slowed her down, but she never took it off because Fawn had sewn it for her. She walked the long path to the meadow every morning to bring Fawn fresh clover, even when rain turned the trail to mud. Easter Bunny had seen countless acts of love in the forest, but most burned bright and faded fast. Spot's devotion didn't fade. It showed up every day, quiet and steady, like roots growing deeper where no one could see. But he didn't know how to make that visible in Easter Corner. A feather had worked for Racum's truth-telling, but devotion needed something different. He wove white tulips into a heart shape, bending each stem until the wreath held firm. The flowers opened toward the sun, their petals clean and bright. He hung the wreath on a wooden post beside the altar, then stepped back. It looked fragile, like the first strong wind would tear it apart. He took it down and tried again, this time weaving the stems tighter, layering the tulips so they supported each other. When he hung it up again, the wreath stayed solid. He placed a flat stone ringed with spring flowers on the ground beneath it, marking Spot's place. The stone looked small next to Racum's marker, but when sunlight hit the wreath above it, the white tulips glowed. Spot arrived that afternoon, her frilly dress catching on branches as she stepped through the flower arch. Easter Bunny lifted the basket filled with honey candies and dried clover. He pointed to the tulip wreath. "You show up for Fawn every day," he said. "That's not something people see all at once. It builds over time, like this wreath. Each flower holds up the others." Spot touched the wreath gently, then looked at the stone beneath it. She didn't ask why she deserved this. She pressed her hoof to the marker stone, nodded once, and took the basket. Easter Bunny watched her leave, the wreath still hanging where everyone who came to Easter Corner would see it. He had found a way to make devotion visible, and now he knew the next five heroes would each need something different.