Imagination Is Everything

Story Time! On Easter!

They could've given me some kind of warning. Because then I'd be prepared with a suitable response. But life works in ways that were mostly unfair.

Sophie nodded her head vigorously, a huge grin stretched across her childish face. I looked around, expecting the Easter Bunny to appear in his tall, furry figure, a basket of beautifully painted eggs in one paw. She grabbed her brother's hand and dragged him along with her. I looked around again, but no sight of Bunny. Weird. So what was Sophie getting so worked up over?

"Bunny!! Bunny!" I heard her squeal. I looked down at her, only to see her pointing at...me?

My eyes widened to the size of saucers, I nearly fell out of the tree in shock. No. This has to be a mistake. It couldn't be.

A child could see me.

A child could see me.

Me.

I.....This has never happened to me before. I barely even remember the last time someone saw me.

What have I ever done to have this little girl see me? What have I done to make this child believe in me? I was rather puzzled and alarmed at the same time. Children had no idea I existed. In the centuries I've been here, no child has ever seen me, let alone believed in me. So why was this child different?

Why was Sophie Bennett different?

Was it...

Could it be that she figured it all out?

Jamie, confused, looked up in the direction his little sister was pointing at. But he saw nothing. His eyes went right through me, looking past me, his eyes cutting through me like a knife. Nothing was there, in his eyes.

Sophie slipped away from her brother's grasp and ran over to the base of the tree. She was jumping up and down on her tiny little toes, looking up at me and into my hazel eyes.

"Bunny!"

I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to react. Don't get me wrong, I love children, but I haven't been around them for so long, I've forgotten how to act around them. I forgot how to treat them. I forgot how to interact with them. And most importantly, I've forgotten how to make them happy without the help of my stories. So I just stayed there, paralyzed, like a deer caught in headlights.

I didn't know what to do.

A child. This little girl was my first believer in years. I've had a single child believe in me before, but he was the only one. He passed away centuries ago. But here it was, my first believer all over again.

Any newbie would've rushed over in two thumps of a rabbit's foot. But I slowly got to the ground, cautiously, and eyeing the child warily. Sophie took a few steps back, still bouncing on the heels of her bare feet.

I crouched down to her height and slowly extended a paw out to her. She placed her small hands in my paws, which seemed huge in contrast to her tiny ones. She was grinning up at me, her beautiful green eyes meeting mine. It was like a moment of bonding.

She then said "Bunny," in that cute voice of hers, giggling when the tuffs of fur on my ears tickled her face as I lowered them. She let go of my paw and grabbed onto my ear. "Careful there, kiddo. They're attached to me," I chuckled. When I spoke, I could hear the cracks in my voice, as I had not spoken in such a long time. The only ones I've ever spoken to are my little Bleems, the small, multi-coloured bookworms that help deliver my stories. This was a change.

A damn good one.

Nearly forgetting about Jamie, I looked over at him, where he was standing there, a perplexed look on his face. "Sophie, who is it?" "Bunny!" his sister replied, her eyes shinning with a small spark of excitement in them. "Can you describe it?" he asked, determined to see me.

"Bunny! She's a white bunny!!" she clapped, nodding her head which caused her blonde hair to fly all over the place. He looked in my direction again,  but he still couldn't see me. "What else can you tell me about her, Soph?"

She looked at me and said the two words I've always been happy to hear.

"Story time!"

But it was all short lived. Jamie was still trying to figure out his sister's words when I suddenly felt a slight change in the temperature and environment. My ears stood erect, my fur was standing pin-straight and my heart nearly missed a beat.

Jack Frost was near.

And it was Easter. So Bunny was sure to visit his favourite kid soon.

Quickly creating one of my tunnels, I let go of Sophie and jumped in, closing it behind me and keeping them from following me.

Once again, I felt like I've let a child down by running away again.

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