Lost & Wild: A Joshua Brown Story

A Lost & Wild Easter

“So….a bunny?” Blue wrinkled her nose, “Poops eggs?” She cocked her head now, having trouble understanding the connections of bunnies, eggs, and Easter. Every year, her grandma Ami would tell she and her brother of the Easter story and not once was there a celebration of the resurrection by coloring eggs and hunting for them.

Bam smirked behind his hand as his inquisitive daughter questioned everything that was being told to her, nothing out of the ordinary for her. JB was already entranced at the words ‘chocolate bunny’, so he did not share his sister’s line of cross-examination. He often let her take these reigns, but Bam knew his son was still taking it all in.

Harper had once brought up hunting for plastic eggs filled with candy and trinkets when the kids were much smaller, young enough as well to not really question the entire practice. But Bam had. He was fine with halloween, especially after the pumpkin pie. Christmas for them wasn’t incredibly different. There was a tree, decorating, a feast, presents.

While fireworks were prohibited in Alaska, he’d had no qualms watching his children run around Brown Town with handheld sparklers and bottle poppers. Even as Blue had aimed one at him and peppered his beard and hair with confetti and crepe streamers, he still seemed to enjoy himself. He seemed to like it even more when Harper showed off her own little stars and stripes outfit that barely covered anything on her.

But Bam was not about to waste the eggs they used from the chickens on dying them, though Harper argued they could still eat them after. He also couldn’t justify spending the money they’d worked so hard for on bags of candy that, in Hoonah, were priced even higher than the already exorbitant lower 48 prices.

But this year, this year Harper had gone out of her way to do what she could in town to earn extra through bartering and trading to let her children experience one spring Easter egg hunt.

“A bunny doesn’t poop eggs, Mom,” Blue spoke as if she were surprised her mother didn’t already realize, “They poop regular old poop. They look like raisins, don’t they JB?” she turned, teasing her little brother, who was a lot gentler of a soul that his sister, his cheeks blushed a bit. Bam’s arms seemed to hold him a little tighter.

“Don’t tease your brother,” Bam warned her but now focused on Harper who looked a little surprised that there was any backlash, “I don’t think their buying it, Mama.” He looked smug, as if his look could tell her he told her so.

“I want a chocolate bunny, Dad,” JB said, now looking worried that he would indeed miss out on this new treat before he even had a chance to get one. Harper had to grin now, she wasn’t completely shut out. She should have known she could depend on her son’s sweet tooth.

“Well, you two can just do Easter however you want and JB can just get all the eggs to himself!” She tickled his leg as he raised his arms in triumph, Bam barely missed catching one of his little fists square in the cheek.

“Now, wait a minute…” Blue’s wheels began to turn now that she realized she was about to be left out of something, “He can’t have ALL of them…”

“Well, little missy, if you think hunting for Easter eggs is silly you are more than welcome to just sit and watch your brother have all the fun.” Harper knew Blue would rather eat dirt than be left out of anything. Now she was the one looking smugly at Bam, clearly the tides had turned.

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Harper had studied and talked with Ami at length about deriving natural dyes from the plants and elements around them. She did not have vivid neons or cute pastels in the coloring cups (which were coffee mugs with now, a dual purpose). She did however have gorgeous blues, greens, and even some reds and oranges from steeping petals, roots, and leaves. They reminded her of the forests they lived in and seas they lived near.