The children woke up early Easter Sunday morning.  They were sure this would be the year they would catch the Easter Bunny. They had tried to catch him the year before, but they did not have a plan. This year they had a plan—a  good plan. 

     Jonathan, the oldest, and therefore the smartest, had worked on the plan for months. Late at night he would tiptoe out and get a flashlight, so he and Jamie could crawl under a blanket and go over the plan.

     Wise beyond his years, Jonathan had figured out that each neighborhood had its own Easter Bunny. Just like Santa had elves to help him, the big Easter Bunny had assistant Easter Bunnies to help. It had to be that way.  It was logical and Jonathan was always logical. Jonathan and Jamie had spent three Saturday mornings following the mailman, the paper boy, and the milk truck. Jonathan, always observant, had noticed that they all followed the same route. Surely, even an assistant Easter Bunny would be smart enough to do it the same way.

     Jonathan, who always made A’s in math, had timed all three routes and averaged the figures. He had even been smart enough to figure out how long it took to hide baskets and added that to the time. Every night under the blanket, at the foot of their bunk beds, Jonathan and Jamie would work on the map they had made of the neighborhood. They knew exactly how many children lived in each house, and how long it would take the Easter Bunny to hide the baskets.  It had taken a long time to figure it all out, but they were confident that at exactly 4:05 A.M. the Easter Bunny would be hopping through their door. Jonathan had even told them that it might be the Big Easter Bunny since they were the only children in the whole world smart enough to leave carrots by the kitchen door. They were even smart enough to leave the green tops attached. Jonathan knew bunnies liked the green tops best of all.

     The children had never been up this early in the morning before, not even on Christmas. They stood at the top of the steps, lined up in order of birth: Jonathan, Jamie, Adam and little Emily. Jonathan stood in the front holding their father’s large, brass flashlight. It was the flashlight that Father carried when he worked the night shift. He always left it on the phone stand in the upstairs hall. When they saw the flashlight with the letters “Ray O Vac” pointing up, they knew their father was sleeping. It was their signal to be quiet.

     The children stood very still, their bare feet on the cold floor, one hand over their mouth, one hand on the shoulder in front of them. They listened as the grandfather clock struck four times. Just as they had planned, Jonathan looked at his watch and observed the second hand go around three times. The three minutes seemed like it would never end. They stood like statues frozen in time at the top of the steps. Finally, Jonathan let out a long, low sigh of relief. He motioned with his arm for them to follow him.  Half way down the steps he paused, knowing exactly which step squeaked. He took one large step over the squeaky one, and then turned to steady each of his brothers. Emily’s legs were too short to step over, so Jonathan lifted her over the step and gently placed her down, just as Father would have done. He gave her a reassuring smile.

     At the bottom of the stairs it was cold. They shivered, but it was really only one shiver that started with Jonathan and ended with Emily. Jonathan surveyed the living room with the flashlight; everything looked the same as it had when they went to bed. He did it again and again each time taking the flashlight a little lower until it was shining on the carpet. Suddenly he stopped, the flashlight frozen in one place. There on the carpet, shining in the light, they saw the small, white, bunny paw prints. This was turning out to be even easier than they had expected.  All they had to do was follow the paw prints and they would find the Easter Bunny. Four children, eyes big and round with excitement, followed the paw prints.

     The prints led to the hall closet. Opening the closet door they found a large basket covered with blue cellophane. “Jonathan” was spelled out with blue jelly beans arranged on top of the straw. The jelly beans were surrounded by chocolate rabbits and marshmallow eggs. Seven silver dollars were placed between the rabbits and eggs.

     The children followed the paw prints from the closet to Father’s favorite easy chair. Behind the chair was a large basket wrapped in green cellophane. “Jamie” was spelled out with green jelly beans. The rest of the basket was just like Jonathan’s except that six silver dollars were arranged between his chocolate bunnies and marshmallow eggs.

     The children followed the paw prints from the chair to the dining room. On the buffet they found a large basket wrapped in yellow cellophane. “Adam” was spelled out with yellow jelly beans. Five silver dollars were arranged between his chocolate bunnies and marshmallow eggs.

     They followed the paw prints to the kitchen. On the kitchen table was a large basket wrapped in pink cellophane. “Emily” was spelled out with pink jelly beans.  There were four silver dollars placed between her chocolate bunnies and marshmallow eggs. A cold wind hit Jonathan in the face. The kitchen door was open. The children ran to the door. A light, late snow had dusted the yard with white. Their eyes followed the paw prints and spotted the white bunny tail just as it disappeared out of sight.

     Many years went by. The children stood around the open grave. They stood in order of birth. Police Detective Jonathan Browning stood holding his father’s old brass flashlight. “I wonder how he did it?’

     “Did what?” asked James.

     “He must have used powder to make the bunny paw prints, but how did he get back upstairs without us seeing him?”