AN EASTER AFTERNOON

(By Deyse Magalhães)

It was a cold and rainy Sunday afternoon and, due to the low temperature, there were very few people in the streets. Families had decided to celebrate Easter inside their homes, with their relatives comfortably gathered in the warm living rooms. Nevertheless, two very young children, aged 5 and 7, were walking along the deserted streets hand in hand and the oldest one, a boy, had a worried expression on his face.

"Maggie I guess this is not the right way..."

"But, Brian, I saw when the car with the bunny turned on this street..." the girl replied.

"Are you sure this was the right street?"

"Well... It was too fast... Do you think we should come back home?"

He looked around really confused, "Hum... I don’t know... maybe we should look for the eggs a bit more..."

"Yes, I guess we’re close now... I’m sure the car went this way!" she insisted. The little boy sighed and nodded his head, "Ok, come with me!"

They walked for about one block and arrived at a deserted small square, "We’ve been here before..." he said, with disappointment.

After reflecting about their situation, the girl had an idea. "Oh Brian, what if the bunny hid the eggs in this square?!"

Those words gave the boy some hope, "Hum... Do you think this is possible?"

Before the little girl could reply, the 2 siblings heard a man’s voice right behind him, "I think it’s perfectly possible!"

A bit scared, they turned around and saw a tall, blond man, wearing a black leather jacket, a green sweater and dark blue jeans. But his friendly smile and the kind expression on his face immediately put their hearts at ease.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Andrew."

"Did you see the rabbit, Andrew?" the little girl asked, with curiosity.

He knelt right in front of her. "Well... not exactly. But I have a feeling that those chocolate eggs must be somewhere in that square..."

"Really?"

"Why don’t you go look for them?"

They turned around to face the square, still reflecting whether they should go there or not. But when they turned around to face that stranger again, he had vanished.

"Where did he go?"

"I don’t know, but you heard him; let’s go look for the eggs!"

It took them less than 10 minutes to find a beautiful chocolate egg wrapped in a shining paper.

"Yay! I knew we’d find it!" the little girl celebrated.

"Yes! And this is a big one! Do you think there’s more?"

Suddenly, another voice, with an Irish accent, interrupted their conversation, "I’m sure there are more like this one hidden somewhere on the other side of the street..."

They turned around to face a beautiful lady, with long auburn hair and wearing a pink turtle neck sweater and blue jeans. And, like the man who had spoken to them before, she had a warm smile on her meek face.

"Where is Andrew?" the little girl asked, as confused as her brother.

"Well, Andrew had to go, but he asked me if I could help ya to find the eggs you’ve been looking for."

"So you’re his girlfriend?" the girl asked, neither she or her brother were afraid of the little angel before them.

"Hum... well... I’m his friend. My name is Monica." She replied, slightly blushed with that question.

"Oh, so c’mon, Maggie, let’s go that way as Monica says."

"Would you like me to help ya to cross the street?"

"Yes, please."

Monica took their tiny hands and the trio crossed the large streets. Then, she turned to them, pointing straight ahead, "Andrew told me that there’s a garden not far from here, where you’ll probably find more eggs..."

"Are you sure?"

"Oh yes, Andrew is my friend and he never lies!"

Brother and sister walked for a block and saw a small garden not too far ahead. Brian and Maggie turned around to confirm with Monica if they were really in the right place, but it was too late: the beautiful lady had disappeared.

"Where did she go?" the boy spoke, with surprise. His little sister smiled with an inch of mischief, "Meet Andrew... I’m sure she is his girlfriend! Now come, let’s go find the eggs!"

10 minutes later, they found 3 little eggs hidden in between the plants.

"Great! Now we have 4 in the total, Maggie!"

"Wait until mommy sees it!"

At that moment, another voice interrupted their conversation once again, "Are you two planning to stop now? There’s more of these not far from here..."

Surprised once again, they turned around and saw a dark skinned old lady, with grey hair and wearing a beige overcoat, black sweater and black pants.

"Really? How do you know?"

"Are you Andrew and Monica’s friend too?" they asked.

"Oh yes, I am!"

"What’s your name?" the chatty little girl asked, as curious as her brother.

"I’m Tess."

"And where did Monica and Andrew go?"

"Hum... well, they had some work to do, but they asked me to tell you that, if you go straight this alley and turn left, you’ll find a huge oak tree and, maybe, you can find ‘something’ under that tree!"

With excited little eyes, they held each other’s hands and ran along the direction pointed by the oldest angel, who kept on watching them, shaking her head but at the same time smiling at their excitement. A couple of minutes later, they finally saw the tree and, under its huge canopy, a small basket with some more little chocolate eggs.

"Brian look!" the girl exclaimed, as if they had found a precious treasure.

"Wow... we have lots of eggs, Maggie!" The boy placed the other chocolate eggs inside the basket and they looked at each other.

"Now can we go home?" she pleaded. And it was then that his smile faded, "Home? I... I guess I don’t know the way home..."

"You mean... we’re lost?"

"I’m afraid so... I don’t know which way to go... I knew we should’ve told mom we’d go out to look for the eggs! We shouldn’t have left without telling her..."

They sat on the ground and some tears of fear and regret fell from their eyes some moments later, and not even the chocolate eggs they had found in their little journey could cheer them up.

"I want mommy, Brian... What if we never come to see her and daddy again?"

He inched closer and held his little sister, "I guess the police will take us to an orphanage..." he said, as afraid as she was. After a long pause, he spoke again, "Remember that mommy said that the most important in Easter weren’t the eggs? Well, she was right cuz now we’re in a big trouble because of them..."

"I’d give my eggs to see mommy and daddy again..." the girl cried. Suddenly, they heard a familiar voice close to them.

"Maggie! Brian!"

They turned around and a wide smile appeared in their crying face, "Daddy!!!" they shouted, and rushed towards the man.

"Oh thank God!" he exclaimed, and held the two children tightly in his arms, "Where have you been? Everybody is desperate looking for you!"

"We went to look for the chocolate eggs... I’m sorry daddy..." the boy spoke; he and his little sister had a truly regretful expression on their faces.

"Oh you should never do that again!"

"We found them daddy... But finding you is a lot better!"

They showed him the basket full of chocolate eggs and the man frowned. "But where did they come from?"

"We found them at the square, in the garden and right here; Andrew, Monica and Tess helped us, they showed us the right way!" Brian explained.

"I’ve been going around the neighbourhood with my car and I haven’t seen anybody, the streets are desert..."

But Maggie insisted, "But there was daddy! A man named Andrew said this big egg was in the square. He has a girlfriend, her name is Monica, and she helped us to cross the street and showed us the way to find those little eggs in the garden. And then there was this old lady, Tess, she must be Monica’s mom... She said that these 3 eggs would be here, under the tree."

The man heard the girl’s words with haunted eyes – he had passed by all those places and was sure that there was nobody in there at that time of the day.

*

Sometime later, they arrived at the children’s house and their mother held them tightly, now crying with joy and emotion for having them back. "Oh God, thank you! Thank you so much!" she spoke, holding and kissing them.

From a certain distance, unseen to the human eye, Monica, Andrew and Tess were sitting in a nearby bench and watched as the family got together again, "Those wee ones had quite an adventure!" the Irish angel said, sitting between her two dearest friends and with a wide, happy smile upon her pretty face.

"Oh yes, and now they’re gonna think twice before risking themselves like this again!" Andrew agreed, placing his arm around her shoulder.

"And I can imagine how happy their mom is; for her it’s like they were born again!"

"Besides, they should have listened to their mom: Easter is not about chocolate eggs and candies; there’s a true meaning in it and they should keep it in mind from now on!" Tess added, with total disapproval at the children’s behaviour. "Chocolate eggs! Why do human beings always see important celebrations such as Christmas and Easter as a machine to make money?"

Monica and Andrew exchanged a secret glance, smiling with amusement at the grouchy tone in her voice.

"Well... I guess you’re perfectly right, Tess, I totally agree with you..." the blond angel said, "Of course there’s a reason why we celebrate Easter and that’s the first thing we should remember on this day when we wish happy Easter to our family and friends."

"I agree with Andrew... And as you are both my family and my friends, I wish you two a happy Easter..." she said, taking their hands in her own, and smiling at them with all the love in her heart evident in her eyes. Really touched with her gentle manners and loving nature, Andrew and Tess returned the smile and the blond angel kissed the back of Monica’s hand, while she and Tess rested their heads together.

"Very well, angel girl! That’s how we should see Easter!"

Andrew took a small bag that was right beside him. "Well, you know you’re always right, Tess but... I bought something for you two; just a little gift, you know, to help me to wish you a happy Easter!" saying this he took two chocolate boxes from inside the bag, and gave the heart shaped one to Monica, whose smile grew wider with the excitement of a 5 year old. "Oh Andrew, it’s lovely! Thank you! Thank you so much!" she spoke, and didn’t waste another second in wrapping her arms around his neck and placing lots of tiny kisses on his cheeks and nose.

"You’re always welcome, my angel!" he replied, with a content smile, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and also brushing a tender kiss on her cheek.

Tess was looking at the other chocolate box, which had a roundish format, with interested eyes and, not missing the expression on the supervisor’s face, Andrew kept on speaking, "Well, this other one was for you, Tess... You know, I think that, yes, there’s a true meaning of Easter and of course we should keep that in mind, but it doesn’t stop us from presenting the ones that we love with a small gift if we can; just as an opportunity to say ‘I love you’ one more time... But, since you don’t seem to..."

"That’s exactly what I said! Small gifts are ok, since we keep in mind what we’re celebrating!" the oldest angel interrupted him, eager to grab the other box. Hardly hiding their laugher, Monica and Andrew exchanged another amused glance and the blond angel gave Tess her chocolate box.

"Happy Easter, Tess." He said, kissing her cheek.

"Thank you, angel boy! Happy Easter to you too!"

Watching with happiness as her two dearest friends spoke, Monica showed them another small bag, that had miraculously appeared on her lap, "I’m glad you both think that way, you know, cause I too have something for you..."

"Oh really?" Tess was, looking at the bag once again with interested eyes.

"Yes..."

"Aren’t we blessed to have such a loving and caring little angel girl at our side, Tess?" Andrew said, wrapping his arm around Monica’s shoulder and brushing a gentle kiss on her temple.

"We sure are, angel boy! Now tell us, what is it that you have for us, baby?"

A bit shyly, Monica reached inside the bag and took two chocolate eggs. They were beautifully wrapped with coloured paper and lilac ribbons. "Well... in my free time, I’ve been doing some experiments, you know..."

"What kind of experiments, angel?" the blond angel wanted to know.

"Well... I’ve been learning how to make chocolate eggs!" she told them, as if that was a well kept secret.

"Oh... really?" Tess spoke, she and Andrew sharing a concerned look.

"Yes! And, after some attempts, I could finally make these two eggs; they’re for you! Happy Easter, Andrew! Happy Easter, Tess!"

Lost for words with that loving gesture, and slightly worried about the taste of those chocolate eggs, they held the little angel tightly. "Thank you, sweetie. I love you." Andrew whispered in her ear, and kissed the tip of her nose.

"Yes, that’s very sweet of you, angel girl, but you didn’t have to..." Tess interrupted her sentence when he met Andrew’s warning eyes, "... I mean, but we’re glad that you did cause we know how much love you put in these..."

"Well... yes, love among other things... it’s me own recipe, ya know!" Monica completed, her Irish lilt filling their ears, glad to see how happy they were with that tiny surprise she had prepared.

"I can hardly wait to taste it..." the oldest angel spoke, and stood up from the bench, "Now we’d better go; don’t forget we left Joy with Ronald and I don’t know why, but I keep on having that weird feeling we should go back Home as soon as possible!"

The trio stood up and, as Tess marched ahead of them, Andrew kept with his arm around Monica’s small shoulders, while she wrapped her own arm around his waist, and after he kissed the top of her head, they followed the supervisor.

As the angels disappeared some steps ahead, a white dove cooed and crossed the sky.

The end