I feel so much better now. I had a good night's sleep while recovering from my upset stomach. My stomach feels fine now. It does not feel like a garbage disposal or queasy anymore. It feels normal as usual. Well actually, I haven’t eaten any breakfast because I slept for a whole day. I feel hungry, but not for meat, eggs, pancakes, or bread. I want vegetables, fruit, and maybe a small treat for later.

I slowly slide off of my bed and look around my bedroom to find Candy. She is not here. I yawn and stand up. I walk out of my bedroom and into my living room. There is still no sign of Candy anywhere. I look outside. I widen my eyes and gasp. There is something that I was not expecting on this Easter Sunday morning. I notice a white cold moister falling from the white sky. It is snowing right now. Even though I am excited about Easter, this snow is not supposed to be here.

I walk into my kitchen to check the calendar on my fridge. I look at the date. The date says Easter Sunday. I rush into my bedroom and take out my cell phone from my dresser. The calendar on my cellphone says April Sunday at ten AM. I still wonder why it is snowing this Easter Sunday morning. I check the calendar in the kitchen again. I flip the calendar back to March and find the Spring Equinox date on the twentieth.

“Now that’s…” I rub my head to think. “Odd. It’s passed the Spring Equinox and it is now snowin’,” I say.

I put on my white socks and blue shoes. I open the door and feel the cold air and the snow falling. I walk around the front yard and it is covered in four inches of snow. The whole neighborhood is covered with deep snow. Even the park across the street is covered in snow.

A few people are shoveling their driveway, wiping the snow off of their vehicles, and kids playing in the snow. Some of the kids are depressed because it is Easter Sunday and they can’t do Easter egg hunts outside in the deep snow. I know that they have to do it inside but it won’t be as much fun. Besides, there are supposed to be colorful flowers, green trees, wet morning dew, and birds chirping. But there is none of that today. There is only snow falling.

I walk to the other of the duplex. I walk inside and find Linda, Bryan, Tommy, Timmy, Tom, Tim, and Candy all sitting around the kitchen table. They do not look miserable or sad like some kids in the neighborhood.

My family is about to color-boiled eggs. There are many watercolors in blue mugs, and paint brushes with paint colors. There are lots of stickers, like flowers, carrots, birds, bunnies, and rabbits.

A fluffy white toy bunny is in the middle of the table. Linda spots me standing near the front door.

“How did you sleep, son?” she asks.

I shake my head. “How long was I asleep? I hope not the last twenty-four hours, because that would be so weird. Sleepin’ without any meals all day is unhealthy. But it couldn’t have been twenty-four hours, right mates?” I ask.

The room is now quiet. I smack my forehead.

“Oh, Crikey! It was all day, wasn’t it?” I ask.

I sit on a chair near the table. “Wow. I must have been like hibernatin’ or somethin’, sort’ah,” I say.

Linda nods. “We tried waking you up, but you were so sleepy and relaxed,” she says.

Bryan sighs. “I wanted to wake you up as well, but the kids thought it was funny watching you sleep. You sort of, um, entertained them,” says Bryan.

“What was so funny while I was sleepin’?” I ask.

The four boys and Candy quietly chuckle while painting their boiled eggs.

“You were wiggling your nose and feet while you were sleeping. It was like watching a dog sleeping. I think a dog’s dream of casing something as you did,” says Candy.

“Well, that’s odd, because I can’t remembah’ what I was dreamin’ about. But you said that it was like a dog chasin’ somethin’. Why did I act like some kind of animal while I was sleepin’?” I ask.

I shake my head and scratch my ear. My hand is moving fast as I scratch. I sigh and feel my stomach rumbling.

“I haven’t eaten yesterday, except for that one carrot. So, what’s for breakfast, Linda?” I ask.

Linda walks to the fridge and hands me a plate with all kinds of vegetables. The veggies look so appetizing. I take a bite of a carrot and sigh. The flavor satisfies me. Linda sits on her chair next to me.

“Dr. Millard said that you needed to rest. And you can only eat vegetables and fruit. You can have other foods, but only a little bit. If you eat too much of other food you will get very sick again,” she says.

I munch on a carrot, some celery, some radishes, and some bean pods. They all taste so good and they satisfy my hunger. I feel healthy now.

“Always listen to the doctah’,” I say.

Bryan sits on the other side of me. He pats my back and smiles.

“Yup, always listen to the Doctor,” he says.

“Do you know him?” I ask.

“Know who?” asks Bryan.

“Dr. Millard,” I answer.

“Yes, I do know him. He is an old college friend of mine,” answers Bryan.

I am done eating my vegetables. My plate is empty right in front of me.

I quietly burp. “Oh, excuse me,” I say.

“Feeling better now, Jake?” asks Bryan.

“Yeah, yeah I am. You’re very lucky to have Doctah’ as a friend,” I answer.

I watch the kids painting the boiled eggs. I smile and slowly turn to the kitchen window. It is still snowing outside. My smile fades and I look away. Linda and Bryan notice me being depressed.

“What’s wrong, son?” asks Bryan.

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“It’s snowin’ on Eastah’ Sunday,” I answer.

“We know. It’s kind of wired,” says Bryan.

“It’s supposed to be springtime last month on March twentieth. And it’s snowin’ right now,” I say.

Linda and Bryan turn to the window.

“I don’t know why spring hasn’t come yet. Maybe it’s late. Not every Spring Equinox is always on time,” says Linda.

Tommy turns to me. “Or, maybe the Easter Bunny is late,” he says.

The rest of the children are laughing, except for me, Candy, Linda, and Bryan.

“So, are we still doin’ the Eastah’ egg hunt today, even though it is snowin’ right now?” I ask.

“Only if we want to.” Linda turns to the four boys and Candy.

The five kids nod. “It will be fun in the snow. It’ll be the first time with the snow, but it’ll be fun anyway,” says Candy.

I sigh and pick up a paintbrush. “Well then we’re gonna need more colah'ful eggs,” I say.

While we are painting the boiled eggs, I am showing the kids how to make the Easter eggs very colorful and beautiful with color dye and paint. I show them how to make rainbow eggs, flower eggs, bunny eggs, and crystal eggs. And I show them how to make gold and silver eggs. Everyone has six eggs to paint. I have at least twenty-five eggs.

A few minutes pass by and I haven’t finished painting my eggs. I am in no hurry. I do not decorate the eggs like the other kids do. The kids like to decorate their eggs with crayons and color dye. I decorate my eggs with colored paint.

A few more minutes have passed and I am finally finished. My eggs are all decorated. They look so beautiful. Some look like they are store-bought. My eggs have all kinds of swirly paintings and shapes. The four boys and Candy are staring at my stunningly beautiful eggs. Candy grabs one of my eggs that have blue sparkly paint all over it.

“How did you decorate all these eggs in the few minutes?” she asks me.

“I don’t know. I just do what I love. And that’s decoratin’ eggs. When I was little in preschool, the teachah’s all thought I had a gift. It was arts and crafts that impressed my teachah’s. I didn’t even have to be taught by a teachah’. They said I was born with this kind of gift. I’ve always had a thing for arts and crafts,” I answer.

Candy smiles at me. “Like the little tree doll house that you made for me?” she asks.

I nod. “Yeah, exactly. But I still do not know where my talent came from. It would take me days to paint these perfect eggs and build small beautiful tree houses. I built the small tree house in like a few minutes when I was makin’ it for you, Candy,” I say.

“Sometimes, we do not know where our talents come from. We just know what our talent is,” says Candy.

I quietly chuckle and pat Candy’s head. The kids are done decorating their eggs.

Linda claps her hand. “Okay, now that we’re all done with our eggs, how about an Easter egg hunt?” she asks.

The kids cheer and sound excited to do an egg hunt. I am kind of excited too.

“Umm, Linda, who’s goin’ to hide the eggs?” I ask.

The kids turn to me.

I chuckle nervously. “What, me?” I ask.

The kids nod.

I feel nervous. “We’re still doin’ it outside in the snow?” I ask.

Candy nods and passes me her eggs in a basket. The four boys pass their basket full of eggs to me. I look at their decorative eggs and they all look so beautiful. But not good as mine. Their eggs have crayons and marker drawings. Some of their eggs are colorful with color dye.

Linda hands me a basket with plastic eggs. I shake a plastic egg and they rattle.

“Do they have candy in them?” I ask.

Candy chuckles. “I can’t fit in those eggs,” she says.

“You know what I mean.” I chuckle.

Candy nods. “Yes, Linda put some candy in the plastic eggs,” she answers.

I put all the decorative boiled eggs in a large basket. None of the boiled eggs break or crack. I have another basket with plastic eggs. I walk out the front door and into the front yard.

I hide half of the eggs in the front yard. It stopped snowing. But there are still clouds in the sky. I shake my head and sigh.

I walk into my side of the duplex, through my house, and into the backyard. I hide the eggs in the backyard. I walk into the other back door and enter the kitchen. The four boys, Candy, Linda, and Bryan are waiting for me. I carry two empty baskets

“The eggs are in the front yard and the back. You have to look closely because they are in the snow,” I say.

The four boys put on their coats, gloves, boots, and winter hats. Tommy is wearing blue, Timmy is wearing red, Tim is wearing yellow, and Tom is wearing purple. Candy is wearing pink. Linda is wearing a green coat and Bryan is wearing a brown coat.

I am still wearing my blue jacket. Tommy, Tom, and Bryan walk to the back to look for the eggs. Linda, Timmy, Tim, Candy, and I walk to the front. Timmy, Tim, and Candy are searching for the eggs that are hidden in the snow. Linda stands next to me. We watch the kids playing in the snow and looking for hidden eggs.

“You are so good at it,” says Linda.

“Good at what, hidin’ eggs?” I ask.

“You are so good at making children happy,” says Linda.

“Yeah well, I love the little mate’s havin’ fun,” I say.

Linda and I smile while we are watching the kids having a fun time on this cold snowy Easter Sunday. Even though this morning is not what I expected, I am still having a great time today.

Something flickers in my eyes. I turn my head to the park. I see something shining in the snow across the street. I shrug my shoulders and look away. The flickering shine in my eyes again and it is getting annoying.

“Um, Linda, I’ll be right back. I think I left somethin’ in the park yestah'day,” I say.

“Be careful,” says Linda.

I nod and walk away. I do not run because the snow is cold and slippery. I walk towards the park. I cross the street and look both ways for any sign of cars. There are none in sight. I make it across the street and into the park. I keep my eye on the shining thing that is in the snow.

I am close to it. I grab the shining thing out of the snow.

“A Golden Egg,” I whisper.

The Golden Egg is see-through like glass. I stare at the Golden Egg for a little bit.

I raise the Golden Egg in the air. “Hello! Did anyone lose a Golden Egg?!” I ask.

No one in the neighborhood answers me.

“A Golden Egg! Who does this belong to?!” I shout.

Still, no one answers. I think someone lost it. I lower the Golden Egg back down.

“All right, let’s see how fragile this Golden Egg is,” I say.

I bang the Golden Egg on a rock, and nothing happens. I try crushing the Golden Egg with another rock, it does not break. It doesn’t even have a scratch. I notice something in the Golden Egg. It is a shiny yellow arrow. I see four shining yellow letters. They are N, S, E, and the letter W. It looks like a compass is in this Golden Egg.

“What are you?” I ask.

I put the Golden Egg in the pocket of my blue jacket, carefully walk back to the duplex, and make it to the front lawn. The children are done looking for the hidden eggs. Linda is counting how many eggs they found.

“Okay, you each have six eggs. That’s thirty. Candy you found twenty. That makes fifty eggs in total. Well done all of you,” she says.

I feel impressed that all of the kids found the eggs that I have hidden so very well.

Linda turns to me. “Did you lose something in the park, son?” she asks.

I grab the Golden Egg in my pocket. I was about to show Linda the Golden Egg, but I change my mind.

“No, not really,” I lie.

Linda, Bryan, Candy, and the four boys walk inside the left side of the duplex.

“Now let’s split the eggs evenly,” says Linda.

“I’m gonna go take a nap in my side of the duplex,” I say.

Linda nods. “Don’t rest too long, we’re going to have lunch soon,” she says.

“Wouldn’t miss it,” I say.

I walk into my side of the duplex. I close and lock the front door. I walk into my bedroom, take off my shoes, and sit on my bed.

I grab the Golden Egg and pull it out of my pocket. I stare at the shining compass in the Golden Egg. I turn the Golden Egg around and the shining compass does not move.

As I am holding the Golden Egg, the thought of my birth parents comes into mind.

I was not thinking about them before, but they just popped into my head. I don’t know if they abandoned me, gave me up, or died. With no memory of my birth parents, I begin to feel emotional knots in my stomach. My eyes begin to feel watery. I try to breathe normally so I will not cry. I drop my head and let out a quiet sob.

“Why am I feelin’ emotional right now? I haven’t felt this way for as long as I can remembah’. What does this Golden Egg have’ta do with my birth parents? Why am I emotional right now?” I ask myself.

I raise my head. The Golden Egg begins to glow in my hand. I stare at it. The golden light is so bright like the sun. It feels warm and blinding too. It is so bright it is lighting up my room. I am nervous about the Golden Egg glowing.

I don’t want anyone else to see the Golden Egg. I rush to my shirt drawer, open it, bury the Golden Egg inside, and slam the drawer shut. The glowing fades away. I sigh with relief and walk out of my bedroom.