Our Little Adventure at EASTER
Written &
Illustrated
by Tabitha Paige
At the edge of the woods, near a weathered old barn, Red Hen clucked to gather her friends ’round the farm.
Every year before Easter, she’d fill up a crate with eggs for her friends to help decorate.
Horse, Cow, and Pig came in with smiles to color the eggs in their favorite styles.
For the rest of the day, until it was night, they painted the eggs with joy and delight.
While the animals slept, the eggs dried in the hay.
But the next morning, Red Hen clucked in dismay.
“Our beautiful eggs,” she cried with a squawk.
“They’re gone!” peeped the Chicks, who sat there in shock.
“Easter
is spoiled. Oh, what a sad day. Our egg hunt is ruined!” Horse said with a neigh.
But behind the old barn, near the forest’s edge, Rabbit popped up from behind a small hedge.
She’d heard all the fuss about eggs disappearing, then saw tiny tracks at the edge of the clearing.
The prints led away from the farm to a tree, where three young raccoons eyed the eggs gleefully. .
One raccoon smiled, “Look what we found! Colorful treasures that roll on the ground.”
Rabbit laughed and said, “Those eggs weren’t for play!”
Then she handed them acorns to brighten their day.
But her smile turned to worry, then faded in dread, when she spotted the paint where the raccoons had tread.
The raccoons had rolled the eggs all around, smearing paint across twigs and leaves on the ground.
“We’re sorry,” they said. “We just wanted to play! But berries make paint—here, you can still save the day!”