Here Comes Pretty Cottontail

HERE COMES PRETTY COTTONTAIL

Here comes Pretty Cottontail, hoppin' down the bunny trail, hippity hoppity, Easter's on its way..."  Pretty softly sang to herself as she excitedly made her way through the vegetable patch.  "Bringin' ev'ry girl and boy, a basketful of Easter joy, things to make your Easter, bright and gay...'

Things were different at Easter Headquarters this year ever since Uncle Peter unexpectedly went to the big vegetable patch in the sky.  Luckily, Uncle Peter had been preparing Pretty to take his place.  She had known what would be expected of her one day ever since she was a small bunny.

"She's got jelly beans for Tommy, colored eggs for sister Sue, there's an orchid for your mommy and an Easter bonnet too.  Oh!"  Pretty continued to sing her favorite song, only this time, not as softly, "Here' comes Pretty Cottontail, hoppin' down the bunny trail, hippity hoppity, Happy Easter Day!"

Out of her litter, she was the one that showed the most interest, the most passion, for what it was to be the Easter Bunny.  She followed Uncle Peter around as soon as Easter preparations began, which started a little after the first of the New Year.  Now, she hoped she could live up to Uncle Peter's expectations!  Easter was only a week away!

"Look at her hop and listen to her say, 'Try to do the things you should,' maybe if you're extra good, she'll roll lots of Easter eggs your way!"  Pretty now was belting out the song and added in little hops and leaps, "You'll wake up on Easter morning, and you'll know that she was there, when you find those choc'late bunnies that she's hiding ev'rywhere, Oh!"

So many children were counting on Uncle Peter, now her, to deliver Easter baskets brimming with Easter Eggs, chocolates, jellybeans and other Easter sweets and gifts.  Come Sunday, she will not disappoint!

"Here' comes Pretty Cottontail, Hoppin' down the bunny trail, Hippity hoppity, Happy Easter Day-ay--ay-ay!"  She finished the song with a long leap, pirouette, pose and jazz hands.

"Yea, yea, whatever," muttered Mikey, one of the worker bunnies.  He yawned, stretched and scratched himself in the early morning sun before disappearing down the rabbit hole that led into the lair that is known as Easter Headquarters.

"Humph!" Pretty crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at his disappearing back.  There are some who don't know how to enjoy the simple pleasures in life!

"Pretty, Pretty!" Daisy, a worker bunny, called out franticly.  Her voice could be heard echoing out of the rabbit hole along with a brief scuffle with Mikey.

"You move it!"

"No you move it!"

"Pretty!" Daisy yelled again and scampered out of the hole.  She ran over to Pretty breathlessly. "Pretty!"

"What's wrong?" Pretty asked concerned.

Daisy righted her skewed bonnet and took a moment to catch her breath.  "It's just horrible! It's the eggs!  The pinks are too pale and the yellows are just a horrid color!  They are not yellow at all!" Dramatically she put an arm to her forehead and leaned back. "Easter is on the verge of being ruined!"

"Settle down!" Pretty demanded.  For years she and Uncle Peter have been dealing with Daisy's dramatics.  "Easter has never been ruined nor shall it ever be!  Let's go have a look at the dye baths."  Pretty was the premier expert at dyes.  She started her worker bunny career in the dye baths room.  She loved formulating dye batches from age-old recipes.

Down below ground, Easter Headquarters was buzzing with activity.  Huge growing stacks of decorated baskets lined the walls of the main room.  As they walked through the candy room, worker bunnies were busy unmolding chocolate eggs and covering them with colorful foil and unmolding chocolate rabbits and boxing them.  The next room contained the dye baths.  Huge cauldrons of a variety of colors filled half of the room.  The other half was filled with egg drying racks.  Eggs of all colors of the rainbow were spread out among the racks.  Dried eggs were carefully packed with dry ice in apple baskets and stored in the coldest room in Easter Headquarters.

Eek!  Pretty had to admit that the yellow eggs were not the shade of yellow found on the rainbow.  Very, very far from it!  This "yellow" appeared to be a mix of turmeric, spinach, coffee and also, well, that was anyone's guess.  The pink eggs were pale but that should be an easy fix.

"The yellow is a complete disaster!" Daisy struck another arm-to-the-forehead pose. "Oh, such a shame, such a shame..."

"I think some of the measuring bowls weren't clean when the dye was made." Pretty turned to look at all the worker bunnies in the room.  "It's very important to make sure all equipment is dean and stirrer spoons are kept separated!  This batch can't be fixed.  It all needs to be dumped and the cauldron scoured.  Make sure all measuring cups, bowls and stirrers are cleaned before making another batch.  Someone needs to check on the supply of turmeric.  As for the pink, I think one very strong batch needs to be made.  Double the beet amount only.  Then add it to the cauldron and see bow it is.  If it is still too light, just soak the eggs a little longer.  I'd hate to use a little coffee for darkener at this point.  A bit of the brown coffee dye should only be added as a last resort."

The worker bunnies all scampered in different directions to do her bidding.

Pretty returned to the candy room. "How is everything? Is each batch being sampled?"

"Yes, everything is running smoothly.  The chocolate is of the finest quality." Buster answered. He had been making chocolate since be was a young bunny.

"Everything is flawless," Buster's eager apprentice Cody answered.  He had a clipboard and pen in hand.  He quickly made notes and flipped pages to refer to notes from previous years.

Pretty reached over and plucked a chocolate off the assembly line to sample.  She found it to be milky and smooth. "Perfect!"

"Yes, perfect!" echoed Cody.  He stood at attention and all but saluted her. "Nothing but the best comes from Easter Headquarters, Pretty!"

Pretty nodded enjoying his exuberance.  Perhaps he can eventually become her apprentice...

She returned to the main room.  Worker bunnies brought in another load of Easter baskets.  Next she went in the basket room and lent a hand with Easter basket assembling and decorating.  All baskets must be finished in the next few days so they can be begin the filling process.

As Pretty started to attach a handle to a basket, she began humming her favorite song.  The other work bunnies took that as a cue and joined in.

"Here comes Pretty Cottontail, hoppin' down the bunny trail, hippity hoppity, Easter's on its way!..."

Easter is truly the best holiday ever!