Ellie the Easter Bunny is ecstatic. It is Easter Monday, her favourite day of the year!

It is also the busiest day of the year, delivering chocolate eggs to the world’s children. How on earth does she manage? She has a secret. Ellie is gifted with the ability to time travel.

It is a secret that the rabbits from the Great Beyond – a fairy-tale dimension – all share. They are born with the ability to go both back, and then forwards in time. She feels sorry for Planet Earth rabbits, who do not have this gift. Their lives must be so boring!

So time-travel ensures that Ellie can do the same hour again, and again, and again. That way, all the children receive their chocolate eggs at around the same time. Of course, she has helpers – assistant Easter Bunnies. They take a country of Planet Earth each. Her helpers are good; she is trying to decide who will take over as Head Easter Bunny when she one day retires. Perhaps Emerald the Eccentric Bunny. But that is a long way off yet.

This year, her nominated country is the United Kingdom. Ellie could not be more pleased. She loves the UK. However, there is somewhere she needs to visit first.

Gemstone Glade is full of merriment as Ellie arrives. Crystalline fairies fly among the trees and swim in the fountain.

Ellie smiles. “Welcome all! I have tiny fairy eggs for you.”

Ellie places a small basket of miniscule eggs on the ground. They are all the colours of the rainbow and more. The fairies flood the basket, laughing gleefully.

“Can we give you some trinkets for your big eggs? A special treat for some very special children? They can go inside each egg as a surprise!”

Ellie laughs. “Of course! I will make sure your presents go to some children in need of a superb surprise!”

However, Ellie is disappointed as the trinkets are laid at her feet. They are crystals – a piece of rose quarts, green malachite, purple lepidolite, snow quartz, dark blue sodalite, dark pink rhodonite, and green, blue and pink fluorite. Of course they are beautiful, but they are not incredible toys! However, she will hide each of them inside an egg as requested.

Little does Ellie know, these are magic crystals.

When Anna finds her rose quartz crystal inside her egg, she giggles with joy. As she holds it in her hands, it becomes hot. Anna drops the rose quartz on the floor, it is too hot. Then it starts to grow. Anna claps her hand over her face in surprise and delight. A magic crystal!

The crystal grows and grows, changing its shape and becoming … a large rose quartz doll’s house! Anna jumps up and down in joy. Inside the doll’s house, tiny rose quartz figures peer from the windows. Rose quartz furniture populates each room. This is so much more than an Easter egg. This is joy in physical form, happiness in a house, a poem of perfection.

When Neville opens his egg, he fingers the green malachite crystal furtively. He has never held a crystal before. It starts to burn his hands, so he drops it. As the malachite crystal lands on the floor, it starts to grow and take shape. The crystal turns in to a miniature fountain, with flowing green and sparkling waters. Neville laughs with heart-hugging joy. He does not know, but this is a tiny replica of the Gemstone Glade fountain, and of course the flowing water is magical. It is a master healer. Neville will never suffer from a cold again.

Meanwhile, Tina places her purple lepidolite crystal on her bedside table. To her silken surprise, it begins to grow and change shape, turning in to a minuscule piano. She claps her hands in stomach-tickling glee. Gently, Tina presses one of the tiny piano keys with her fingernail. A beautiful rendition of Mozart starts to play. It is a magic piano, with good taste in music! Tina could not be happier.

When Harry opens his egg, he is delighted to find the snow quartz crystal inside. He places it on his desk. Harry’s eyes widen in wonder as the crystal grows. It forms the shape of a small white lion, as large as an average ornament. Harry laughs. How strange but superb! A magic crystal … how did it know that lions are his favourite animal! That night, he awakes to find a full size lion looking over him. “I can take you on a magical adventure to Lion Universe!” Harry giggles. When he wakes in the morning, the lion is back to its normal size on his desk. He can scarcely remember riding on the lion’s back, running through verdant green valleys and meeting some special lion people. Perhaps it was all a dream. Perhaps he will never know.

Sheila fingers the dark blue sodalite crystal with gentle joy. Slowly, it not only grows bigger but breaks in to six parts. They take the shape of … a miniature tea set, complete with tea pot, cups, milk jug and sugar bowl. Sheila is delighted. As she pours the tea, magic blue water flows in to each cup. It is healing water. Sheila will never cry alone again.

Rebecca touches her dark pink rhodonite crystal with care and love. It is beautiful.  She opens her eyes in starry surprise as it grows in size, forming the shape – and the size – of a book. Rebecca laughs in delight. Cautiously, she opens the book, and reads a story about unicorns in somewhere called Gemstone Glade. That night, Rebecca dreams she is in Gemstone Glade, lying on the softest grass and watching the purple moon above. The next morning, she opens the book once more. This time it is a different story! It is about the adventures of fairy Rhodonite Rita. Rebecca laughs as she reads. She will never be bored again.

Fiona cradles the fluorite crystal in her palm. It is so beautiful, purple, green and pink intertwined like a piece of rainbow in quartz. Slowly, the crystal becomes warm. Then, it starts to grow. She places it on her pillow, in concern. But there is nothing to be afraid of. The crystal has turned in to a purple, green and pink teddy, with twinkling eyes! Fiona hugs the teddy, tears of happiness stroking her face. This is the best Easter present ever.

Ellie the Easter Bunny returns home at the end of her long day. She sorts her baskets and bags, to tidy them away. With surprise, she finds something at the bottom of the fairy egg basket. It is a large quartz crystal. She turns it in her paws, and as she does so, a picture appears inside the crystal. Ellie watches in alarm that changes to acute delight. She sees each child open their egg with the crystal inside, and then witnesses the metamorphosis of these crystals. She laughs loudly. Their joy is her Easter present, and it is better than any chocolate egg in the world. Because happiness is more addictive than chocolate. And happiness lasts forever with no crumbs.

(c) Can Stock Photo / Catmando

Floral perfume drifts on the breeze, an elixir of joy and peace. Peony neighs softly, enjoying the evening calm in Gemstone Glade. The fountain sparkles in the setting sun. Fairies fly through the trees, laughing. The world is alive with happiness.

Peony drops her horn to the fountain, shaking her head in glee. She loves Gemstone Glade. The healing properties of the fountain water fill her soul. She neighs again. In the distance, another unicorn returns her neigh. Then the glade is silent, with only the occasional punctuation of fairy laughter.

Peony is a child unicorn with a difference. She can breathe in flower pollen, and then breathe out tiny flowers. No one knows how she does it. This makes her feel weird at times. Why her? Why does she have this strange gift? But at other times, she is glad. It is great fun after all, seeing the flowers float far and away, to where she does not know.

She has heard that there are other unicorn children who had special gifts, which they lost as they grew older. Will this happen to her? She does not know.

She can feel pollen building in her nose like clouds overtaking a still summer sky. A few minutes pass, then tiny pink flowers erupt from her mouth, and fly high above. Where will they end up? She wishes she could see. But for now, she enjoys the vision of pink stars in the sky. She neighs softly. Perhaps her gift is not that bad.

*

Janet slowly walks through the wood, clutching her walking stick, bones aching as she moves. She recalls childhood days playing hide and seek here. A smile loiters on her lips. Happy memories. She is looking for the small glade where she made a doll’s house, so many fun hours there with her best friend Lucy.

Finally she finds it. Her own hidey-hole, still there. Her eyes open wide, delight shining within. There are flowers! The glade is speckled with tiny pink buds, a message of hope and a sign of enduring life. Janet laughs. Slowly, she sits down among the flowers, and cries. So many childhood memories, like flowers they are special but you have to keep them close, or they may simply float away.

Tears of joy fall and bathe the flowers.

Far away, in a larger forest glade, a child unicorn dreams of her flowers, and wonders where they are. We do not need to know the difference we make in the world, we just need to do it anyway. Like flowers, our actions fly far away and have outcomes we can never know or imagine. But believe, believe in your good deeds and one day, you too will be full of happy memories. Memories are forever, hidden treasures like a secret woodland glade at the centre of your heart.