Psychosis

Chapter 40- Easter Eggs

Isabel looked around the garden she was in, holding a basket of eggs in one hand, one of the eggs in the other. It was her job to hide the eggs for the secret agents in training, and the one that found the most would get a reward for doing a good job. The secret agents were waiting for her to finish hiding the eggs. Isabel placed the egg in her hand down and looked at the remaining eggs in the basket. This was going to be fun.

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Ciara's arms were coated up to her elbows in flour, but she nearly smiled as she began kneading the dough onto the wax paper. The dough felt good on her sensitive skin, and she wished she could just knead the dough forever. But eventually, she had done enough kneading, and she rolled the dough out and began to cut out the pieces she knew she would need. It was Easter and a beautiful March day. The celebration was being held at Rossi's house, and Ciara was asked to bring something truly from Nebraska, so she was bringing runzas. Akilah was still asleep since it was early in the morning, but Ciara was so excited to make runzas that she had woken up before her routine dictated.

The hamburger was already browned and the rest of the ingredients were already laid out and portioned, so the only thing was to wrap it all in the dough and put them in the oven. She did as she had to do, and when the runzas were in the oven, she took what little extra dough there was and treated herself. Raw dough was one of Ciara's guilty pleasures, and sometimes she made dough that wasn't for baking, simply for eating. It was a treat that Ciara didn't let herself have very often because she never deserved it, but today she would let herself have some.

As the runzas cooked, she heard a commotion from Akilah's room, and she knew that the smell of the runzas had woken her from her slumber. Ciara looked around and cleaned up the kitchen a little bit before Akilah got there, knowing she'd be embarrassed by the mess that had been left. Akilah wasn't the neat freak that Ciara was, but she wasn't going to let herself be totally messy, either. Ciara finished cleaning up just as Akilah stumbled into the kitchen, holding her head. Ciara silently went and got an aspirin from the medicine counter, poured a glass of water for Akilah, and handed her both objects.

"Rough night, huh?" Ciara asked.

"You have no idea," Akilah responded. "But what smells so good?"

"Runzas!" Ciara proudly exclaimed, and Akilah looked to where the oven was running.

"It's eight in the morning, Ciara. Won't they be cold by the time we get to wherever we're going?" Akilah asked, and Ciara shrugged.

"I can heat them up. And it's called Easter, just so ye know," Ciara answered, and Akilah nodded, taking the pill and drinking the water.

"What is Easter, exactly?" Akilah wondered, and Ciara looked at her with a curious look.

"Do ye want the religious answer or the other answer?"

"Other, then religious."

"Well, on Easter, there's this fictional bunny that comes and leaves eggs for the kids to find, and then the kids go out and find the eggs. These eggs usually have candy inside. It's good fun for the children," Ciara explained, before looking back at the oven, away from Akilah. Ciara didn't have very fond memories of Easter. She had never gotten to hunt for Easter eggs as a kid, and now it was too late for her to make up those memories.

"And the religious answer?"

"On Easter we celebrate Jesus rising from the dead after He was crucified," Ciara answered simply, but Akilah asked for the whole story. And so Ciara told her how Jesus was betrayed by Judas and was arrested and how He was made fun of by the guards and forced to wear a crown of thorns. Ciara told her of how He carried His own cross up the hill and how they put nails in His hands and feet and how He slowly died on the cross. She told her of how He was put in the tomb and Akilah looked at her with wonder when she told her how three days later Jesus rose from the dead. Ciara told her the entire story, and Akilah listened intently the entire time. "And now our sins are forgiven because Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice."