The Easter Bunny

Braelyn’s P.O.V.

I sigh as I look at the long line of people waiting to see the Easter Bunny. This is the only day they have free pictures with him, so it’s the only day I can bring my daughter, Phoenix, to see him. I look down at her and smile. She just turned five, and she’s the light of my life. She has a head full of blonde curls and bright blue eyes. Whereas I have dark brown hair and hazel eyes. My sweet angel is the only good thing he ever gave me. Even thinking his name makes me angry.

“Mommy, is it almost my turn?” Phoenix asks.

“It’s going to be a little while longer, but don’t worry, we’re not leaving until you see him.” She smiles and stands on her tiptoes to try to see the Easter Bunny.

I have brought her to see him every year since she was a baby. She has been asking me for months if it was almost time for her to talk to the Easter Bunny. When I asked her why she was so excited, all she would say was that it was between her and the Easter Bunny.

Every time I look at Phoenix, I think of how close I came to losing her. I had been dating Cole for about six months when I found out I was pregnant. We always used a condom, but one of them obviously didn’t work. I was excited when I told Cole, but he became so angry that he screamed at me that I was trying to trap him. That’s when he told me that I meant nothing to him and that he was engaged to marry someone else. I was heartbroken, but I quickly realized that I wasn’t in love with him. He tried to force me to get an abortion, but I refused. I told him I didn’t want anything from him and I would raise my child on my own. I thought that was the end of it, but I was wrong.

When I was almost nine months pregnant, I was coming home from an appointment with my doctor. I could barely drive because my belly was so big, but I lived in Kelseyville, a rural part of Northern California, where there were very few other options. As I was driving along a twisting, winding road, a car hit me from behind. I looked in the rearview mirror and saw Cole in the driver’s seat. The look on his face gave me chills. I sped up, hoping to get away, but his car was faster. He hit me repeatedly, and I fought to keep my car on the road. We were going around a sharp turn, and Cole hit me just right to send my car over the cliff. I screamed and held my belly as my car went through trees and rolled onto its top. The windshield was broken, and I was able to get myself out before losing consciousness.

I don’t know how long I lay there until some hikers found me. They woke me up and called 911. I was screaming from the pain in my stomach. I was bleeding, so I thought I was losing my baby. When medics finally got to me, they had to deliver Phoenix where I was at the base of the cliff. Hearing her cries made me forget about all the pain I was in. She was perfect and unharmed. I had a broken arm, a broken leg, three broken ribs, multiple cuts and bruises, but knowing my little girl survived was all I cared about. I hadn’t chosen a name for her yet, but I decided to name her Phoenix because she was strong and lived through a horrific ordeal like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

Cole was arrested for attempted murder, and he’s currently serving his time in Folsom Prison. I decided I no longer wanted to live out in the middle of nowhere, so as soon as we were released from the hospital, I began making arrangements to move. I had been working as a receptionist at a skilled nursing facility and started looking for similar jobs. The issue I was having was finding one that paid enough to cover rent, my bills, and food. I eventually found a job at an assisted living facility in Elk Grove, California, that paid decently. I could only afford a studio apartment, but it was enough for my baby and me. Unfortunately, we are still in that apartment five years later because I still can’t afford anything bigger. That’s why we come to see the Easter Bunny on the one day we don’t have to pay for a picture.

“Mommy, it’s almost my turn,” Phoenix says excitedly. There are only two kids in front of us. I smile and try to tame her wild curls.

“You wait here, mommy, because I need to tell him a secret,” she says when it’s her turn. She walks over to the bench and sits beside the Easter Bunny. After smiling for her picture, she whispers something to him, and he looks at me. Oh, no, what did she say?