Annika's Easter

Annika's Easter

by Kirsten Miles

It was Easter Sunday when Annika finally woke up from a restless slumber. The sun peaked through the window in rays of warm light and the grass blew gently in the wind. Annika did not see the light or the vivid greenness of the grass, but she knew it was there.

Slowly, she lifted herself out of bed and felt the rough carpet on her feet. She walked two steps and reached out her arms, palms hitting the brokenness of the bumpy wall. Opening her eyes, she walked across the glazed wooden floor and opened the door.

She could already hear her brothers and sisters clamoring down the stairs, their voices laughing and ringing against the echoing farmhouse.

“Good morning, Annika!” said the sweet voice of her mother, Mrs. Holmberg.

“It’s Easter!” cried the little girl excitedly. “Are we going to go egg hunting?”

“Not until your father comes in,” her mother answered with a smile that kindled Annika’s heart, although she could not see it. They took each other’s hands and descended down the stairwell, a happy feeling of spring passing through Annika’s soul.

Feeling her way to the dining room, Annika sat at her seat just as her little sister came to give her a hug. Little Cara, who was only six, nestled in her lap as Annika played with her sister’s long hair. Closing her eyes, Annika felt her sister’s cheeks and her little nose, envisioning what she looked like. Annika could see her sister as plain as day with her hands, which had to be eyes for her.

“When are we going to hunt the eggs, Mommy?” asked Cara, her eyes wide with excitement, Annika knew.

Mrs. Holmberg laughed. “We’ll eat breakfast, and then when your father comes back inside, we’ll hunt for the eggs.”

“I don’t want to hunt for eggs,” complained Tommy, who was ten. “That’s for babies.”

“Well, you don’t have to hunt for eggs,” said Mrs. Holmberg. “You just won’t get any prizes.”

“I guess it’s not that babyish,” conceded Tommy with defeat. "Anyway, I'm gonna win all the prizes this year! You'll see!"

Annika lightly touched her plate with her fingers. She could feel the soft curve of the porcelain and the intricate carvings in the middle. Soon delicious, hot food would be sizzling on that very plate!

“When are the cousins coming?” asked Ingrid, who was twelve and Annika’s identical twin sister. 

“At about two o’ clock dear, and we have a lot to do,” said Mrs. Holmberg, quickly bustling around the kitchen, gathering scrambled eggs, hot apple bread, and bacon onto everyone’s plates. Annika knew that her mother’s face was bright red from exhaustion without having to see her.

“Clayton is going to show me how to play the guitar,” Tommy said with glee, anxious to see his cousin.

“Well Claire’s going to bring her doll collection and we can play house,” said Astrid, who was eight.

Annika listened to her family quietly, enjoying the sound of her family’s chatter and of her sibling’s laughter.

“Annika, you’re being awful quiet this morning,” observed Mrs. Holmberg. “Are you feeling all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” Annika answered with a smile. “The food smells so good! Ingrid, tell me, what’s on the plate and what does it look like?”

Ingrid, because she was Annika’s twin and best friend, was what their father called “her pair of eyes.” Ever since Annika went blind when she was five, Ingrid had been her sight.

“Well,” she began, “we’re having scrambled eggs. They’re yellow and they have spices on them. And the bread looks so fluffy and good! Can’t you smell how good it is? I hate bacon, but it’s on our plate, too, and looks real crispy.”

Annika tried to envision this feast. She still remembered most of the colors and had an idea of what things looked like, but the small stuff she could only try and imagine.

“I can’t wait until we hunt for the eggs!” whispered Cara in her ear, and Annika smiled in agreement.

~

Mr. Holmberg had come back into the house to eat, and the children had their egg hunt. When everyone had eaten enough eggs and chocolate rabbits to fill up on, Ingrid and Annika went into the kitchen to help their mother make the pound cake for the lunch.

Annika loved to help her mother bake because it made her feel useful. Oftentimes, since she went blind, Annika thought that she was a burden on her family, especially her parents, and she loved to help her loving parents as much as she possibly could. Baking was one of those things.

“All right,” Mrs. Holmberg said with a sigh, “Ingrid, look for the flour. It’s up there in the cabinet. Ok, now Annika, measure out 3 cups of it.”

Annika took the cup in her hands and poured the flour into the cup. It was powdery and soft, like feathers. It poured right through her slender fingers and into the bowl.

Ingrid, who watched with interest, now decided to take a little clump of the flour and slap it across Annika’s cheek.

“Hey!” she shouted, giggling uncontrollably, grabbing a handful of the powder and hovering it threateningly over Ingrid’s head.

“No, Mom, tell her to stop!” shouted Ingrid, both girls laughing.

“Girls, it’s time to get to work,” reminded Mrs. Holmberg. “We have to make church.”

So the girls got busy on their pound cake, laughing to each other like only twelve-year-olds can.

Soon, the cake was set in the oven and timed. It seemed as if hours had passed but really it was only nine o’ clock and time to go to church.

“I don’t feel like goin’ to church,” complained Tommy. “It’s so boring.”

“Tommy!” cried Mrs. Holmberg reprovingly. “That’s a nice statement to make on Easter morning!”

“Well it’s true,” Tommy whispered to Annika, who smiled in agreement.

So the big family set off in their Volkswagen van down the road to the little white church, where they opened bibles, sang hymns, and prayed, relearning the reason why people celebrate Easter. Annika liked church, even though the service would sometimes get long and it was very hot in the stuffy building. She enjoyed the sound of everyone’s voices meshed together, and the feel of the sun coming in from the glass windows.

Just like that special Easter day, Annika was brimming with hope. Springtime was here now, and it shed light upon the happy day. No longer would Annika have to wear her jacket and gloves- at least, not until next year. Annika felt renewed, as if she was waking up after a long sleep. 

When church was over, the Holmberg’s returned home feeling excited and happy. The cousins were on their way from their three hour drive to their house, and soon the farmhouse would be filled with the sound of happy voices and laughter!

As they were setting the table for dinner, someone snuck behind Annika. She knew at once that it was Cara because of her skipping steps. When Cara tapped her on the shoulder and shouted “BOO!” Annika pretended to be scared.

“Annika,” Cara said, “don’t you wish the cousins would hurry up and get here?”

Annika nodded and put the crackers on the table. “I do,” she answered. “But they’ll be here soon.”

When she first felt the crackers, she mistook them for bacon. But now that she put one into her hand, she could feel the flimsy hardness of them, like chips. Putting them into her mouth, she tasted the salt Mrs. Holmberg had sprinkled on them and the wheat flavoring in them.

“Look, everyone, I see a car!” shouted Tommy very suddenly.

Everyone immediately ran to the door and in walked Uncle Robert, Aunt Susan, and their three children, twelve-year-old Ruby, nine-year-old Clayton, and five-year-old Claire.

Everyone hugged and joked; catching up on everything they had missed within the few months they hadn’t seen each other. The adults sat in the living room and conversed while the kids ran out into the fresh spring air to play and talk. Clayton had brought his guitar and Annika listened to the string’s music contentedly.

“I haven’t seen you since Christmas!” Ruby declared, touching Annika’s hand lightly with her own.

“We have to hang out more,” Ingrid said. “Like, go to the movies or the mall or somewhere.”

“Did you know I went to Maui last month?” asked Ruby, her eyes sparkling. Annika knew they sparkled, for she could almost remember exactly what her cousin looked like, even from all those years ago.

“Oh, I’ve always wanted to go to Hawaii!” cried Annika. “You’re so lucky, Ruby.”

Annika heard Ruby shuffling into her pockets. “Look,” said Ruby.

“It’s gorgeous!” cried Ingrid.

“I got it on the Maui beaches,” Ruby explained. “See, Annika? It’s a-”

“Shh, don’t tell her,” Ingrid snapped. “Let Annika guess what it is.”

“Yeah, my mom wants me to practice using my sense of touch more,” Annika explained. “So that I can rely more on myself.”

Eagerly, she held out her hand as Ruby placed something hard in her palm. She felt spirals winding down as the object lessened in width. It was very smooth and in perfect proportions. And it smelled of sand and ocean.

“It’s a seashell,” Annika correctly guessed. “That wasn’t hard to guess. But it feels so nice and smooth.”

“You can have it if you want,” Ruby replied. “I have tons at home.”

“Really!?” cried Annika with delight. She loved anything that was from the ocean. “Thanks, Ruby! It sounds very cool.”

“It has pretty colors, too,” Ingrid said. “It’s like a creamy brown and white.”

Annika smiled with gratitude and carried the shell in her hands, turning the smoothness over and over again in her palms.

“Girls, do you want to play a game?” asked Clayton. The girls nodded. “All right,” he said. “I’m going to put this stone under all of these leaves. Now when I count to three, whoever finds it wins. Here, Annika, feel the stone.”

She felt it and nodded. Annika loved playing this game because she didn’t need her eyes to enjoy it.

“OK, on the count of three,” Tommy cried. “One-Two-Three!” and in a whirl, all of the children jumped into the leaves and searched for the stone. Annika dove to the bottom and felt around. All she could feel were dirt and twigs. She thought she had found it but it turned out to be just a stick, rough and almost rubbery. Cara was screeching so loudly in her ear that she could barely hear anything else.

“Did you find it?” Cara asked. “’Cause I can’t.”

“No,” Annika answered, digging with her hands. “Do you see anything?”

“No,” yelled Cara anxiously. “Where could it be?”

Then, almost as quickly as the game had started, Annika felt a hard rock at the bottom of the pile. It was round and very bumpy, yet it wasn’t sharp. Lifting it up, everyone cheered and declared that it was the stone.

“You’re good at this game,” sighed Claire. “You always win, Annika.”

Smiling at her triumph, the children ran indoors to eat the Easter dinner of ham, corn, salad, and, of course, eggs. Everyone was talking and laughing, and Annika never felt happier. The ham tasted delicious in her mouth and the cider flowed easily down her throat. Her family was here with her and everyone was having so much fun. Annika was sure she would never forget this day.

When it was time to clean up, Annika, Ingrid, and Ruby took in everyone’s plates and cups. Soaking them in water, they hand washed the silver forks, spoons, and knives, and even the delicate china plates.

Annika could tell that the window was open because she felt a cool spring breeze that touched her face and waved her hair. Carefully, Ruby handed her the sponge to clean with. It felt like a fuzzy animal in her hand, coarse as it cleaned the plates.

When the dinner was finished, everyone sat in the Holmberg’s peaceful parlor to talk, laugh, and eat a piece of cake. Annika listened to the sound of the birds calling to each other and to the chairs rocking back and forth. Ingrid and Ruby helped her find a place to sit and soon she was as relaxed and content as a cozy kitten.

Suddenly something happened. Annika had been listening to the laughter of the people around her, and she was shocked out of her daydreams to hear a loud crack on the ground and her little sister, Cara, crying hysterically from a distance.

Then the sound of feet scuffling, chairs moving, and everyone gasping.

“Oh, Cara, don’t cry!” said Aunt Susan.

“It’s all right, it was just an egg, sweetheart,” said Mr. Holmberg, laughing. “Every Easter, you have to have a cracked egg. It’s good luck!"

"No, it's not!" cried Cara, beginning to wail.

Annika jumped out of her chair and walked over to Cara, who was sobbing as if she had cracked the whole entire world instead of a little dyed Easter egg.

"I broke it!" Cara shrieked. "It's all my fault!"

Cara cried into Annika’s arms and Annika restrained from laughing. She didn’t want to hurt Cara’s feelings.

“Don’t be upset,” she cooed, as Mrs. Holmberg brought in some paper towels and handed them to Annika. “Dad’s right. A broken egg is good luck on Easter!”

“Really?” asked Cara, tears making Annika’s Easter dress wet.

“Of course it is,” she answered, cleaning up the eggs. One of her fingers brushed against it. The little broken pieces felt like little light-weighted nails; so tender and easy to crack. “Don’t think any more about it, Cara.”

"Anyway," said Uncle Robert, "We are reminded on Easter Sunday of how sometimes bad things can turn out good. Just like your cracked egg, Cara."

The family laughed at Cara’s mistake and soon Cara was laughing along with them. It was a silly, insignificant moment but it only added to the charm of Annika’s special Easter day. Soon, when all the cake had been eaten and the sunlight stopped shining onto Annika’s face, it was time for Uncle Robert, Aunt Susan, and the cousins to go home.

As Annika waved goodbye on the front porch, she felt a tug on her hand. It was little Clara.

“Did you have fun?” Annika asked her with a grin.

“Sure I did,” Cara answered. “Did you have fun?”

“Of course,” answered Annika suspiciously. “What’s the matter?”

“I was just wondering-” hesitated Cara. “Do you wish you could see, like everybody else?”

Annika thought about it and slowly answered. “No. God made me the way I am and that’s who I should be. I guess it would be easier sometimes, but because I can’t see, my other senses are even better than they would be if I could. No, I’m not sad that I’m blind.”

Cara hugged her older sister as they walked back inside. “And are cracked Easter eggs really good luck?”

Annika laughed. “Of course they are! But you know what’s even better than good luck?”

Cara shook her head.

“Family,” Annika answered with a smile, feeling satisfied with all that this special Easter day had brought her.