Easter at Uncle Danny's



The laughter of kids filled the air as Uncle Danny blew the horn for the beginning of the annual Easter egg hunt. Shrieks of younger cousins, nephews and nieces danced in my eardrums as they frolicked about, searching the grass and bushes of my uncle’s property for those colorful little eggs. Alas, I had just turned sixteen, and had finally grown out of those childish habits. The last few years I went along with the little ones’ pleas, and I would join them in their hunt. But times had changed, and I was more interested in more grown up things, like getting to eat at an actual table this year and not some little pull out poker table that was too short for my teenage body.

“So, you saw the new changes?” Jacob asked me with an overwhelming hint of sarcasm. Jacob and I got along very well, despite the three year age gap. We played a lot of games together online, so when my family made the yearly spring trip up to his house, I was excited to get to talk with him face to face. We were sitting in the living room chatting about one of our favourite games, pawing through the buckets of treats that the Easter Bunny had left for us.

I finally decided upon a boxed chocolate bunny. Whilst explaining my disdain for a recent game patch, I popped open the cardboard top and turned the box sideways, letting the brown replica slide out into my hand. I looked up at my cousin. “You ain’t gonna lecture me on ‘ruining my dinner?’”

Jacob laughed, then waved his hand. “I couldn’t give less of a damn, go for it.”

I chuckled as well, then chomped into the head of the chocolate mass. My teeth broke through its surface immediately, and my heart jumped at the surprise - guess I didn’t see that it was hollow. Cheap companies, why make a chocolate bunny if you’re not gonna-

That’s when I hit the liquid. It was gooey and thick, like a maple syrup of some kind, so I thought it was a filling. But then came the taste - metallic. After that, the feeling of some stringy, fibrous mass getting stuck between my teeth. My brain raced to try and understand the weird collection of textures and tastes that were rushing at me, and when I couldn’t, I spit out whatever I already had onto the floor.

Meat. Meat and blood were staining my uncle’s living room carpet. I stared into that bunny’s neck, seeing the dripping crimson ooze coming out. I tried to tell myself that it was just filling, strawberry jam, raspberry, cherry, but the taste only solidified in my mouth the longer it went on, and I was nearly in tears as I came to the truth.

“Oh, Peter! No more of that, dinner’s ready! You’ll spoil your appetite!”

I whipped my head around to see my Aunt Lindsey standing over me, her arms posed on her hips in the manner adults do when they’re upset about something. I pointed to the bunny trying to explain how horrific the situation was, but I could only sputter as she grabbed my arm and gestured for Jacob to follow. “Oh, come along you two. Now Peter, I know you’re sixteen this year, which means you get to join us at the adult table. Isn’t that nice?”

My mouth still struggled to make sounds as Lindsey took us into the dining room, but it finally gave up trying. A man was strewn out across the table; his thighs in my mother and father’s mouths, his arm on my grandmother’s plate, and his head and torso naked and burned in the centre of the table. Uncle Danny was cutting into the man’s back with a fork and knife. I watched as he took the piece, placed it on his plate, then smiled at me. “Petey! Come on, have a seat.”

I couldn’t move, so Lindsey did that part for me. She seated me down across from my father, and Jacob sat to my left as Danny cut him a piece too. When the meat landed on my plate, I was paralyzed in disgust and horror. It took every ounce of me not to puke there and then at the table. My eyes darted up and down the table, seeing every monster there with their hands clasped together as Danny gave grace.

“This is my body, which will be given up for you…”