Booby Trap

What could have happened on April 3, 202X:

“Wanna use my telescope?”

Carrying around a tote full of plastic Easter eggs, Tessa scanned the park as if she was a pirate looking for a place to bury her doubloons. Her little brother trailed behind her, playing with the newest gadget their uncle had handed down to him; a nautical, brass telescope.  

The springtime rain had turned Peterson Park into marshland. The egg hunt had been rescheduled once already due to the weather, and the local sponsor was not willing to postpone it again. So, Tessa and her brother trudged through the slick grass in their rubber boots while the pieces of candy inside of the eggs rattled.

“No, I’m not a dweeb like you, Josh,” Tessa grumbled, heading purposefully across the playground to the swing set where she laid a blue egg in the seat. It wobbled over and into the soggy mulch below. Tessa nimbly picked it up and replaced it. It rolled off again.

Josh snickered as he pointed his telescope at the parking lot.

“You’re not much help, you know that?” Tessa said breathlessly between strands of stray blonde as she hunched over to pick the egg up. “You’re just daydreaming.”

“No, I’m trying to help you!” Josh exclaimed, lowering the telescope from his eye.

“Too bad you’re just a couple years too old now. You don’t get to have any fun,” Tessa sneered and began walking in a new direction.

Other volunteers in rainboots plodded through the mushy grass, pressing eggs into bushes and patches of clovers. The egg hunt was divided into two age groups: one-to-four and five-to-nine. Volunteers hiding for the younger children simply dropped the eggs in the grass like breadcrumbs for geese. Tessa had the privilege of hiding eggs for the older children who could do more than waddle; children who could actually hunt.

With his scope aimed at a female volunteer, Josh slipped in the mulch, almost falling into Tessa like a bowling ball.

“Be careful,” she snapped. She jiggled the remaining two eggs in her tote: one red and one violet. Taking the red egg from the bag, she nestled it under the slide.

“I can’t help that it’s so slippery,” Josh complained as he straightened himself. “You pick the dumbest spots, Tess. Even a possum—and they’re basically blind by the way—”

“It’s fine. You should’ve stayed home.”

“Mom wouldn’t let me stay home by myself, remember?”

“I should’ve left you anyway.”

As she wandered around the playground, Tessa spied another volunteer, Katie, a spindly girl she’d played junior varsity volleyball with, hiding eggs for the older children, too. It looked like she’d beat Tessa to all the interesting spots: the inside of the tire on the tire swing, under the seat on the low end of the seesaw, in the water fountain….

During volleyball season, Tessa played mostly in Katie’s shadow, or at least it felt that way. Tessa merely paced back and forth like a hungry lion cub waiting for a chance to gnaw the bones of fresh prey. Anytime Tessa saw the ball sailing toward her position, it seemed Katie would dash in front of her and slam the ball back across the net while Tessa stood despairing, her spirit as thin and brittle as an autumn leaf. Eager to one-up Katie in any way she could no matter how petty, Tessa tried to hide her eggs in more creative ways and challenging places.

Noticing Tessa’s stillness as she surveyed the playground dotted with colorful eggs, Josh focused his telescope on the other side of the park, pointed and cried, “Over there!”

Tessa rolled her eyes. “That’s enough, Josh, put that stupid thing away. I don’t believe you can see a thing.”

Josh practically jumped up and down with enthusiasm, his hazel eyes pleading. “No, really, I promise!”

Tessa shook her head. “I already know where I’m going to put this one.”

“Come with me, I’ll show you,” Josh begged. “Look through the scope!”

Exhaling heavily through her nose, Tessa held out her palm. Maybe Josh was keener than she assumed. With a sideways glance at Katie, Tessa said. “Okay, let me look, Josh. Show me.”

Rain jackets flapped like capes as the children sprinted around the playground, plunking eggs from the grass, shrubbery, and trees. Parents clapped and hollered as if it were a little league game, encouraging their children to “keep looking” and “share the eggs.”

Standing back with the other volunteers, Tessa eyed the violet egg Josh had helped her place.

Eventually, as the rain transformed from a mist to a shower, several children stopped running and started cracking open the eggs and unwrapping the foil on the chocolate under the roof of the gazebo. A few continued to tiptoe around as if the sound of their footsteps might frighten the eggs away.

“They don’t see it,” Josh whispered excitedly to Tessa.

Tessa gave him a lopsided smile and pulled her windbreaker tighter around her. The air was thick with cool mist, coating her face like sea spray.  

Finally, there were only two children scavenging the park like catfish on the bottom of a creek, unwilling to give up before every egg was found. A girl in pink Minnie Mouse boots, maybe seven, strode toward a row of purple tulips. Her basket was almost full; it seemed she was looking for just one more egg to top her pile like a cherry on a sundae.

“Oh no…” Josh said. “I’ll bet anything she doesn’t find it.”

The girl crouched down and parted the flowers with her thin fingers.

“Something over there, Julia?” A woman called over, holding her hood around her face. “See it? Is it the last one?”

In a matter of seconds, the little girl snatched the violet egg from between the dripping tulip leaves. She held it high, and flashed a brilliant smile, about half-an-inch between her two front teeth. “Here’s one! I found one!” she squealed.

“No!” Josh raised both arms in a mixture of cheer and defeat.

“I found it, I found it!” The girl ran at full speed to the woman, the egg still pinched between her fingers.

Some of the volunteers and parents applauded her, in part because they were thankful they could finally take shelter from the rain.

Tessa threw an arm around Josh. “I guess it was a good spot after all, little guy. I mean, it wasn’t as good as my idea but, whatever. I just wanted them to have fun.”

--

What actually happened on April 3, 20XX:

“Wanna use my telescope?”

Carrying around her tote full of plastic Easter eggs, Tessa flashed her eyes around the park like a lighthouse shining on the tide. Josh followed her, retracting his monocular telescope their uncle had given to him for his birthday.  

The intermittent rainfall had transformed the playground into a waterpark. As Tessa and Josh marched through the grass and mulch, the eggs clinked like coins.

“No, I’m not a dweeb, Josh,” Tessa grumbled. She positioned a blue egg in the seat of a swing. It fell over and into the pit of mulch below. Reaching down, she picked it up and carefully laid it back on the seat as if she were tucking a child in bed. It rolled off again.

Josh sang, “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dum—"

“You’re not much help, you know that?” Tessa said, plucking the egg from the moist ground. Her fingers were gritty from the mulch. “Too bad you’re just a year too old now. You don’t get to have any fun,” Tessa teased and started off somewhere else.

With his scope aimed at a female volunteer, Josh slipped in the mulch, almost falling into Tessa.

“Be careful!” Tessa snapped. She jiggled the remaining two eggs in her tote: one red and one violet. She crawled underneath the slide and nestled the violet egg there. Taking her last egg from the tote, she tossed it up in the air like a beanbag.

“I can’t help that it’s so slippery,” Josh complained. “You pick the dumbest spots, Tess. Even a baby who can’t walk yet could find the eggs you’re hiding. Even a chipmunk…”

“It’s fine. You should’ve stayed home.”

“Mom wouldn’t let me stay home by myself, remember?”

“I should’ve left you anyway.”

Fuming, Tessa watched Katie deliberately place eggs around the playground, some in spots Tessa wish she’d come up with first. Katie was always there first.

Nudging Tessa out of her envious thoughts, Josh aimed his telescope and cried, “Over there!”

Tessa sighed and followed Josh’s finger across the park. “Where?” Tessa groaned, her palms facing upward with confusion. “I don’t believe you can see anything through that stupid thing.”

“Come with me, I’ll show you,” Josh implored her. “Look through the scope!”

Tessa rolled her eyes and stomped away. She chewed her lip, letting her eyes roam over the play equipment until she spotted the perfect spot, a spot Katie had not even thought of.

Smirking to herself, Tessa headed off in a new direction while her brother waved his telescope and urged her to follow him instead, calling, “There’s a better spot, I promise!”

Raindrops pattered on their hoods as the children sprinted around the playground, dropping eggs into their baskets.

Standing back with the other volunteers, Tessa eyed the egg she’d hid so expertly, perched on top of the jungle gym; a metal dome, constructed of bars that formed triangles.

Eventually, the children stopped running and only meandered, checking the same places over and over again.

“They don’t see it,” Tessa whispered excitedly to Katie who stood next to her. “It’s hidden really well, I guess.”

“Oh, where is it?” Katie giggled. “I’m sure they’ll find it, they’re good.” Yes, but I’m better, Tessa thought, an impish smile spreading on her lips.

A little girl in pink Minnie Mouse rainboots, maybe seven, started toward the jungle gym. She giddily swung her basket, eager to find just one more egg.

“She’s going to get it, Tessa. I told you it was a bad spot,” Josh sulked.

The girl started up the jungle gym. Her boot slipped from the first bar.

“Julia! Come down from there!” A woman called, her face contorted with worry.

The little girl didn’t acknowledge her. Instead, she lifted her foot and planted it, more firmly this time, on the metal bar. She drug her basket up the dome with her, the eggs inside bouncing.

“Julia!” the woman yelled after her again. But the girl climbed even higher, reaching for one bar and then the next with determination.

The other children hastily retreated to their parents either because they had assumed there were no eggs left to find or because the rain had suddenly become heavier.

Huffing, the little girl neared the top where Tessa had placed the red egg. Her thin fingers wrapped around the bars.

“There’s one here!” she yelled. She snatched the egg and held it high. Droplets rolled over her grinning face.

Tessa could feel nothing but her skin flushing with anxiety.

“Get down from there! Slow! Carefully!”

As the girl twisted around, her foot slipped, and her knee collided with the bar. Ding her head hit smack on the steel, and she tumbled all the way down the jungle gym to the damp mulch. The thud from the girl’s fall reverberated inside Tessa’s skull like a pulsing headache. The red egg laid inside the jungle gym like a vicious, caged beast. The rest of the girls’ eggs had spilled from her basket.

The woman screamed and kicked up the mulch as she tore across the playground. The little girl lay unmoving and wheezing like an animal struck by a car.

Stunned, Tessa would later hopelessly explain to the event organizers while EMTs attended to the girl: “I-I just wanted them to have fun!”