SinEaster: A Novel Read online

CHAPTER 8

  The Easter Bunny’s Riddle

  “And now,” said Princess Megan, “let’s keep this thing moving and go on to the next challenge. The Easter Bunny has prepared a riddle. Now, before he recites it, I would advise you all not to shout out the answer, because everyone who gets the right answer will get two points. And incorrect answers subtract two points. You can write the answer down, when the time comes, but you’ll have plenty of time to think about it, because I’m gonna wait until after your quests before I start taking your answers. Now, Easter Bunny, are you ready?”

  He replied, “Yep, I sure am.” He walked, then stood beside the Princess in front of Charlee, Deon, and Silvia.

  The Easter Bunny looked like a six-foot-tall man inside a bunny costume, except he wasn’t. And his face moved around like the real, living creature he was, rather than staying frozen in a grin. In fact, the Easter Bunny wasn’t smiling at all. He almost seemed to be scowling.

  “Here is my riddle,” he said.

  Then he recited these words:

  I’m a statue flattery,

  Whose taste is sweet.

  Becoming hollow mockery,

  My light, you eat.

  My sound, you eat as well.

  I wish you straight to hell,

  But just a frozen, Easter smile, you greet!

  What am I?

  “And that was my riddle,” he said.

  “Thank you,” said Princess Megan.

  The Princess addressed Charlee, Deon, and Silvia: “Now it’s time to move onto the next challenge. You have each been provided a quest, and if you return, you will then have the chance to answer the riddle.”

  At this point, both Deon and Silvia blurted out the same words, which were: “If? What do you mean if?”

  “Well,” said the Princess. “The quests are a little dangerous, but you are each perfectly suited for your particular quest, because you are the Chosen Ones, and your specific abilities will help you. In fact, you are the only ones who can complete the quests. You each must go, alone, on a hunt for an ancient relic, and you must also find out the answer to one of Easter Land’s mysteries of history. You will receive two points for each of your two goals, for a possible total of four points. And after you return, I will ask you for your answers to the Easter Bunny’s riddle. And after that, the winner will be decided. Your quests begin on various parts of Easter Land. We will wait here for your return. But first, I’d like you to read a short, informative paper I put together, just so we can all be on the same page. There are three things in the paper: a brief history of Easter Land, a copy of the prophesy poem, and a summary of the contest. The prophesy poem was originally discovered on a page torn from the Corruptanomicon, which was discovered by the Easter Bunny. The page was later lost in SinEaster River on a warship during the Great War. Pages from the Corruptanomicon tend to disappear a lot. Oh, and I’m the one who wrote the history of Easter Land. I tried to keep it simple for you. And the contest summary can help you keep score. Anyway…”

  Princess Megan collected the notepads, then reached into her Easter basket, then handed out some sheets of paper to the three Chosen Ones. They took a few minutes to read them.