Easter Day dawned warm with the sun shining and the birds singing in the trees. Herring Gull Harry arrived at Errol’s house bang on the dot of midday.
As Errol opened the door, he was greeted by what can only be described as a blaze of colour.
“Morning, what do you think of my hat, Errol?” said Herring Gull Harry seeing Errol’s look of surprise.
“It’s, it’s – well, it’s certainly different Harry. Very, um, colourful,” replied Errol.
Indeed, that was exactly what the hat was; a riot of colour. Herring Gull Harry had taken a straw hat and covered the crown of the hat with blue tissue paper – the sky Errol guessed – and the brim with green tissue paper – the grass. All around the edge of the crown were pipe cleaners wrapped up in green tissue paper which were the stems of daffodils which had been made out of yellow card and each had a bright orange circle stuck in the middle to make them more life-like.
But it was not this that had caught Errol’s attention, it was the black and yellow round object stuck in the middle of the hat. It looked like a liquorice allsort! It had two black bits poking out of it like antenna but that, Herring Gull Harry explained, was his masterpiece – a bumble bee. “I thought it would make it more life-like,” said Harry.
“Oh you have achieved that alright,” said Errol, trying to keep a straight face.
“So what does your Easter hat look like, Errol?” said Herring Gull Harry eagerly. He had been trying to get Errol to tell him what his hat was going to look like but for some reason known only to himself, Errol had stayed very quiet on this subject which only made Herring Gull Harry more curious and more determined to find out what he had been up to.
Errol went into his sitting room and picked up a large box and carried it gently out to Herring Gull Harry’s car. “All in good time,” he said as he saw Herring Gull Harry looking eagerly at the box.
“But why can’t I see it, Errol, I’ve shown you my hat,” he said, disappointment.
“Because, as I have said before, Harry, it’s a secret.”
“Even to me? Your best friend? You are such a spoil sport sometimes,” he grumbled in reply.
They arrived at Bluebell Meadow in good time as guests were starting to arrive for the Easter Egg hunt. The meadow was covered in a carpet of bluebells that looked very pretty on this particular afternoon with small clusters of primroses here and there interrupting the sea of blue. Around the edge of the meadow were some chestnut trees just starting to come into leaf after the long winter.
Errol and Herring Gull Harry walked along the path to the other side of the meadow where the carpet of bluebells ended and grass took over, Errol carefully carrying his cardboard box. Uncle Wilf had laid down some rugs on the grass and to one side he had set up four trestle tables which groaned with food and drink. Just about anything you could think of was there from worm sandwiches to mosquito cookies and Errol’s latest passion– fly cupcakes.
As they approached the picnic, there was no sign of Uncle Wilf so Errol sneaked up to the table and was just about to take a cupcake when …
“ERROL, what are you up to?”
Guilty, Errol jumped a mile out of his skin and turned around holding a cupcake in his hand. Uncle Wilf was emerging from the back of his car with a tray full of cookies. “Um, just thought I would try them out, Uncle Wilf. After all, it would be a tragedy if the cupcakes did not quite come up to scratch!”
“Thanks for your help but there is nothing wrong with the cupcakes, now do not touch any more,” said Uncle Wilf putting the tray down on the table and admonishing him with a wagging finger.
More guests were arriving for the Easter Egg Hunt and hats of all sizes and descriptions appeared too being worn by very excited, froglectric owners.
Still, Herring Gull Harry noticed that Errol had not revealed his Easter hat and curiousity was getting the better of him. “Aren’t you going to put on your Easter hat, you’re the only one not wearing one,” he said.
“All in good time, Harry, all in good time” said Errol as he watched the other frogs appearing. So far, he had seen none had touched the sheer genius of his hat which he was secretly delighted about.
He was also looking out for his sister, Flora, and his nephew, Freddie, who was five years old. Freddie, in particular, had been looking forward excitedly to hunting for Easter eggs for weeks now.
Finally, after a few more moments, he spotted them walking along the path. Freddie walking and running a few paces in front of his mother with his arms outstretched and a model aeroplane in one hand. Every so often he would do a circle of his mother and then run back out in front of her.
When he spotted Errol, he ran right up to him and then around him in a large circle before stopping and saying, “hello, Errol”.
“What’s this?” said Errol looking at the areoplane in his hand.
“Freddie’s latest passion,” explained Flora as she joined them slightly out of breath. “Hello, Errol, how are you?” she said planting a kiss on his cheek. “Hello, Harry, keeping well?”
“I’m good,” replied Herring Gull Harry.
“I’m going to be a pilot when I grow up,’ said Freddie now running in large circles around the three of them.
“Oh do stop doing that, Freddie,” said Flora, “all these circles you keep running are making me dizzy. Now, I wonder if Uncle Wilf would like some help,” she said and wandered off in the direction of the food.
“Errol?” said a young voice.
“Yes, Freddie.”
‘Where is your Easter hat? Shouldn’t you be wearing it or are you not taking part in the competition?” said Freddie hopefully. If Errol wasn’t then that meant there was more chance of him winning which, as you can imagine, pleased Freddie. He had made a hat of Easter eggs which he had coloured in in different colours and patterns and some even had glitter on them.
“My question exactly,” said Herring Gull Harry, “I am with you there, Freddie. You can’t keep us in suspense for much longer, Errol.”
“Oh, I think you’ll find that I can,” said Errol taking another cupcake and eating it while Uncle Wilf was not looking.
Indeed, Uncle Wilf had gone to his car and emerged a few seconds later with a megaphone. He walked back to the rugs and looked at all the frogs who had arrived.
He lifted the megaphone to his mouth and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, can I please have your attention.”
Indeed, Uncle Wilf had gone to his car and emerged a few seconds later with a megaphone. He walked back to the rugs and looked at all the frogs who had arrived.
He lifted the megaphone to his mouth and said, “ladies and gentlemen, can I please have your attention.”
A hush fell over those assembled and everyone looked expectantly at him. “Thank you,” he said, “I now declare the Easter Egg hunt open. As those of you who have been here before know, there are eggs of all different shapes and sizes hidden away in this meadow. You have five minutes to find as many as you can and the winner who finds the most will get a special prize. However, I must insist that you wear your Easter hats.
A chorus of, “wow,” went up from the young frogs and at the sound of the horn, they all hopped off in different directions, determined to find as many Easter eggs as possible and win the prize.
While the children were running around, the parents sat on the rugs chatting to each other while Flora made sure that everyone had a cup of tea.
“That includes you, Errol,” said Uncle Wilf, who, like everyone else, was curious as to why Errol was not wearing his hat. Normally, he was the first frog to be showing off if he had made something new to wear.
Errol walked over to where he had put the cardboard box and opened it up. He then carefully lifted out what looked like a dark brown hat.
“It’s not very colourful, is it?” whispered Freddie to Herring Gull Harry.
“I agree with you there,” he replied.
With his back to the audience Errol put his Easter hat carefully on his head and then produced a mirror to make sure that the hat was fine.
“Hurry up, Errol’” said Freddie, anxious not to miss out on the Easter Egg hunt but curious to see this mysterious hat of Errol’s.
“You don’t have to wait for me, Freddie,” said Errol. Satisfied, he put the mirror away and then turned around to face his audience and take in the looks of surprise on their faces. He was not disappointed.
“Wow,” said Freddie.
“It’s amazing,” said Herring Gull Harry staring at the hat.
“It’s a bit, um, unusual, isn’t it, Errol?” said Flora, ever the practical one.
‘Thanks, sis,” he replied.
Errol’s Easter hat was indeed a masterpiece. Errol had a top hat and all around the brim he had put chocolate Easter bunnies, all with a different coloured scarf on to give the hat some colour. He had a chocolate bunny followed by a white one and then another chocolate one and so on around the brim.
‘So, you like it?” he asked his audience. He was convinced that he would win the prize today. After all, no one else’s hat came anywhere near the ingenuity of his creation.
“It’s cool,” said Freddie as he hopped off to start looking for Easter eggs before they all disappeared.
“Freddie’s right, it’s cool and you have done brilliantly, Errol,” said Herring Gull Harry. “Come on, lets go and look for some Easter eggs before they all disappear.”
And on that note the two friends hopped off to see what they could find in the meadow. Errol quickly found two chocolate eggs and was so busy looking for more that he didn’t know the warm sunshine was starting to melt the chocolate bunnies.
All too soon it seemed to Errol, there was the sound of Uncle Wilf’s horn again and all the young frogs duly returned to the rugs clutching the eggs that they had found. He had found six eggs which he was pleased about but he was more concerned with winning the Easter Hat competition.
As he approached the rug, a frog he did not recognise looked at his hat, whispered something to his friend and then they laughed. Errol took no notice. Then, it seemed to him that more frogs were pointing in his direction and then they started laughing.
Then, something went ‘plop’ in front of his eyes. It could have been his imagination but it looked like it might have been chocolate! His heart sank.
Pretending not to notice, he arrived at the rugs where Freddie greeted him by running round him in a circle and then said, “Errol, why are the chocolate bunnies disappearing?”
“What do you mean, Freddie?”
Standing on tiptoe and looking at Errol’s hat, he said “well, it looks like your chocolate bunnies are now chocolate puddles”.
“Tell me you’re not joking.” Errol could feel that first prize disappearing fast as another chocolate drop flew buy his nose.
“Well, it was a silly hat to wear on such a sunny day,” said Flora coming up behind him.
At that point, Uncle Wilf interrupted with his megaphone to announce the winner of the Easter Egg hunt. Percy Barnacle had collected the most eggs and was given a giant chocolate Easter bunny as a prize. Errol groaned when he saw it.
“Now, for the winner of the Easter hat competition,” announced Uncle Wilf and several eager faces looked in his direction. “The winner this year, I am pleased to announce is,” and here he paused for a couple of moments before continuing, “Freddie for his very colourful hat.”
What! Errol was surprised.
Meanwhile, an over-excited Freddie ran up to Uncle Wilf and accepted his prize before running in a very large circle around the rugs showing off his colourful Easter bonnet.
“Your hat is cool,” said the ever loyal Herring Gull Harry to Erro.
“Be quiet, Harry,” Errol replied as he took off his hat. Sure enough, Freddie had been right. What had once been chocolate bunnies were now what could only be described as a brown and white mess that was seeping ever closer to the edge of his top hat.
As he was just about to put it back in the cardboard box, Uncle Wilf walked over without his megaphone and said to Errol, “it was one hell of a hat, Errol, but if it had not melted, you would have won first prize. Here, I have a consolation prize for you though,” and with that he gave Errol an enormous plate of cheese straws.
Errol’s face lit up and he lay back on the rug and ate the cheese straws, dipping them in the rapidly disappearing bunnies. Alright, he had not won first prize but maybe life was not so bad after all, he reflected to himself as he munched away with the help of Herring Gull Harry and Freddie – the two frogs he liked most in the world.
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