The Mayor ran as fast as his legs could carry him to Skellington Manor. He was gathering breaths at the top of the staircase when he rang the screaming doorbell. When no one answered, the Mayor rang it no less than ten times in a row. By the time Jack answered the door, the once ear piercing scream was only a raspy sigh.
"Good morning, Mr. Mayor," Jack said sleepily as he stretched and yawned.
"Jack, have you been sleeping all day? You aren't sick are you?" the Mayor asked with his Unhappy Face, noticing Jack was still in his sleeping clothes, as if he had just went to bed.
"All day?" Jack asked as he looked out at the night sky, "That's strange, it was sunrise just a few moments ago."
"Well, get dressed. There's much to be done tonight. The townspeople want to see your skills in archery."
"Archery?"
"Oh, you know. Shooting arrows at people, making them fall in love, right? I'm sure it will be a pleasant demonstration."
"Thank you, Mayor. I'll be at the square in a few moments."
"See you there, Jack," the Mayor said with a happy grin on his face as he practically skipped down the stairs.
Jack closed the door and smacked his forehead. After all his recent trouble, he had forgotten to practice shooting the arrows of love. Now that the townspeople wanted to see his "skills", Jack needed to get some serious training unless he wanted to make a fool of himself like the other incident he really did not wish to remember. The Pumpkin King made haste redressing himself without waking Sally and getting his quiver filled with all types of arrows and bow. He also whistled for his companion.
Zero floated up to Jack, happily wagging his tail and barking.
"Zero, wait for me outside. You're going to help me."
The ghostly dog nodded before floating down the staircase.
"Sally, I'll be right back. Sleep tight," Jack said as he kissed the rag doll's forehead, watching her stir for a moment before running after Zero.
As the Pumpkin King and his faithful, canine companion made their way into the woods just outside Halloween Town, the Council of Celebrations just crossed through Easter doorway. Past the brightly colored egg was a land where spring was eternal. Trees were brightly colored with flowery blooms filling the air with their fragrances. Forest animals frolicked in the forest and the meadow adjacent to it. A small wooden sign four feet from the ground that read "Easter Town" stood in front of small homes between the forest and the meadow. The Easter Bunny put his left paw on the sign and sighed happily.
"Finally, I'm home," he said cheerfully.
"Great heavens! You CAN speak!" Jacob exclaimed, realizing he was surely going to the Real World now.
"Only here can I speak. Seems that I lose my voice when I go to other places. Downside of being an animal, I guess."
"There are some mysteries that even I can't figure out," Rabbi Tevel said.
"You wanted to hear about my experience in Halloween Town before you went on your adventure in the Real World, right?"
"Yes, but now I'm not too sure."
"Alright, I'll make it brief. These three little children who stuffed me in a bag mistook me for Santa. The next thing I knew, a man with an axe in his head was staring at me. Heck, I hopped back into the bag faster than you can say 'chocolate bunny'. The next time I left the bag, I was in this spot, watching as the children left to find Santa."
"Well, a promise is a promise," Santa said to the pilgrim.
"But the world away from these woods is so strange and quite frightening."
"Don't worry about that, 'tis Cupid you must worry about," Saint Patrick said.
"Can we not stay for a while? This land is so peaceful and full of joy."
"Sure, now it is. Come back during the week before the big day here in Easter Town arrives."
"What happens then?" Tevel asked in an interested tone.
"Past the meadow are men. Men dressed in armor, cutting down trees, using them for something none of the animals here are sure of. Every year they come, take enough wood for their liking, and leave, unless they feel like hunting."
"Don't you have any plans to keep them from doing so?"
"No. They're much stronger than we animals are. As I was saying, the week before Easter is full of sadness and the weather begins to get pretty bad after these men in armor leave with the cut wood. Bad enough for most of the plants to wilt, that is. Then, on Easter, everything is better. The weather gets warm, flowers that looked dead come to life again, and I go around giving treat-filled eggs and chocolates to everyone."
"A holiday to spread joy, what a nice thing," Saint Patrick said, "Where are your fellow animals, by the way?"
"Probably asleep in their dens. So, are we going to drop him off in the Real World soon? Because I know a shortcut."
"You have a way into the Real World?" Santa Claus asked.
"In the meadow is a rabbit hole I use to crawl into the Real World. I use it every Easter."
"Excellent. Now you can go there and find Cupid before disaster has a chance to strike," Tevel said to Jacob.
"How will I know who he is? There are many, many people in the Real World, which is rather large by the way. Cupid could be anywhere. I believe it should be a group effort."
"Hmmm, the lad has a point," Saint Patrick said.
"Alright. We can't all go, but I can pass as normal in the Real World just as much as you can. I'll go with you," the rabbi told the pilgrim. "And I also happen to have brought some pages from my mythology books with me. They have illustrations of Cupid. I doubt we'll have trouble finding him."
"So it's settled. You two can search for Cupid while we keep things peaceful here. Easter Bunny, I think you have a rabbit hole to lead these two into," Santa Claus said.
"Right away. Please, follow me," the Easter Bunny told the two venturing into the Real World as he hopped into the meadow.
"You cannot be serious," Jacob complained as he and Rabbi Tevel followed the Easter Bunny. "How are we going to find Cupid in a place that large? It would take days, weeks, months even."
"He can't be that hard to find. He has wings," Tevel said.
"Come now, you didn't think I'd let all you humans do all the work, did you?" the Easter Bunny asked the pair, who immediately ran to his side in curiosity.
"What do you mean by that?"Jacob asked.
"Animals can sense things humans can't. They know when something's off. I have a few pigeon and squirrel contacts in a large city who have reported an unusual human roaming about. I think that should narrow your search considerably," the Easter Bunny explained.
"Why didn't you tell us that before?" Tevel asked.
"I couldn't talk, remember?"
Jacob and Rabbi Tevel looked at each other and sighed just as the Easter Bunny came upon a hole at the very other end of the meadow. He jumped into it and waited for a moment until Rabbi Tevel and Jacob joined him. Together they traveled throughout the rabbit hole, following the Easter Bunny through its many tunnels,until after a long while they saw a light. The Easter Bunny stuck his head out first to see if the coast was clear. When he saw that it was, the rabbit then allowed the rabbi and the pilgrim to crawl out of the hole.
The Easter Bunny had forgotten to mention this particular exit led to a park in the center of the city. All around them were tall buildings of all sizes and shapes. People were scattered about the park, walking dogs, jogging, or strolling in the February weather. The Easter Bunny remained in the rabbit hole when he last spoke to the pilgrim and rabbi.
"Remember where this hole is. It's your closest way back into Easter Town. I can't leave it without losing my ability to speak, so I'll just say this: Good Luck. Oh, and I wouldn't wear the hat here if I were you. None of the people here do," the Easter Bunny told Jacob before crawling his way back into Easter Town.
"Where could we possibly begin?" the pilgrim asked as he looked around, taking off his hat.
"We can always start by going where the people gather. Maybe then we can find someone who can point us in the right direction," Tevel said as he made his way towards the area with large buildings, Jacob reluctantly running behind him.
Oh dear, who knows what those two will do in a modern city. Could it that they're closer to Cupid then they think? And what kind of skills, if any, does Jack have with a bow? Find out next time. (Re-edit Comment: Wow, this story really is long.)