Cascarones

“No-no-no! Iz-”

Too late. Her hand came down. The shell broke. Confetti rained everywhere. Paper 

bits ran down my shirt and arms, sticking to my sweaty hair. Izzy had won. She laughed and ran away, not bothering to help me up. 

Most Easter egg hunts are normal. Parents hide the eggs, the kids go find them, eat the candy, and you go home. Hooray! But that is not how I grew up doing it.

Unless you're the Brewsters, my family starts to save eggs a month before Easter. (If you are a Brewster, you collect months and months worth of eggs.) When you use an egg, instead of cracking it normally, you get a knife and crack a hole in the top.  The raw egg comes out and you save the shell. Once you have enough, you dye them.

After the eggs have dried they are stuffed with confetti. Finally, with tissue paper and glue you cover the hole. “Guys, I need you to dye and color the eggs today, okay?” Aunt Megan asked us the day before the Easter egg hunt. Only my girlfriends helped. The boys weren’t helping… as usual. The eggs were brown so they didn’t dye. Instead, our fingertips were the ones getting all the color.

“Hey, look!” I exclaimed. I examined my fingers and showed my friends. “If you leave your hands in the water it dyes your fingers.” Soon everyone had their hands deep in the bowels.

“That's awesome!” Ella said, taking her deep blue hands out of the dye. “It looks like I have frostbite!” 

I said with a laugh, “You're turning into a smurf.” By the end of the day, everyone had different colored fingers. 

I race down the side porch, the plastic bag slapped against my arm. My eyes scanned the grass looking for the eggs.

Early that day, all the dads at the event had hidden the eggs. Knowing this, I didn’t have to look very hard. The first egg I saw was a yellow one hidden in the lemon trees. That was easy. I ran across the grassy field looking and searching. In the tall grass is where I found the jackpot.

“We were so tired of hiding them,” Uncle Joe explained to me later. “So we just took all the extras and put them into a pile.” And that’s exactly what I found. Being nice, I make sure to leave some for the next person to find.

No one exactly shouts “it’s time to fight.” It just kinda starts. Once the first egg is smashed you know it's time for fun. Grabbing an egg, I quickly ran and smashed it on someone's head. They shout something. But I wasn't paying attention. I have a new target.

Everyone is free game, no one is out. The one rule is you have to crush the egg in your hands and sprinkle the confetti on their head… but even that rule is broken. My chance to get Uncle Joe had arrived. He had his back turned. I quietly sprint towards him. I leap. Yelling, I smashed the egg on his head. I only had time for a small victory. Soon he was after me. I ran forward, dodging around people and trees. But he was gaining on me. Almost on me. I saw a hand reach out. I screamed. I took a sharp turn. Leaving him behind.

“Oh, man! I missed,” He shouts. He fell as his feet slipped in the wet grass.

“Ha-ha!” I turned around to laugh at him. 

I can’t explain what happened, but before I knew it I was on the ground. The trees 

blocked the sun out of my eyes, I knew I was finished. Down, I lost. My breath was hot and I pant wildly. The wet grass filled my nose, along with the smell of sweat and dirt. I scrunch my nose. Soon a man comes into my view. Uncle Joe is standing over me with a smug grin. My head falls on the grass. I groaned, but a smile crept up on my lips. Laughing, he grabs an egg out of his plastic bag, taking time to enjoy his moment of victory. He smashed the egg on my head, rubbing the colored paper bits into my sweaty hair. He walked away, almost skipping in his slow swagger. I lay there defeated. But a full smile comes, reaching the corners of my eyes. Laughing and panting widely, I got up, brushed the itchy wet grass off my back, and I went off to hunt the next person.