One always knows when the winter fades on Easter Island. The trees grow stronger, the flowers bloom in twinkles of pink, yellow, and red, and the sun's rays penetrate warmly into the skin of all who thrive on the island. Another thing is, well, the easter bunnies awake from their hibernation. They pop open their eyelids with a cautious peer to the sunlight streaming in their windows before quickly rising in their beds with bright excitement. Usually, eight little bunnies will share one big bed. There is no fuss nor whining about sharing as the little bunnies all love to snuggle to keep cosy and warm throughout the winter. When one awakes, he will excitedly wake up the others until everyone is ready for easter.

I suppose it's a funny scene for a human to imagine – eight little bunnies popping up from their beds with their long, cute ears rising above their heads. They wear their ears tall and proud on their heads, allowing them to twitch upon any unusual sound. Each pair of ears flop and flap as the bunnies hop out of their bed and down into the factory where they create the eggs. Now, you'd probably assume that any bunny without ears would be a little bit odd. Perhaps you conclude that a bunny without his ears is no bunny at all – but this is not the case for our main character – Jimin.

Jimin was the son of the Great Easter Bunny. Just like all bunnies – or rather, easter bunnies - Jimin was born in a litter of 8 bunnies. Of them were seven boys and one girl – a stillborn. Unlike Jimin, his siblings all had beautiful long ears of different colours. It was a strange phenomenon for the Easter Island community when a small, fluffy bunny was born without his ears. He was the talk of the town and quite frankly the laughingstock. What made it worse was that Jimin was practically a child of royalty.

Now, as a young boy, neither Jimin nor his siblings ever saw it as a problem. Jimin was different, but he was still a bunny. He did the normal things bunnies do on the island – pick flowers, make easter eggs, and help his family. Still, to some bunnies on the island, he was a nuisance. Without his ears, he seemed more like a human and after being hunted by humans in the past, the easter bunnies had learnt to fear them.

Jimin's troubles with the community followed him far into his teen hood, where it affected him the most. His ability to get work, friends, and a girlfriend was hindered by his missing ears. He thought – rather stupidly – for a while that perhaps he could grow some, if only he would work harder at the factory. Unfortunately, this method did not work. His next big idea was that if he ate as many easter eggs as he could that he would grow them, but that only resulted in a sore tummy. As a last resort he found himself wandering into the bunny wizard's shop – one person who particularly hated him – and that's where he asked for help.

The bunny wizard looked him over, and Jimin watched as the pale blue ears upon his head twitched with his thinking. How Jimin envied those ears so!

He explained to the bunny wizard that if only he had ears, that everything would be perfect. He would be loved by everyone and would take his rightful seat in the community. The bunny wizard disagreed, however.

"Jimin," He began, pushing his glasses up the ridge of his nose, "You've already been without ears for your whole life. Why, the very sight of ears on your head would send the community into a frenzy. You'd seem even more cursed."

Jimin trudged back to the burrow that night with his eyes on the ground. He was sure if he had ears at that moment, they would droop low as well. The word 'cursed' echoed in his head for a long, long time, sticking it's grimy self to every inch of his subconscious until it was all he could think about.

He found himself in front of the mirror not long after, judging his vulnerable reflection. His eyes would not leave the place in which his ears should have been, and his mind wondered why oh why he had no ears while everyone else did. What had he done to deserve it?

It just so happened that at this time, Jungkook, his brother, found him by the mirror. Jungkook could see Jimin's expression as he touched his head and wondered why the boy hated the fact that he didn't have ears. Jungkook had always wished he could be Jimin, simply for the fact that Jimin's missing ears were what made him so unique from every other member on the island. Jungkook had tried to tell Jimin this, but the older boy never listened.

Jimin's dislike for the empty spot on his head only got worse over the years. Self-conscious about it, Jimin had become more and more of a recluse. He stopped picking the flowers he loved to pick, he stopped working at the factory and he stopped helping his family. On the odd occasion he needed to leave his burrow, Jimin would constantly be seen in a hat, no matter the time nor the weather.

Jimin's father, the Great Easter Bunny, was very sad about this, and he was not the only one - for Jimin's siblings wished for his company too.

So the Great Easter Bunny set out to Jimin's burrow one day, allowing himself in and seeing Jimin moping on his bed, which he had made alone – a very un-bunny like thing to do. The Great Easter Bunny sat beside his son rather awkwardly, unsure of what to say.

"Jimin," He called.

The boy did not move.

His father decided to just tell his story and let his son listen. "My father," He began, "He had an accident as a young boy and lost both his legs."

Jimin seemed to perk in interest.

His father continued, "He was obviously made fun of as he got older. The elder bunnies told him that someone with no legs would not be able to run a factory."

Jimin finally rolled over to look at his father as the man continued. "He was very upset, and very worried. No one else on the island was missing legs, and no one would want to be around someone missing legs. He wouldn't be able to run around the factory, and certainly wouldn't be able to go out and pick flowers in the meadow."

"So what did he do?" Jimin asked.

"Well, he decided to collect sticks instead."

"Sticks?"

The Great Easter Bunny smiled. "Yes, sticks, and lots of them. While others thought he was a little odd at first, they soon realised that with those sticks he was building himself a raft. When they asked him why, he said that he wanted others who didn't have easter eggs to also be able to have them."

"He started the easter egg trading?" Jimin asked.

"He sure did, son." The Great Easter Bunny replied. "He's the reason us easter bunnies are allowed to visit different areas and hide eggs for other bunnies to eat."

"The thing is Jimin, it's not the ears that make the easter bunny, nor the eyes, nor the tail and not even the legs." His father placed a warm hand on his shoulder. "It's what the easter bunny does that makes the easter bunny."

It was this story that turned Jimin's life back around. It took only a few weeks for Jimin to be back outside again – much to many of the townsfolk's dislike. But Jimin didn't care this time. Just like his grandfather, Jimin was an easter bunny, and he was determined to fulfil his duties as one. His pride had flown back into his blood, and he walked with confidence. He could see his reflection in the windows on buildings, and it made him even prouder. He was Jimin, the easter bunny.

Without his ears, it was easier to roam through the lands of the humans, where he began leaving eggs for the human children to have. Over time, the humans began giving him treats to take back to easter island – carrots, which were the island's favourites.

Now, when you go on the easter egg hunt, you may just find the easter eggs he left for you to remember that no matter what, to love yourself.

"The end."