Nothing had broken Leo’s way that year. In January, he lost a battle with his mortgage company that cost him his home. His wife left him in February, taking their two children and the family dog with her. She said she was tired of being ignored. In late March, he was laid off from the waste management company he worked for due to necessary cost-cutting measures, they told him. Leo knew he was really fired because he hated his bosses and refused to play by their rules, which means they hated him too and couldn’t get rid of him soon enough. For the first time in his life, Leo was learning that everyone is replaceable and at risk of being alone.

On Easter Sunday, he decided to walk downtown for lunch at Gunther’s Hideaway. In a sense, he was glad to be alone since he would have all day to wander aimlessly and think, but he knew he couldn’t live like this forever, nor did he wish to. As he passed the large Methodist church across the street, Leo saw something moving in the tall bushes next to the front steps. The service was underway and the streets were quiet, so it was just Leo and whatever was causing the rustling. He stopped in the middle of the block and watched in amazement as a creature that looked like a huge bipedal rabbit emerged from behind the bushes and stood staring at him. Its fur was steel gray, and it must have been at least eight feet tall and 600 pounds. Its front teeth were marble white and the size of iPhones, and its eyes were as blue as robin eggs. It was smiling at him.

The creature reached up, pointed down the street away from Gunther’s, and held its arm steadily in that direction. Then Leo heard a high-pitched, jovial voice in his head say, “Go that way. See what you find.” Leo closed his eyes, rubbed them hard, and then opened them slowly. The creature was gone, but in that same instant, the church doors flew open and people began pouring into the sunlight. The service was over.

Shaken and confused, Leo continued on down the sidewalk, but he took a right at the intersection, moving away from Gunther’s, and kept walking in the hope of finding something, anything, of interest or significance that might prove that he wasn’t losing his mind. A few blocks later, he came upon a man standing in the street next to his car and staring at a flat tire.

“Need some help?” Leo asked.

“I do,” the man said. “I got a jack, but I forgot to put a tire iron in the trunk. Not sure what to do about this on Easter Sunday. My name’s Luis, by the way. Good to meet you.” His wife and daughter were sitting in the front seat of the car.

“No worries,” Leo said. “Good to meet you, too, and Leo’s the name. Gimme fifteen minutes. I’ll be back with a tire iron, and we’ll get the tire changed. You guys thirsty? I’ll bring back a six-pack of something.”

“Tell you what,” Luis said. “You bring back the tire iron, and you’re welcome to join us for Easter dinner if you want.”

“Really?”

“Sure. Why not?”

Within fifteen minutes, Leo returned with a tire iron, rag, and six-pack of Coke. The men changed the tire in no time at all, and then everyone piled into the car and headed to the family’s house for Easter dinner. As they were driving down the road, Luis asked Leo what he did for a living, and when Leo explained his work situation, Luis nodded slowly and said, “Maybe we can talk about that after dinner.” Leo said, “Sounds good to me.” He turned to look out the window. To his surprise, he saw the big gray creature again, this time standing in front of an exercise center. Above the doorway of the center, a sign read, “New Beginnings.” This time, it was Leo’s turn to smile.