9. Don’t Open That Door!

9 Don't Open That Door! Everybody was running around the lawn like crazy people for about ten minutes. I got five eggs myself. It looked like we had scooped up all of them, but so far nobody had found the golden egg. Grown-ups were still wandering around the lawn like zombies looking for it. I went over to the porch, where the gang was standing. Andrea and Emily came over too. "Let's open up our eggs and eat the candy," said Ryan. "But the golden egg is still out there," said Michael. "If we eat our candy now, somebody else will find it." "Where could it be?" asked Neil.

"We need to think outside the box," said Alexia. I looked around. I didn't see any boxes. "What do boxes have to do with anything?" I asked. "I wasn't even inside a box. How can you think inside a box anyway? It would have to be a really big box. And there aren't any boxes around here—" "Arlo, chill!" Andrea said. "There are hundreds of people out here on the lawn, right?" "Right," we all said. "And none of them can find the golden egg, right?" "Right," we all said. "So the golden egg must be hidden..." "Inside the house!" Andrea and I said at the same time. We all tiptoed inside Hubble Manor.

None of the grown-ups noticed us, because they were all looking for the golden egg on the lawn. There must be a million hundred doors inside Hubble Manor. We started sneaking down a hallway like secret agents, hiding behind the curtains and giggling. It was cool. "I bet there are some Peeps in here somewhere," Alexia said. "If you were a Peep, where would you be?" asked Neil.

"In somebody's mouth," I said. "Forget about the Peeps!" said Michael. "After we find the golden egg with a thousand dollars inside it, we can buy all the Peeps we want." Good point. "Shhhhh!" said Andrea. "Somebody will hear us." "I'm scared," said Emily. "We're going to get into trouble." "Chillax," I told her. "Nobody said we couldn't look inside the house." We walked up and down the hallways. When we passed by one door, I heard a noise. I stopped. The sound was coming from behind the door. I put my hand on the doorknob. "Don't open that door, A.J.!" warned Ryan. "Why not?" I asked.

"Whenever they open a door in a scary movie," Ryan said, "there's always a crazy guy hiding behind it with an ax." "That's ridiculous," said Michael. "Believe me, there's no crazy guy hiding behind the door with an ax." "You're right," I said. "He might have a chain saw." "Stop trying to scare Emily," said Andrea. "I'm scared," said Emily. My hand was still on the doorknob. What if there really was a crazy guy with an ax or a chain saw hiding behind the door? I was faced with the hardest decision of my life. I didn't know what to do. I looked at Alexia. Alexia looked at Ryan. Ryan looked at Michael. Michael looked at Neil. Neil looked at Andrea. Andrea looked at Emily. Everybody was looking at each other.

I took a deep breath. I turned the doorknob. I pushed open the door. And you'll never believe in a million hundred years who was sitting in that room. It was the Easter Bunny! And he had no head!