4Egg Moon
The universities were off for spring break, which meant that the Piston Peak Air Attack Base had an extra resident...Windlifter. The timing for this was perfect as the Skycrane arrived just as the snow was starting to let go of the park. This meant that the helicopter could be put to work helping to move the logs and debris that had been knocked loose by avalanches and winter landslides. Once that was completed, Skycrane would also help the other departments make badly needed improvements to the park. While most of Windlifter's efforts were focused on infrastructure projects, his presence freed up enough of Cabbie's time so that the old plane could participate in a long-held tradition…the Easter Candy Drop.
The history of candy drops went back to Cold War and the Berlin Airlift. While American skytrains had worked tirelessly to bring in desperately needed food and fuel into the starving city, one plane in particular noticed that the city's children needed more than just the basics. They also needed a little bit of joy and hope. Colonel Hal soon became known as Uncle Wiggly Wings to the city's children, because he would wiggle his wings to let the kids on the ground know that he was about drop candy bars with little parachutes from his plane. By the time the blockade was ended, the Berlin Candy Bomber had dropped over 23 tons of candy as part of Operations Little Vittles.
The aircraft of the US Air Force had never forgotten the effect that bringing candy to children of Berlin had had, and many warplanes had tried their best to airdrop a little bit of joy from the skies. Cabbie did his part every Easter by preforming two candy drops, for the children of the local national guard unit and the other for the enjoyment of Piston Peaks National Park employee's families. Preparing for these two drops had taken place during the quiet moments of the winter. Cabbie and Blade would occasionally go on supply runs while Maru and some of the lodge staff systematically attached parachutes to the eggs, candy bars, and small toys. Now that Easter had finally arrived it was now Windlifter's job to carry the crates of precious cargo to the air attack base as Cabbie and Maru prepared for their run.
The mechanic was already strapped in and the first drops load was already placed inside Cabbie's hold by the time Windlifter finished with his last load. Which meant the only thing left for the helicopter to do was sit with Blade on the tarmac and wish the cargo plane good luck. The pleasantries took less than a minute and Cabbie closed his hatch and rolled out.
"Let's go make it rain." Cabbie chuckled before he kicked his engines into gear and let his props pull him into the sky. Blanking left he disappeared into the clouds to bring joy to children in the neighboring town.
"Well…" Blade drawled. "Now that has been taken care of, I think it may be our civil duty to test a couple of the chocolate eggs to ensure their quality."
Windlifter looked levelly at his Chief for a moment, then bobbed his approval. "Only if I get to test the Peanut Butter Eggs."
"You drive a hard bargain." Blade grinned back at his lieutenant, as he rolled towards the main hanger. "But it is a deal, as long as you don't mention the half Cadbury Cream Eggs I am going to sneak to Maru."
"That would be acceptable." A slight smile graced the Skycrane's lips as he followed his boss to enjoy some of the fruits of their labor.
