In early May when I was eight, my father’s college friend came to stay with us for several days. What was exciting was that all his four children travelled with him. The eldest was a boy four years older than me, followed by a sister two years older than me and another of my age, and the youngest sister was three years younger than me. All of a sudden, my family’s quiet home became children’s paradise.
On the day they arrived, all five of us children decided to play hide and seek. The eldest boy became the seeker while all the girls looked for good places to hide. The youngest girl and I went to the bedroom. There was a mess of futon on the floor.
“That’s always a good place to hide,” I told her. “Let’s go in there.”
She and I quickly dug under the blanket, lying side by side. In order to avoid looking suspicious, I made sure we lay as flat as possible and the blanket appeared as messy as possible.
The eldest finished counting to ten and started roaming around the house, looking for us. As we remained as still as a rock, there was a shriek in another room followed by a laughter. One of us was uncovered. My friend and I looked at each other under the blanket, stifling our laughter.
Then he came to our room. He actually came straight in our direction and lifted the blanket. My friend was the first to be uncovered.
“Gotcha!” He exclaimed at his little sister. “Ha-ha-ha!!”
As she went out of the blanket with a loud sigh, something funny happened. Her brother left the room, looking for the rest of us in other rooms. Apparently, he didn’t see me. My friend hid me under the blanket again before joining her brother as a captive.
Some time passed, and I was still lying under the blanket. Nobody had uncovered me yet. I’d started wondering if the hide and seek was still going on when the youngest sister came back to the room alone.
“You’re still here, good,” she whispered, lifting the blanket a little.
“Is he still searching?”
“Yes,” she whispered back. “He has no idea you’re here.”
I giggled as I watched her go back to join the others.
More time elapsed, and I was still lying under the blanket. It was getting dark outside, and I started feeling lonely. I carefully crawled out of the blanket and opened the door to the small balcony when I saw the eldest brother through the glass door to another room, facing this direction.
The moment he saw me, he jumped at the door making a funny face that reminded me of the painting The Scream by Munch. Even through the glass, I could hear his scream sound. I burst into laughter.
As I joined everybody in the room, he asked me where I’d been hiding.
“I was hiding with her,” I nodded in the youngest sister’s direction. “But you didn’t see me!”
That was an epic hide-and-seek that I will always remember.