Many years ago, there was a happy little girl. She had blonde hair and blue eyes filled with joy. She had no worry in the world. 

Hide and seek was her favorite game; she was always begging to play. She strived to never be found but her uncontrollable giggles kept that dream far away. Her family was kind enough to let her think they couldn’t find her for a while. They would wander the house calling her name and exclaiming, “I wonder where she could be.” 

In reality, they knew exactly where she was.

They knew she’d be behind the curtain when her mom came home. They knew that the second they said it was time to put pajamas on she would rush to her feet. The only thing she loved more than hide and seek was pajama races.

She would rush to her room and frantically pull her pajamas on. Her parents would do the same–typically a bit slower. The first one back to the living room won. This went on for years. Hiding and racing: the joys of her little life. 

As she grew older, she toned her outgoing attitude down. Fewer games were played within the wood-paneled walls of the living room. The curtain sat with the sliding glass door—no child in sight. Pajama races began to bore her yet she still indulged in a good game of hide and seek.

At recess, she would sprint to the perfect hiding place—often with other ones in mind. Her goal remained the same as when she was young: never be found. Her way of being found also hadn’t changed. Her giggles were too infectious to not be noticed. 

When she hit the age where seemingly no girl could last a minute without her friends, she played team hide and seek. Her friends would make her laugh so hard that she would always be found first. They would try to cover each other’s mouths to silence themselves. It never worked. 

As she felt she needed to be mature, the hide and seek stopped. Until she was bored, of course. Then her inner child would come out—the happy little girl with no care in the world. She always knew that the little girl could find her once again if she went back to her first love—hide and seek.

Every day that she is away from her first love, the joyous young girl gets what she always wanted: to not be found.