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Isabel’s long hair wisped
around her face as the gentle breeze caught it in its silent fingers. Each
strand sparkled like threads of gold, reflecting the sunshine onto the
leaves in the trees. "What should we play now?" she asked the bunny and
small bear. "Do you want to play hide and seek?"
Braden answered, "I want to
play hide and seek. Bears are good at hiding."
Katelyn chimed in, "Me too.
Bunnies are even better at hiding."
"I’ll count first. You two
go and hide," Isabel said. She leaned against the elm tree, putting her
head against her arm so she couldn’t see. "One, two……." She counted
slowly, to give them a chance to hide.
Braden ran behind a bush.
He crouched down and giggled. "She’ll never find me here."
Katelyn hopped over to a
pile of boulders. She began to chuckle, "Isabel will never find me here."
"…..Seven, eight, nine,
ten. Here I come," Isabel called.
Katelyn peeked out from
behind the boulder. She saw Isabel as she looked up in the trees. As she
chuckled, her little fluffy tail bounced up and down on the ground. "Hee,
hee, hee. She’ll never find me."
Braden could see Isabel
through the leaves and branches. "She’s looking in the tree. Hee, hee, hee.
She’ll never find me here," he giggled. Just then Isabel turned and ran
towards Braden. "Oh no! She’ll find me. What should I do?" His little paws
parted the bush.
"Aha! I see you, Braden.
You’re hiding in the bushes. Come out, come out, wherever you are," Isabel
called.
Braden came out from behind
the bush. "I can’t believe you caught me. I had a good hiding place," he
sighed.
"I’ve still got to find
Katelyn. You go back to the tree and wait," Isabel said.
"Can’t I help you look for
her?" Braden begged.
"No. That wouldn’t be fair.
Go back to the tree and I’ll be along soon." Isabel went off to find
Katelyn.
The bunny peeked her head
out again. She chuckled. "Hee, hee, hee. She caught Braden, but she’ll not
catch me!"
Just then Isabel came
running around the boulders. "There you are, Katelyn. I caught you."
Katelyn pouted. "How did
you find me? I was hiding in a good place."
"Come back to the tree with
me. Braden’s waiting for us," Isabel said. They walked back together. "I
found Katelyn. Now it’s your turn to count, Braden."
"Oh, all right. One, two,
three…." He counted much quicker than Isabel had done. She and Katelyn had
to hide quickly.
"I’ll hide in there,"
Katelyn said, hopping quickly a hollow tree trunk that was lying on the
ground. She crawled inside and sat quietly. "Braden will never find me in
here. Hee, hee, hee." She giggled.
Isabel sat down behind a
large oak tree and waited.
"…Nine, ten. Here I come,"
Braden shouted. He looked around. "Hmmm. I wonder where they would have
hidden?" He darted to the bush he had hid behind. Nobody was there. He ran
over to the boulders where Katelyn had hid. Nobody was there.
Katelyn heard the leaves
crunch as Braden ran from place to place looking for her. "Hee, hee, hee.
He’ll never find me."
Just then she saw Braden’s
face appear at the end of the log. "Aha. There you are. I see you in the
hollow log," he said. "Come out, come out, wherever you are," he called to
Katelyn.
She crawled out of the log.
"How did you find me?"
"I just looked," he
answered. "Go back to the tree. I have to look for Isabel."
"Can I help you?" Katelyn
asked.
"No. I have to find her
myself," he replied. "Go back to the tree and wait."
Katelyn hopped to the tree
while Braden looked in other tree trunks, behind several bushes and under
some stones. He thought he saw something moving. It was Isabel’s hair. It
was sparkling in the sunlight. "I found you. I found you," Braden shouted.
"Isabel, you’re behind the oak tree. I see your hair shining."
Isabel stood up and ran to
Braden. "You found me. Brilliant. Now, let’s get back to the tree and see
Katelyn."
The three of them sat under
the elm tree. "Isabel," she heard being called.
"It’s Mum. She’s calling
me," Isabel said. She ran to the edge of the clearing and looked down the
hill. There were two crofts there. She lived in one with her mum and her
granddad and grandmother lived in the other.
"Isabel," she heard again.
"We need to go. Mum needs
me. We’ll come and play again tomorrow," Isabel said. She picked up her
teddy bear and her bunny and carried them home.
"Did you have a wonderful
time?" her mum asked. "I see you took Braden and Katelyn with you. Her mum
took Braden out of Isabel’s arms. "Looks like they need a wash to me," she
said.
"I’ll wash them, Mum," she
answered. She didn’t want them to be thrown in the washing machine. Only
she knew the secret. Braden and Katelyn only spoke to her and played with
her. She put the stuffed animals down. "Shhhh. Be quiet. I’ll be back
later, at night time and thank you for the wonderful game of hide and
seek," Isabel said and shut the door behind her, leaving the two of them
lying on the bed. |
