Hide and Seek
Ava Santaniello — Grade 6
“ One , two , three , four …” I could hear my brother counting as I raced toward the pile of leaves in my backyard . Trying not to make a sound , I made it to the pile just as my brother reached fifteen . I laid down and felt a sharp stick jab me in the back . Taking a handful of red and orange leaves , I began to bury myself from head to toe . Just as I finished sprinkling a delicate handful of crisp , red , crunchy leaves over my head , I heard my brother shout “ Ready or not , here I come !” I pushed myself down farther toward the bottom and felt another stick jab at me . I could my brother saying “ Found you and you !” I didn ’ t know who “ you and you ” were , but I did know that now my brother was on the hunt for me . I heard his footsteps draw nearer and nearer , so I tried to push myself deeper and deeper into the pile without making a sound . From somewhere in front of me , I could hear the voices of my little sister , cousin and brother all discussing where I could be hidden . They debated over the playhouse , the big climbing tree , and the leaf pile where I was hidden .
Finally , they stopped talking , having come to an agreement and I could my brother ’ s slightly muffled voice saying “ Search the pile !” in a very commander-ish tone .
“ Aye-aye !” responded the two girls as they joyfully began to dig through the leaves to me . After what seemed like hours to me and minutes to them , my sister hit my foot and my cousin bumped into my arm . “ Sir , we have found an arm and a foot .” they said together , no doubt to my brother . Hearing this , he dove into the pile and began to dig harder and faster than the two girls , who had abandoned their task and were now squealing and giggling from the top of the playhouse . Soon enough , I could see my brother ’ s face looming over mine . “ I found you .” he said triumphantly .