Personal Narritive- 1ST DRAFT

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Our Hide and Seek

Hide and seek was different for the Candler Oaks Crew. What many people would call a "classic" game was always a whole new adventure to us. The cul-de-sac on my street is a kid's paradise: no cars, no bossy adults, and so many places to run around you couldn't count them if you tried. Since this large playground was filled with massive trees and scores of empty trash cans, who wouldn't be tempted to cry out, "Who wants to play hide and seek!" Obviously we were.

Of course we were dying to run out and play day after day, week after week, but as we all knew...Momma (and school) ruled. So our hide and seek games were mostly limited to the sticky, humid season of summer. Cicadas would occasionally let out their wretched reminder that it was well above 95˚ outside. Though it wasn't like we needed reminding. We consistently dripped like leaky pipes.

The large, black, looming lamppost at the end of the street was Base. Base was what you grabbed onto for dear life if you were being chased. Base was where you teased "It" after you made sure that you were really, really safe. Base was also accompanied by two towering Bradford pear trees, which gave us dear, glorious shade when we desperately needed it. The only problem about Base was that it had this nasty habit of soaking up the sun. It would get so hot that we would have to occasionally let go to rub our little, burned, pink fingers. Otherwise, it was the perfect spot for the most dominant and permanent feature of the game.

Unlike Base, of which there was the one and only, there were a number of places to hide. As we were so small, it was easy to crouch behind leafy bushes, plaster yourself to the side of a great oak tree, curl up in an empty, smelly trash can, lay flat in the long, itchy grass...the possibilities were endless! Oh what a glorious feeling it was when you found a pristine hiding place that nobody else knew. It was your own secret haven where no one could find you. You were brilliant, a genius even! But as time wore on, that fantastic feeling would start to fade as you got lonely, or had to go to the bathroom, or your restlessness would give you away. Sooner or later, your special place would be found, or you’d forget where it was, or it was so ideal that no one would ever find you, and well, everyone wants to be It once in a while.

Playing games with a large group of kids doesn't ever work out perfectly. Especially when everyone’s version of events is right. I'm sure that good ole’ Base would have many stories to tell about two or more of us getting into ear-piercing, shouting matches that would stall the game for a good half hour. We normally dealt with the arguments peacefully unless we started to wage war against each other. Then we’d end up just going home. What a waste to such perfect day.

Most days were good days though. Hide and seek may be just a game to some, but to every kid who’s played it knows that it’s unique every time. It all depends on where you play it and whom it's played by. Our hide and seek was confined to the occupants of our street, under the age of eleven of course. One step past the street sign down at the end of the road and BAM, you were disqualified. We had our rules, basic and outrageous, but they fit us like they won’t fit any other group of kids. When we played I went to another world, one of action and danger, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

*NOTE TO PEER EDITOR: Many “be” verbs and please edit diction, structure, and language viciously! Don’t be afraid of being too mean. Thanks!