I Win

Short story about a young girl and her cousin playing Hide and Seek and the perfect hiding place.

Olive and her cousin Lon ran through the woods. It was a beautiful summer day; not too hot, not too windy. Summers with Lon were amazingly fun, even though he was a boy. Most boys were yucky, either that or just downright dumb.

"Tag! You're it!" Lon smacked his cousin on the shoulder, scrambled over a couple of large rocks and circled a tall, skinny tree.

"Hey! No fair!" Olive yelled. "I was thinking about something. I didn't see you!"

Standing atop the larger of the two rocks, Olive laughed as Lon pressed his thumbs into his ears, waved his fingers and stuck out his tongue.

"Let's play Hide and Seek now," the young boy suggested. "There's lots of places to hide out here." He shaded his eyes with a freckled hand, looking into the treetops, toward a mound of dirt, and at an old tire someone had discarded.

"Okay," Olive agreed. "I'll hide first." Her stomach grumbled loudly. "You count. We'll play a few times then head back to the house for supper."

"Deal." Lon stood for a moment, staring at his cousin. "Well? Go, will ya?"

Olive took off, her sneakers slapping on the uneven earthen floor as she searched for the perfect place.

Propping an elbow against rough bark, Lon counted. "One, two, three ..."

Blonde pigtails flying, Olive grinned as she ran; fast, faster, faster. She turned her head and looked over her left shoulder. Suddenly she tripped over a loosened shoelace. She fell face first into hard-packed dirt, scraping a cheek and cutting the palm of her hand.

"...ten! Ready or not, here I come!" Lon's voice whispered from a great distance.

Eyes flitting from tree to tree to tree, Olive started to panic. Her cousin was always the winner during their play dates. He won at Tag, Go Fish, Chutes and Ladders and ALWAYS at Hide and Seek. She wanted to win, no she NEEDED to win -- just one time.

Picking her tiny body up from the dirt, the eight-year-old wiped the grime from her knobby knees.

And there it was; her hiding place!

Running stiffly to the yawning mouth of the fallen hollow log, she took one last look around. Lon was nowhere to be seen, yet she felt certain he would arrive soon.

Olive shimmied and wriggled her body halfway into the log, wedging her shoulders into the thick wood. She felt a sense of claustrophobia closing in around her; although her young mind could not identify the condition.

Being able to see the world from the opposite opening of the log helped somewhat. Leaves wafting in the slight breeze, an old wadded Hershey's candy bar wrapper and an inquisitive squirrel kept her entertained and amused.

Then she heard the approaching footsteps. "Olive! Olive! C'mon out." Lon's scratched gray boots appeared in her tunnel-vision. "I'm gettin' hungry. Let's go eat somethin'!"

As her stomach began to growl and rumble, Olive held her breath. She was not ready to reveal herself so quickly. She wanted to revel in the spirit of the competition just a bit longer.

"Okay, okay. You win! I'm goin' in now. It'll be dark soon!" Lon called out loudly.

Olive held back a snicker.

"You hear me?" Lon stood in the same spot a few moments longer. Olive watched triumphantly as the gray boots reversed direction and retreated quietly.

Now laughing softly, Olive decided to sit tight a moment, sneak away from the hollow log and run up behind Lon with a big, tackling hug.

Waiting until she could no longer hear crunching leaves, the girl began to scoot backward. But, something was deterring her exit. Her shoulders ached. Pressing her fingertips along the bottom of the log, she tried to inch forward. Forward was no better than backward. A long, low sigh escaped her rosy lips. What a predicament she had gotten herself into!

Hating to admit defeat after she had hidden herself so well, Olive yelled: "Lon! Lon! Come back! I'm stuck!"

Long moments turned into longer ones.

"Okay, Lon! We'll say you won. Just come help me, please!"

No response. No laughter. No crunching leaves.

Olive began to cry. Her injured hand was throbbing, her stomach was rumbling and tumbling now. She felt like she was going to throw up. She tried rocking her body back and forth, back and forth. Slowly at first but faster and faster.

CRACK!

Were bones breaking? Oh my God! Olive's body began to twist, turn and bump on the top and bottom of her wooden prison. She felt and heard a loud THUNK and then everything went deeply, darkly black.

***

Crickets chirped, owls hooted and a dog howled somewhere, not too awfully far away.

She shivered. The night had turned cold. A mixture of fear and shame gripped Olive as she realized she had wet herself. Her previous hunger pangs returned. Her stomach felt hollow and empty; just like her mind. She could think of nothing; at least no coherent thoughts that made any sense.

"Olive! Olive!" a woman's voice that she didn't recognize echoed throughout the woods.

"Let us know where you are, honey!" her Daddy's voice called. "Where are you?"

Trying to raise her head, Olive's stiff muscles protested. "I'm here! I'm here!" What she perceived to be a loud, boisterous noise emerged shaky and weak.
"Here," she repeated hoarsely. "Here..here..here.." Heavy eyelids worked against dull, dark-gray, bloodshot orbs.

The dogs jumped and yapped at the entrance to the fallen tree. Boots, sneakers and a smattering of sandals danced wildly; flailing excitedly.

As the head of a sharp ax split through the bark, Olive's eyes remained closed.

***

The bright, white light illuminated the entire room. The sheets on the hospital bed were so soft. The scrambled eggs on the tray in front of her were bland but Heavenly.

A chunky nurse wearing scrubs adorned with cheery yellow smiley faces peeked her head in the doorway. "You have a visitor, Olive."

The girl smiled as her cousin Lon walked in carrying something beneath his right arm.

"How 'bout a game of checkers?" he asked. "I'll let you win."

Author's Note

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