This takes place November 2068...

Boo

Need to hide. Need to hide. Need to hide. Where should I hide? I looked around for a good hiding spot and let a frown slip onto my lips as I realized I hadn’t found a hiding spot yet and time was running out. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Breanna slip behind the couch and inspiration hit me. Quickly, I jumped behind the hanging curtains and was pleased to see that it completely hid me. But then again, I was only three, so there wasn’t much to hide.

“Twenty eight…Twenty nine…Thirty.” I heard my older brother’s gentle voice whisper and my excitement began to bubble up. I was almost bouncing on my feet. But I needed to stay quiet so Danny wouldn’t find me.

Listening carefully, I heard the soft patter of his feet as he walked around the room, looking for Bre or me. Hopefully he wouldn’t find me here. But I was getting too excited. So I stuffed my fist into my mouth to keep from giggling. Surprised that Danny couldn’t hear me I waited to be found.

Then I heard my sister begin to giggle at the top of her lungs. Making me burst into enthusiastic laughter. I peaked out from behind the curtain and saw Danny smiling down at Bre who was staring up at him with her hazel orbs.

“You are supposed to say Boo!” she scolded.

Danny shrugged his shoulders at her sheepishly and his chocolate brown eyes rounded onto me. I smiled up at him and ran over to them.

“No be mad Bre. Danny shy.” I said in one breath, forgetting to say words in my rush. A wide grin spread on my face, as she looked over at me and I saw her begin to cave.

“Fine! But he has to say it next time! Really loud!” I could see a smile threatening to spread on her face.

“He will.” I said bouncing on my toes. Breanna couldn’t hold in her giggles any longer and she doubled over, holding her stomach. I smiled and looked at Danny. “Again?”

My brother said nothing, but nodded his head to show he would play with us again. I loved my older brother but I wished he wasn’t so quiet. Bre and I were always running all over the place, making more noise than a nursery. But Danny was always really silent, and kept to himself. Lately, I’ve seen him warming up to more people, slowly, but still. He does talk to Bre and me a lot though. Well maybe not full blow conversations, but he teaches us stuff. And when we get him into a good mood, he gets us cookies when Mommy isn’t looking.

“Count Bre!” I shouted happily and ran away from the both of them. I heard her squeaky voice begin to count as quickly as she could and I chuckled to myself. Of course she would count faster so she could find us faster. I jumped underneath the table next to the couch and tried to hold in my laughter again.

“Twenty! Ready! Set! Go Boo!” Her voice vibrated across the room. I stifled a laugh and tried to hide myself better as I heard her gentle footsteps run around the room in anticipation.

When her footsteps came closer to my hiding spot, I scooted over. Success! She didn’t see me. I watched her feet as she strode past me and went directly to the edge of the couch.

“BOO! I found you Danny!” Bre’s giggles were contagious. I jumped out from my hiding spot and saw that Danny was trying to hide under a blanket. Silly Danny. Did he really think he could hide from her under a blanket?

“Again!” I shouted enthusiastically. I was on a roll! The champion! The best there ever was!

I got a chuckle out of Danny and he covered his eyes with his hands. “One…Two…Three…”

I clapped my hands excitedly and ran away to find a new spot. Need to hide. Need to hide. Need to hide. I watched Bre take my old hiding place behind the curtains, a jovial smile on her slightly pink lips. Her hazel eyes made contact with my own and my face broke out into a grin. I love this game.

Since I wasn’t found in this spot last time, I jumped underneath the table by the couch again. When “thirty” came out breezily from Danny’s mouth, I closed my eyes in exhilaration. I had to bite down on my lip from screaming out in pure happiness.

Reopening my eyes quickly as I heard footsteps inching closer, I caught sight of Danny’s white socks taking slow steps toward me. I stifled a giggle and his feet stopped walking. I then watched as he bent down and his eyes were on me, a bright smile on his face. Found!

I opened my mouth to say something, but then he was putting a finger to his lips to quiet me. He then motioned for me to come out of my hiding spot. I responded eagerly by crawling out and standing up on two feet. He then pointed toward the curtains where Breanna was currently hiding, oblivious. I nodded overzealously and followed after him toward the curtain.

A smile bloomed across my brother’s face as he stopped to look down at me. He then pointed to himself and motioned opening the curtains. I nodded in my excited way again and stepped forward to help him open the curtains. He put a hand on my shoulder and gave me a look as to say, “wait.” I watched as he began making motions with his hand again. He pointed toward me and I almost went over the edge, bouncing on the balls of my feet. I saw him hold in a chuckle and waited for me to calm down before motioning toward me again. Then he waved his hands animatedly and mouthed, “Boo!” The smile on my face grew so big that my mouth was starting to hurt. He wanted me to shout Boo with him!

Danny put three fingers up on his right hand and one by one let his fingers fall until he only had one finger up. Then he grabbed the curtains and burst them open.

“Boo!” I shouted, jumping up and down. Breanna screamed but began to giggle as she saw it was only us. I began to laugh too, coming out in high-pitched squeals. Danny was softly chuckling to himself. That was fun!

Breanna then turned toward Danny, crossing her arms and mimicking the perfect scowl she had learned from Sammy. “You didn’t say boo!”

“I did say boo. You just chose to hear Ethan’s boo over mine.” Danny said in an innocently gentle voice.

Her jaw dropped open and a giggle escaped my lips. “Don’t be smarter than me Danny!”

This made a grin fall onto Danny’s lips. “Ok. Wait. Bre! Look!”

In unison, Breanna and I turned our heads to look behind us. Nothing was out of place. Confused, we both turned out heads back to look at Danny. What we didn’t expect was for Danny to stomp his foot and yell at the top of his lungs, “BOO!”

We both jumped, then Danny was running away. Breanna scowled again and chased after him, yelling, “That’s not fair!” I laughed and chased after my brother and sister.