Playing Hide and Seek - For Real

Playing Hide and Seek – For Real

My name is Mia and I am seven years old. I really like that my parents let me have the freedom to play without constant supervision. Most of my friends don’t have that freedom. A boy my age was kidnapped last week, and that has many parents scared.

My favourite game is virtual hide and go seek. The device that I have hides different virtual players around my neighbourhood. My dad is a programmer, so the device is a very sophisticated one. It makes me aware of the virtual players once I come within 20 metres of where they are hiding. The device warms up when I get within range. The closer to the virtual hider I get, the warmer the device gets.  I cannot detect them farther away than 20 meters with my device. That would be too easy.

The only thing that bothers me about the game is that I am always a seeker and never a hider. As long as I have my device turned on (which is necessary for the game), the virtual seeker can find me too easily to be fun. Still, I like playing the game the way that it is.

One day the game was very exciting different. I was the seeker. Just like when I play with my Omi and Opah, I leaned my forehead against the bark of a big maple tree and slow counted up to twenty. Just like my grandparents do, I then turned around and called out, “Ready or not, here I come”. Yeah, I know that the virtual hiders are always ready when the device is on. But it’s more fun when I play it like that.

           I then looked for the virtual hiders. It wasn’t as easy as it might seem. The device can give me the direction in which the nearest one can be found. But those hiders have their own virtual intelligence, which they could use to trigger a false detection. The nearest one can give off a false signal that there is one nearer in another direction.

           Of course, after several games I learned of that sneaky little trick. So sometimes I go in the opposite direction of the false lead. I have my own intelligence too, and there is nothing artificial about it. I can learn fast.

           There was something unusual about that day’s seeking. I received messages, from all five of my game-mates, saying that I should go to one particular place . That had never happened before. Was that a new kind of trick they were trying to pull on me? I had to see for myself. 

           As I was following their signals, I heard something. I didn’t know what it was at first. But as I moved closer, I knew. It was a boy crying. I hurried  towards the sound. It was coming from an abandoned house standing by itself.  A tall wooden fence I couldn’t see past blocked the side of the backyard. As I went to the back of the lot, which had only a chain link fence, I saw who it was. I recognized him from the picture on the “Have you seen this boy?” posters put up on telephone poles and on shop windows. He was tied tightly to a chain link-fence. There had been a gag tied across his mouth. But he had managed to get it loose. To get to him I climbed over the metal fence.

           I ran up to him. I don’t carry a knife. I can imagine how my parents would react if I did. I had to find something that I could use to cut the rope tying him to one of the poles of the wooden fence. There it was! A piece of broken glass on the ground.  A beer bottle had been smashed. I wrapped the cuffs of my spring jacket around the sharp-edged glass so that I wouldn’t cut myself.

           I sawed across the ties that attached the boy’s wrists behind his back to the fence posts. In a few minutes, I had cut through the rope. His hands were free!

           We weren’t happy long. I heard the sound of someone walking towards us. I had to hide fast!   There was a thick leafy bush not far away that backed onto the fence. I ran towards it and slipped through the branches like a fish through weeds. Then I crouched down, making myself as small as possible. I still had the piece of glass in my hand. It could be used as a weapon.

           The one making the noise was a large man. He used the word “ransom” several times. I knew that it was money to be paid by the boy’s parents so that they could get their child back again – “healthy” and “unharmed” in the words of the big man.

           The boy wasn’t stupid. He had put his hands behind his back as if they were still tied to the post. That man grabbed the gag and re-tied it across the boy’s mouth. He tied it tight. Then he slapped the boy’s face. I saw him cry.

           The big man walked back and forth ranting about what he would do if the parents didn’t ”pay up.” This continued for some time. I was worried that he might see me. Fortunately he didn’t. 

           I had a strange thought. I remember thinking that I was playing hide and seek for real right now. It wasn’t just a game,

           Finally the big man walked away, waving his arms in the air as he did. He was angry. I waited afraid he might come back. But I had to save the boy. I struggled out of the bush and ran right to him. Using the piece of glass, I cut him free from the gag and the ties around his ankles..

           The boy stood still, not knowing what to do. So I took him by the hand and led him away He stumbled at first. We walked along back lanes for two blocks, Then he stopped, and suddenly and whispered to me, “My name is Sam. I have to pee. Real bad.”

           We ran to the main road, where there was a restaurant. Bad luck though. In the window there was a big sign with the words “WASHROOMS ARE FOR CUSTOMERS ONLY!” I led Sam in by the hand and told him not to worry about the sign. He rushed into the men’s washroom. As a waitress approached me, I formed a plan. I told her that our mother was coming soon, and that my brother “Just couldn’t wait. You know how boys are.” The waitress laughed, and said, “I know. I have two brothers. They, too, just can’t wait.”

           She led me to a table and asked me if I wanted some water. I told her that we would wait until our mother came before we ordered anything.

           Then the door opened. It was the big man! He stared at the bathroom door and stood kind of like how Sam had when he told me that he had to pee. I had to think fast.

           I got up, just as he was going to pass me by. I tugged on the sleeve of his shirt. I said, “Mister. Sir. The men’s washroom is a mess. One of the toilets got clogged and flushed all over the floor.” I then pinched my nose to show him that the place smelled. “You can go into the women’s washroom. That’s where my brother went.”

           The big man believed me. He headed for the women’s washroom. A few seconds after he entered it, Sam came out of the men’s room . I ran to him and told him what had happened.  Fortunately, the waitress was busy with a gabby group of customers, probably teachers. So we weren’t seen when we made their escape. No one’s attention was directed our way, as a woman in the women’s washroom had just let out a scream. 

           I took Sam home with me. My parents called the police. Sam and I described the big man. Using our descriptions, they found and caught the big man And I gained a new friend.

           I had one last question. I wondered why the virtual hiders directed me to Sam. How did they know his situation? With my dad’s help, I accessed the data base of the hide and seek device. We saw that one of the virtual hiders had been within visual range of Sam.  It must have seen Sam, matched his appearance with the images that were on-line, and told the others. I liked that they had trusted me to do the right thing. They had learned more about me than just my name, the sound of my voice, and my favourite virtual destinations.

           And that, teacher and class, is why I was on local television last night. Any questions?