Photo by Richard Stachmann on Unsplash
Jack huddled in the underbrush. The knees of this jeans were caked in dirt. His palms were brown from his crawl under the bushes to the hiding spot. No one would find him here.
All the kids in the neighborhood loved to play hide an' seek. It had become a summer time ritual, kids from both sides of the street played. The game started at 6:30 PM, after everyone ate dinner. The start base was always at the corner, where the blue post office mailbox was. Everyone started there, the seeker would close their eyes and count to 50.
The rest of the kids run and hide. The time never favors the hiders. So most of the middle schoolers swould pend the summer day scoping out backyards, sideyards, and secret passages.
Jack had spent the last three days looking for his hiding place. Now he found it, it was the perfect place to hide. Tucked behind the arbivitas in Mrs. Thachers sideyard, was a small passageway, only accessable if you cross the front porch and drop off the end.
Jack first saw it by chance. He was helping Mildred take her groceries in. When he held the screendoor open for her, he saw it. After dropping the groceries on the counter, he wrote "can I look for one of my rockets in your sideyard?"
"Oh, sure Jack, you just be careful." Mildred wrote, in perfect cursive, under Jacks scrawl.
Jack looked at his Casio digital watch it had reset at some point, and flashed 11:11. The first game has to be over by now. He scooted and squirmed his way toward the entrance he had came through. He stood, brushed his knees and hand off, and pushed up to jump on the concrete porch. When he landed on the porch, his stomach sank.
It was full dark, Mrs Thachers pouch light spilled yellow light in a difuse cone. Then he saw them, flashlights. Thick beams waved along houses across the street. He knew what they were looking for and he knew he was in trouble.
Jack jumped down the stairs and ran down the sloped driveway. His house was only two down from Mrs. Thachers and across the street. He ran toward his house, slowed just enough to make the corner around the garage, slid between the house and garage and popped out by the backdoor.
Jack opened the screendoor, which always brought Quincy to investigate. Quincey didn't come. The backdoor was open. He kicked his shoes off and ran toward the family room, Claire would be there. The family room was empty. Jack had no other choice. He grabbed the bell and headed out on to the front porch.