that are wrapped around us to cover our tiny bodies. I am holding my finger to my lips and Ayelet is shushing me, but we are both flagrantly mouthing “Quiet!” and giggling. It was a Friday, so I had gotten picked up by Daddy. I had held his hand and skipped home, anticipating a game of hide-and-seek with Papi. After lunch, Papi started counting aloud, and Ayelet and I scurried away to find “the best hiding place ever.” But there wasn’t enough room for both of us in any of the first hiding places we tried. There were too many cardboard boxes in the basement storage room, bleaches under the sink, and shoes in Mommy’s closet. “Ten,” Papi announced. Ayelet and I shrieked and giggled and ran around the living room in a panic. “Five,” Papi warned. Ayelet ran to the floor-to-ceiling window and motioned to me to come. At the same time, I noticed a better hiding place under the coffee table. I am competitive. But I ran to hide with my sister. We grabbed the curtains and twirled around in a circle until the room disappeared and the cloth surrounded us. “One!” We squirmed when we heard Papi’s footsteps in the room. “Where are my granddaughters? Where’d they go?” I tried as hard as I could to stifle my laugh. “What? What’s that?” Papi turned to the window. “Is that laugh coming from the toes peeking out of the curtain?” Ayelet giggled. “Toes can’t laugh!” Papi’s face suddenly appeared under the curtain and made us scream. “Oh! It’s Revital and Ayelet!” “Run for it!” We each escaped his grasp and fled the room, laughing, in different directions. “I’ll meet you in the kitchen!” I know that if I had hidden under the coffee table I would have won hide-and-seek. Ayelet and I wouldn’t have laughed and Papi wouldn’t have heard and found us. But, for once, I don’t think I played the game to win. I’m glad that I hid with my sister. Because I wanted Papi to find us. And I’m glad that we ran away together laughing. Because even if we run in different directions sometimes, we always will have hidden together and will always meet in the kitchen.
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