Nate Cernosek - The Hiddenseek

The sun hung low in the sky, sinking toward the horizon. A slight breeze stirred the trees and blew through the empty swings. Their chains jostled and clinked. The jungle gym was deserted, as were the monkey bars, the seesaw, the slides. The park was empty.

Almost.

There was one child still at the park. One child who had been left behind.

Her name was Holly Thorn. She was playing hide-and-seek.

She was crouched inside a short tunnel. It was a good hiding spot. She would have been hard to find, and even harder to catch.

That is, if anyone had bothered to look.

Holly curled her legs, her feet propped up on the blue plastic wall of the tunnel. She frowned, crossing her arms, trying to stop her bottom lip from quivering.

She should have known better. No one ever wanted to play with her. But then today, out of the blue, the other kids asked if she wanted to play hide-and-seek. Owen Orlofsky, wiping his nose with his hand. Karen Graham, always blinking super slowly because everyone said what long eyelashes she had. Zoe Zamarripa, the tallest in their class, standing with her hands on her hips like some sort of drill sergeant. They were all smiling and giggling and giving one another knowing looks.

Thinking back, it was so obvious. None of those kids had ever liked her.

But Hector was with them. Hector, her younger brother by a year.

Did he know what they had planned?

Now everyone was gone. They had all left her in the park, alone. It had been a trick. Theyd never wanted to play with her. They just wanted to have a laugh at the nerdy girl without any friends.

It hadnt always been like this. She used to have friends. She thought she did, at least. The memories werent clear, more of a feelingother kids around her, at recess, at birthday parties. And she and Hector had been inseparable. But that was a long time ago now.

Holly heard the wind pick up again, whistling past the tunnel, and wiped her tear-streaked cheeks. She crawled out of the tunnel and saw something odd.

The trees werent moving with the wind. Neither were the leaves on the ground. Even the blades of grass stood still.

A hazy mist crept in, blanketing the park in fog.

A figure emerged from the mist. It was a man, his face hidden by a wild tangle of stringy brown hair. His clothes were dusty and patched up and like something a peasant would have worn hundreds of years ago. He was walking slowly, straight toward Holly, looking right at her.

Holly froze in place.

The man approached. He spoke, his voice rough and coarse. Holly Thorn, he said.

How does he know my name? Holly thought, too shocked and frightened to respond.

You hid, the man continued. But you were not found. You thought you were playing a harmless game. He stepped closer, his voice low and ominous. You were wrong.

She didnt know what that meant. She just knew that something strange was happeningsomething strange and terribleand nothing would ever be the same.