New Beginnings

Hide and Seek

August
The Hale's house
7:45 pm

" Aurora!" Mom yelled out. She has been looking for me for an hour now. I was supposed to help her do chores, but I don't want to. It's boring! So I started a game of hide and seek. I hid behind the couch when she wasn't looking. I've been changing hiding spots ever since.

" Aurora! Come on out dearie!" Mom yelled. She was getting closer. I saw her check behind the curtains. I giggled when she saw that I wasn't there.

" Is that laughter I hear?" Mom asked aloud. I giggled some more. I couldn't help it. I heard the footsteps come nearer. I was hiding in my closet. She knocked on the door.

" Is anyone in there? I could've sworn I heard some laughter coming from here." Mom said. I laughed some more. Mom gasped.

" It is coming from here! Who's in here?" Catherine asked. She turned the handle of my closet door. She yanked it open, and I just stood there laughing.

" There you are! You've been hiding for an hour now." Mom said.

" It took you long enough. I'm getting better at hiding!" I said. Mom chuckled.

" Yes you are." She said. She helped me out of the closet.

" Did you find her?" I heard dad ask.

" Yes Alex. She was hiding in the closet." Mom said. Dad came into my room. He smiled when he saw me.

" Man! It took us an hour to find you. You're getting better sweetheart!" Dad said. He scooped me up into his arms. Dad has gotten stronger. He told me all sorts of stories about him and mom. Even though he was a fraud, I still enjoyed his stories. They were funny.

" Now who's hungry?" Dad asked.

" Me!" I yelled. Mom and dad laughed. We went downstairs. There was food waiting on the table. We washed our hands, and dug in. It was mashed potatoes with gravy and chicken. My favorite!

" Grandpa would be proud. We should tell him that you set a new record! One hour. That's a long time to hide. I don't think I could've hid that long." Dad said.

" I'm sure you can hide longer than me. You're a spy. Hiding is part of the job." I said. Mom and dad looked at me in shock.

" Wow. Who told you that?" Dad asked.

" Me." A voice said from the living room. Mom and dad quickly grew alert. They got out their weapons. The living room was dark. The doors were locked too. Whoever this person was broke into the house.

" Relax. It's me." The voice said. I knew that voice!

" Grandpa!" I yelled. Grandpa chuckled.

" Your hearing skills are getting better. So are your hiding skills." Grandpa said. I ran up and hugged him. Grandpa Cyrus was teaching me how to be a spy like mom and dad.

And Erica.

" How have you been? Did you beat up any bad guys lately? How did you get inside the house? You picked the lock didn't you?" I asked. Grandpa laughed. His entire body shook. Grandpa was really old, but he was in pretty good shape.

" Yes Aurora, I picked the lock." He said.

" Cool! Can you show me how you did it?" I asked.

" Maybe later. You know, I taught Erica how to pick a lock when she was four. She can pick locks better than me now." Grandpa said.

" Awesome!" I yelled. Erica is the coolest person on earth. She could defeat an entire army in less than a minute. Erica told me stories too. But she never gave all of the credit to herself.