hiDe-aNd-SeEK

I can’t remember if I played hide-and-seek when I was little. I remember reading about it in storybooks. I also remember watching people play the game on TV. Yet I can’t recall if I have ever played hide-and-seek with anyone. I can’t even think where I would have hidden, or be seeking, for that matter.

But I am sure I played peek-a-boo with my sister when she was a baby. I’ll cover my eyes with her little pillow then suddenly whisk it away with a loud BOO! And that always made her laugh.

Close your eyes and all will be fine. What you cannot see cannot hurt you. Our eyelids have become the shield that protects us from the horrors of the world.

When the autopsy scene on CSI is too bloody, shut our eyes for a second and it’ll be over, Grissom will soon be poring over his encyclopedias. When Sadako climbs out of the television screen, we desperately peep through our blankets, not wanting to miss the scariest moment of The Ring.

The safety of being hidden, not being seen.

The comfort of the darkness, not having to see.

I’m hiding now. Come find me.