Little Love

With her heart pounding in her chest, she vanished behind the big oak tree and tried to catch her breath. Every few seconds, she'd sneak her head out of her hideaway and steal a glance at him.

She mostly searched in his honey colored gaze. Was it travelling towards her direction? Had he found her or he was still wandering, trying to detect her and become the winner of the game?

Hide and seek wad Delilah's favorite game. And Eddie was her favorite person to play with. That was because she liked, no, loved to see his face when she invaded in his hideaway. He'd become all disappointed and always said "Oh rats!" He couldn't hide from her.

When Eddie's parents invited her family over, he would flash his shiny little toy cars at her and brag about how fast he could make them run. He'd give Delilah a car too and they'd have a competition about whose car ran faster. Eddie called it "race." Poor Delilah, she didn't know how to play that game and her car always flipped over followed a completely different route, whilst Eddie won first prize. No matter how many times she'd lose, Delilah kept playing "race." It was because if she had nothing else to do, she'd have to go sit with her parents, and she didn't enjoy their company very much. She kind of enjoyed Eddie's though,  despite the fact that he was a boy and a bad kid sometimes.

And when Delilah's parents invited Eddie's, it was her time to shine. She'd hand Eddie one of her glamorous dolls, she'd get Lizzy --her favourite-- and they would play house. Eddie didn't seem to like it very much. He'd often put his doll in one of the doll house's beds, tuck her in and say it was time for sleep. But the game had just started! The dolls couldn't go to bed just yet!

Hide and seek was their common denominator. As much as Delilah didn't like to admit it, Eddie was just as good as she was at it. She couldn't hide from him just as he couldn't hide from her.

And they always preferred to play alone. The other kindergartners were not very welcome to join them and neither were their own friends. It was their game.

Delilah stole another glance at Eddie and he was now closer to her hiding spot. The wheels in her mind spun, she knew that she had to run away before he saw her. It was a rule of their own, that one could run if they wanted to and the other one would have to chase them. Delilah knew that Eddie was much faster than she was and he'd catch her easily. He wouldn't be so lucky though if he didn't see her sneaking out of her hideaway.

That was how they won their games. Eddie counted on his physical strength and Delilah counted on the fact that she could outsmart him without putting on much of an effort.

"Delilah! Where are you?" Eddie shouted, his voice mingling with the noise in the kindergarten's playground.

Delilah chuckled at his pointless question. Right, like she would come out and say "I'm here, come and get me!"

Eddie's attention slipped for a second when his friend came up to him, probably to tell him something. Delilah took advantage of the opportunity and ran, setting her feet on fire. Her eyes quickly scanned the playground for her next hiding spot. The tunnel next to the slide seemed like a good and secure hideaway, so she went for it.

"Delilah!" she heard Eddie's voice, which didn't sound like it was coming from far away.

He had spotted her and he was now chasing after her. She had no other option but to run until she'd manage to slip out from his field of vision. The vivid playground became a blur as Delilah kept running. She could feel the jolts that were caused by her feet pounding on the rich grass as she ran. Eddie was gradually catching up with her and she had to focus her attention on getting away and not bumping onto the other children.