The Hiding Place

It was a chilly December morning and I was still snuggled in bed when my parents left for their Sunday walk. Wide awake I listened intently as I heard the front door click shut behind them. Finally alone I launched myself out from under the covers and down the stairs to the living room.

There I stood on the cold wooden floor, the cupboard under the stairs directly in front of me. I reached out and placed my hand against the door. I knew my parents had hidden my Christmas presents in here this year, they thought they were being sneaky. They thought if I didn’t know where they were, there was no way I could find them. That was silly, I would never peek, I loved the surprise of opening them up too much.

So there I was, temptation staring me in the face. I wasn’t going to look, but somehow knowing they were in this new hiding place made it really tempting. I traced the edge of the door, squeezed my eyes shut, and threw it open. I paused, my hand now covering my eyes, then slammed the door closed and raced back up to my room. Just opening the door was enough to satiate my curiosity, even though I hadn’t seen anything.

I was still in my room when my parents returned home. I could hear their muffled voices, and then abruptly there was silence. I could almost feel the air in the house change. A second later the quick thump thump thump of my dad’s feet on the stairs, and then he was in the doorway, a silhouette of anger.

“Roberta Anne, you’ve ruined Christmas” he bellowed.

I started to protest, but he wouldn’t hear it, he had rigged up a trap he explained, he knew what I had done. That is when I confessed, I had opened the door, but I hadn’t looked. He didn’t believe me of course, “Why would anyone do something so silly?” he raged “Lying to me is only going to make this worse.” I felt defeated, there was nothing I could do, and there was no way he would believe me.

I spent the rest of the day sulking in my room. Late in the afternoon my mom appeared in my door. They were going out to the grocery store, did I want to come? I declined the offer.

I listened for their car to pull out of the garage, then I crept back down to the living room. I was determined to figure out how my dad knew I’d opened it, was there a hidden camera or something? As I stared at the cupboard I saw it, an ink pen that had been placed on the top of the door. Obviously when I had opened it the pen had fallen, but since my eyes were closed I hadn’t seen it. In a huff I grabbed the pen, ran outside, and launched it over the fence in the back yard.