by Severynn » Mon Feb 06, 2023 4:56 am
Prompt: Hide. 523 words.
She remained completely still. Her legs felt like concrete. Then again, they very well could be, at this point. The mud pool she was hiding in was close to the exact color of her fur, and nobody could see her without closely inspecting the pool. And that was exactly what she wanted.
She held her breath and froze completely as another cat ran past. But as expected, they didn’t see her. Nicila had always been very creative when it came to hiding spots. At the cost of some scrapes and bruises or, in this case, needing to take a very long bath afterwards. But she was determined to not be found.
She heard a shriek in the distance, followed by the familiar sound of Bercal’s laughing. The very same cat who had run past Nicila just a minute before, and it seems that she had found someone else. Bercal had always been good at detecting the hiders, but was never good at hiding herself. Meanwhile, Nicila was the opposite. A great hider, who could never find the others. Perhaps that was because she always looked at places where she would be hiding, even though others would never. Hide and Seek could be a difficult game, you know? She would usually manage to find Bercal, who’d then carry her the rest of the game, but that was no fun! No, she greatly preferred hiding.
She almost squeaked when Bercal returned to the mud pool, followed closely by Ircim, whose white patches probably gave away his hiding spot. Who even hides behind a rock in the first place?
But then she remembered. Ircim had seen Nicila jump into this exact mud pool. She slowly let herself sink deeper down, letting the mud cover her completely, while they weren’t looking her way. She could only barely hear the two talking about not seeing her anywhere, and just seconds later the voices became softer. Nicila quickly came back up for air, rubbing at her face to get the mud off it. She was very set on winning this game. But perhaps next time she would find a place that was less muddy.
She waited a while longer, and could hear more laughter coming from different directions as more hiders were found. She felt the same pride she could always feel when she was close to winning. But she couldn’t let her guard down, as the game was not over just yet. And soon enough, she could hear pawsteps approach from behind her. Not being able to see who it was, she just hoped it wasn’t Bercal again.
She was taken by complete surprise when she heard the pawsteps accelerate before a cat landed right on top of her.
“Found you!” Bercal yelled happily, not even slightly fazed by the fact that she was now also covered in mud. “Really, you always pick the weirdest spots.”
Nicila whined loudly as she tried to wrestle her way out from under her best friend. “How many are left?” She tried to hide the tone of defeat from her voice, but Bercal grinned.
“You were the last one, the seekers won!”