Chapter 11: Hide and Seek in the Sunshine

 After so many rainy days, the sun courageously burst through the clouds and added warmth and a sense of hope. The Hibiscus clan were delighted and began making preparations to make the most of the sunshine. Ronnie looked wistfully as they got out the frisbee, footy and picnic rug. He would have given anything to play a game of footy with Richo but when Tumbarumba raised an eyebrow and gave him that look, Ronnie knew there was no point arguing. As they all jostled out through the door, The Old Wise One looked back and saw Ronnie’s crestfallen face. He called out to the departing clan, “I’ll be there in a moment” and went back to see Ronnie. “Hey Ronnie, it’ll be OK. Just rest and build up your strength and you’ll be back doing somersaults in no time. You had a nasty fall yesterday and it’s best to heal properly.” Ronnie looked at The Old Wise One and nodded while TOWO added, “I know it’s tough. I’ll see you later” and as he left, Ronnie wiped a tear away and then turned over and slept.

Outside they were having a ball. Richo and Bruiser were kicking the footy while Gazza discovered his trunk made a great catapult for the frisbee. After one throw, Tumba ducked just in time as the frisbee went whizzing over his head. “Oh boy. Oh boy” gasped Gazza, “Oops” and Ellie laughed. When the football collided with the frisbee in the air, they all waited with bated breath to see where it would land and laughed when the frisbee fell flat right on the centre of the mat.

The ground was wet underfoot and sloppy. It squelched and slurped and the grass was pressed flat by their footprints. When they’d had enough of playing, they came and sat comfortably on the mat and had a chat. Harley climbed up into the gumboot that had been left out and declared himself king of the castle. “I wish we could go out and visit the park” grumbled Richo. “It’s another three weeks, at least!” replied Ellie. Tumba did not want to get dragged down thinking about how tough it was and jumped up quickly. “Come on!” he invited, “Let’s play hide and seek! Who wants to be it?” Bruiser volunteered, closed his eyes and immediately began counting out loud. “One, two, skip a few… um.. nineteen, I don’t know how to count cause I don’t go to school. Forty-five is a number I think and so is twenty-three.” He kept his eyes shut and took a few deep breaths wondering how much longer he should wait.

Meanwhile the others went looking for good hiding spots. Harley decided he didn’t want to play, so stayed in the boot and poor ol’ Gazza tried to climb into a box and got stuck. He knew he could roll off to one side but that would mean he’d fall into the box and he didn’t know if he could get out so he laid on the top edge of the box, his trunk on one side, his ear on another and closed his eyes. He figured if he couldn’t see them, they couldn’t see him. Tumbarumba looked at the lemon tree and saw the leaves and branches had grown over a lot more since a couple weeks ago, so went and climbed it, hiding behind lemons and leaves. Richo saw the red bucket and got in, forgetting to pull in his scarf so that it hung over the edge and Ellie went and hid behind the spokes of the old wagon wheel. Dovic climbed up the hose and rested in the centre and waited, while The Old Wise One excused himself and headed indoors to see how Ronnie was.

When Bruiser could wait no longer, he called out, “Coming, ready or not!” and when he opened his eyes, the first person he saw was Harley. Together they went looking for the others and laughed when Richo asked them how they knew where he was. “Did you look when you were counting?” he asked accusingly. They found Gazza, then Ellie and they all joined in the search for the other two. Bruiser had to climb the lemon tree to tag Tumba and admired his hiding place. They thought of picking a few lemons to make a lemon meringue pie but after they threw one lemon down and it hit Gazza on the head, they decided it probably wasn’t the best idea. They all separated to find Dovic and looked in the shed, under the BBQ, in the garden and behind the rake and the shovel. They looked under bushes, behind the bikes and in the wheelbarrow, but couldn’t find him anywhere. “Perhaps he’s gone inside already!” said Richo and they all agreed that must be where he was, and scrambled inside.

The Old Wise One was reading a Rare Little Treehouse book to Ronnie called, “Vegetable Patty”. When he saw them coming in, he raised a paw to his lips and said, “Shhh!” and continued reading. The story was so interesting, they all sat captivated and together, recited the vegetable-fighter’s oath at the end. When TOWO told the joke about broccoli and snot, Tumba turned to see if Dovic thought it was funny and let out a loud, “Oops! We forgot about Dovic!!!” Without any explanation for The Old Wise One and Ronnie, they ran out the door calling, “Dovic!”

Dovic was still up in the rolled-up hose. As the shadows had legthened, he had made himself more comfortable and fallen asleep. He heard them calling and woke up, still feeling a bit groggy. Richo peered down at him and smiled while Tumba and Bruiser climbed up and hopped into the hose cubby-hole too. Gazza looked as they climbed up and seeing the hose hanging down, was reminded of the time he had climbed a curtain rope and had swung like a pendulum. He decided to wait for their descent to the ground which didn’t take long, once Dovic was awake. When they went inside, they explained to Ronnie and The Old Wise One where they had found Dovic sleeping.  Everyone had a good belly laugh about that.

Later that night, when all was quiet Dovic thought back on the day and the fun they’d all had in the sunshine. He smiled and whispered to himself, “I can’t wait for the next day of sunshine!” He heard Ronnie reply, “To infinity…” and Dovic added, “And beyond.”