I'll hide you seek

Once there was a little girl. She was small and sweet, timid and shy. One day she found a boy who liked her very much. As the little girl grew, she began to play games of hide-and-go-seek with the little boy. However, the poor little girl did not know how to play the game. She would hide. The little boy would call after her, and she would run from her hiding place, afraid that if she did not answer he would stop looking. This made sense to the little girl, and whenever she gave up her hiding place, she would run to the little boy and hold on tight.

Now, anyone who has ever played hide-and-go-seek would know that the little girl was ruining the game. What she did not know is that the little boy wanted to find her, he wanted her to hide in the cabinets and closets and boxes, in order that he might win the game. The little girl was so worried that if the little boy thought she had disappeared, he would find another little girl to play with.

The little girl could not have imagined what would happen next. The little boy grew tired of the game, grew tired of her. He found another little girl who was hiding from her own little boy. He was excited by this little girl who knew how to play the game. Without explaination, the little boy left the little girl for his new friend, never looking back...never saying goodbye.

The little girl remained in her hiding space. The little boy was not calling her name. As she popped her head out to remind him that she was still missing, she saw her best friend had left her. She ran from her secret hiding place and into the light. She shed big crocodile tears, she cried in the arms of her mother and in the darkness of her room. She did not understand why the little boy did not want to play with her; for she did not understand hide-and-go-seek. The little boy never came back... but the little girl always prayed he would.

As the little girl became a young woman, and the boy a young man, they forgot one another. Hide-and-go-seek had become a dangerous game for both. At times they would spot each other across the room, but both young woman and young man felt the sting of lost love. What the young man did not know was that while his new friend soon left him for a boy whom she loved more, the young woman was falling in love with a perfect Man. Without her playmate by her side, she spent her time playing hide-and-go-seek with her Father.

The young woman's Father, the inventor of hide-and-go-seek, taught her that a true playmate does not abandon the hider until found. Therefore, He assured her, she need not fear that if she hid and was quiet, the seeker would leave her waiting, for he would seek her earnestly until she was discovered. She learned the art of patience. She learned to hide with grace and a smile. She learned to close her mouth when she wanted to shout the young man's name. She learned that while the young man would continue to play hide-and-go-seek with other girls, she must still hide. She learned that while other young men would seek after her and try to pry into her secret hiding place, she must still hide. She learned that her Father would guard her hiding place. She learned if she trusted Him and remained quiet as He asked, her Father would not reveal her hiding place to anyone but the young man.

So she must still hide.

And there she remains, in her secret place. She can hear the young man's voice in the distance. He has not yet realized that she is in hiding, that she is waiting for him to remember the little girl who was afraid he would leave. She is waiting for him to realize that she never wanted to make him leave, she only wanted to be loved. She is waiting for him to seek out the face of her Father, and beg her Father to show him the hiding place of the little-girl-turned-young-woman. She is waiting for the doors of her secret hiding place to fling open with the fervor of a young man who has also learned to play hide-and-go-seek. Yet she knows he cannot hear the voice of her Father above the noise of other playmates and games of hide-and-go-seek. Still, years of playing with her Father have taught the young woman that her Father will never go looking for a new playmate. He will never lose interest when she appears too eager. Instead, He will continue to teach her how to be graceful. He will continue to guard her hiding place as a treasure above all else. He will continue to teach her how to play hide-and-go-seek, until there comes a time when she need not play games anymore. When that time comes, she will thank her Father for His protection, for He never let anyone invade her secret place.

And the little girl will run once again to the little boy.
She will be the princess captured,
he the charming prince to rescue her.
And the young woman and the young man
will be playmates forever.