Hippo Hide-and-Seek

“Cheater! Cheater! You peeked!” Henry shouted.

“Did not! I only peeked a tiny bit!” said Hannah Hippo.

“You didn’t even count to twenty!”

“Everyone else was already hiding. I didn’t have to wait!”

“I wasn’t hiding yet!” Henry huffed. “That’s not fair!”

“Well, you’re it now. And you’re a bad sport,” Hannah said, crossing her arms.

Henry frowned. “Fine! I won’t count either! 1… 2… 3… 4… 5… Here I come!”

Hannah was running toward the big tree when Henry tagged her.

“Hey! I wasn’t ready!” Hannah cried.

“Too bad! I got you, Hannah Hippo!”

“You didn’t count to twenty! That’s not patient!”

“Well, you didn’t either!” Henry shouted.

Just then, Harley Hippo ran over.

“Stop, please!” Harley said. “Let’s all be kind. I’ll be it this time. You both can go hide!”

Harley closed her eyes. She counted slowly and patiently.

“1… 2… 3…” all the way to twenty. Everyone had time to hide!

“Ready or not, here I come!” Harley called.

The little hippos squealed and giggled as Harley chased them in happy circles.

When it was time to go home, Hannah and Henry both gave Harley a big smile.

“Thanks for making today fun,” said Henry.

“It was easy,” said Harley. “I was just patient.”

“I’ll be patient next time too,” said Henry.

“I’ll be even more patient than you,” said Hannah.

Harley laughed. “Calm down, Hippos! Let’s all be patient.”

And they did.
And it was fun.
Because being patient made playing even better.

---

Julie Hagel