Hide and Seek

Writers: AL, Francesca
Date Posted: 2nd December 2024

Characters: Claranel, Lindora, Zinora
Description: Zinora disappears during hide and seek with Lindora and, luckily, Claranel finds her.
Location: Printer Hall
Date: month 2, day 9 of Turn 12

Claranel

"...18, 19, 20! Where are you, Zinora?" Lindora called, looking around
their shared room. The toddler's favorite hiding place was under her
covers, so she started on the other side of the room. "Is she under
the desk? No... behind the chair? No..."

She was surprised Zinora seemed to be moving past just crouching in a
corner and closing her eyes with the assumption she could not be seen,
or using the same few hiding spaces. When she reached the bed and
pulled off the covers, there was no child to be found. Starting to
worry, she looked under the bed then, more quickly, every other space
she could think of. The space was small, so where could she be?

"Zinora?" she called. "It's time to go get breakfast. We can play
again later." When there was no response, her heart rate began to pick
up. Could she have left the room without being heard?

When she got to the door, she saw it was the tiniest bit open, when
she was sure it had been closed earlier. Wrenching it open, Lindora
burst into the hallway, calling for her daughter.

While her mother was close to having a panic attack, Zinora was
crouched, watching a trundlebug make its way across the corridor. She
had left the room intending to find a hiding place. However, two turns
down the hall later, the trundlebug had distracted her.

The excitement of her new home had not waned in short time she had
been present and Emerald Falls. Not currently assigned any tasks
outside of keeping Leranek’s quarters clean, Claranel found herself
with an abundance of time - time which she used to explore, which led
her down the road again, that time to the Printer Hall. Thus, it was
that she made a discovery - that of a child crouched down and watching
a trundlebug slowly scuttle its way across the floor.

Seeing the little girl without an adult, Claranel paused and looked
around. Children playing about was not uncommon, but this particular
child was quite young to be out on her own without a guardian close
by. When she affirmed that there was not grown up in sight, Clara
carefully approached, then crouched down beside the little girl to
observe the insect as well. “Where do you think he’s going?” She
queried softly.

The appearance of a big person wasn’t enough to take Zinora’s
attention away from the trundlebug. Usually, adults whisked her away
when she pointed out a small crawly thing, so this was the first time
she had been able to see one up close.

The toddler pointed to the trundlebug. It now seemed to be standing up
against the wall, but was unable to find purchase, so it walked along
the hallway a few more steps, before trying again to climb the wall.

“Food?” she suggested in response to the question. Then, naming one of
her favorite foods, “Grape?”

“Maybe.” Claranel nodded, her brows furrowed together as though
pondering the idea. “Perhaps he is looking for food, and grapes
certainly are rather tasty. Do you think he’ll find one?”

“No?” Zinora did not think there were grapes in the hallway. However,
her mom always seemed to have them tucked away. And, with that, she
remembered about her mom and realized she was in a hallway with a
complete stranger. She let out a loud cry. “Mama!”

In the meantime, Lindora had frantically run down one end of the
hallway, calling out for her daughter. Then, when she didn’t seem to
be there, she ran to the other end. As she paused for a moment,
catching her breath and deciding where to go, she heard the cry.
“Zinora!” she called back, running in the direction of the sound.

“Where is your…” Clara had started to inquire of the child as to the
location of her parents, in the hopes that the little girl might
actually no, but it was unnecessary. Before she could finish the
question, she heard the sound of the other woman, then turned to the
child. “Shall we go find your mama?” She asked as she extended her
hand, smiling warmly to the little one.

The toddler did not quite trust someone she had just met, but also did
not want to be alone, so she grabbed the woman’s hand. “Mama there?”
She pointed in the direction she had come from.

“Maybe. Shall we go that way?” Of course they would go in that
direction since that was where they had both heard the sound of the
voice. Smiling again, Clara allowed the child to dictate where they
should or should not go. Since she wanted her mama, it only made
sense she would head where she heard the familiar voice.

Zinora set off, pulling the new adult along. She did not have far to
go before Lindora appeared around the corner at a run, giving a sob of
relief at seeing her daughter. Mother and daughter reunited with a big
hug, Lindora picking her up and holding her tight. “I’m so glad you’re
ok.” Her voice became more stern. “You know you should never leave the
room by yourself. I was so scared.”

When Zinora did not reply, Lindora turned her attention to the person
who appeared to have found her. “We were playing hide and seek and she
slipped out. I can’t thank you enough for taking care of her.”

“Oh please, it was nothing. She was just watching a trundlebug and we
were discussing its dietary habits.” Glancing over at the child,
Clara winked at the toddler. The way lay had been a rather sweet one,
and the child made Clara miss home. Though her siblings were older,
there were other children she enjoyed, including really young ones
that she had occasionally helped watch. “She’s adorable. How old is
she? Two or so?”

“Two!” Zinora said, happily. “‘Nana Cake!”

“She just turned two,” Lindora explained with a smile. “I made a
banana cake for her.” Her heart rate was returning to normal, although
she was holding onto Zinora more tightly than usual. The girl squirmed
a bit, but was not complaining yet. “Are you new to the Hall? Or have
we not met yet? I’ve only been here a few sevendays myself, but I was
at the Harper Hall before, so I recognize most of the people.”

“I’m new. I just came recently, and was just exploring since I don’t
really know my way around the Hold yet. And…well, I wanted to see teh
Halls.” Clara made a vague gesture toward the area in general.
“I’ve never been here before you see..”

Lindora nodded. “I’m new to the Printer Hall, but grew up in the
Harper Hall. It’s a big place. We’re headed to the dining hall if you
want to join us. Otherwise, I can point you in a different direction.”

Claranel’s eyes lit up, but then she tempered her enthusiasm. “I
would love to, but my foster father is expecting me back for dinner.”
She paused, smiling at the duo. “I would like to see more of the
Printer Hall though. I find it rather fascinating. Perhaps we could
have lunch or something in a couple of days?”

“I work lunches, but if you don’t mind a later lunch, that’s when I
take a break. I’m definitely not an expert on the place… I guess it’s
pretty new to all of us though, since it was just opened.” She liked
Claranel’s energy. It reminded Lindora of her younger sister.

“Well, I wouldn’t mind visiting again, especially that library. It
was lovely meeting you. And you too…” Clara quickly froze as she
realised that in the conversation, neither had introduced themselves.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot. My names Claranel.”

Lindora smiled widely. “I’m Lindora and this is Zinora. I’m sure we’ll
see you around. I owe you one.”

Last updated on the December 4th 2024

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Hide and Seek