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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Horror
- Subject: Horror / Scary
- Published: 11/30/2018
Hide and go seek
Born 1964, F, from Gordon, ACT, AustraliaGrady O’Donnell climbed the ladder and sat on the flat concrete roof of his childhood home. It felt weird to be here, 15 years later, as a grown man.
He could feel the warmth of the concrete through his jeans as the sun massaged his shoulders. So many things ended up on this roof. He could see the skeletal remains of a kite, bleached white by the weather. Two Frisbees. An amazing variety of balls.
Grady scooched toward the end of the roof and dangled his feet over the side of the house so he could look down into the lushly overgrown garden. The rush of memories nearly took his breath away. He felt like the ghost of the boy he once was, sitting on the warm concrete roof while his younger brother below tried to find him. Grady smiled as he thought of Darren. These days he would be said to be “on the spectrum”. Back then, he was “slow”, if you wanted to be polite. Or a retard, if you happened to have an older brother with no idea of decorum.
Lost in his memories, Grady watched Darren look behind trees, over the fence. Even, bizarrely, under rocks. And Lord that boy had no fashion sense. His favourite outfit was a mustard coloured pair of corded jeans that whiffwhiffwhiffed as he walked. Drove everyone nuts! He would team this with his favourite lime green t-shirt and a pair of bright blue and pink sneakers.
In fact, that was the very outfit he was wearing when he disappeared.
Grady’s smile faded as the familiar guilt swept through him and settled in his stomach. A hard, acid ball that never completely went away, no matter how many times people told him it wasn’t his fault.
Grady was fifteen at the time. Darren would have been eleven, and as annoying as hell, as only a younger sibling can be. Grady wanted to go out with his friends, but Darren kept pestering him to play hide and go seek, and shadowed him like a small, retarded private detective, puffing on his asthma puffer in his excitement. “Hide and go seek, Grady. Hide and go seek!”
So Grady caved. “Okay, pest. You go and hide, I’ll come and find you.”
Darren clapped and laughed. “I’ve got the best hidey spot, Grady! You will never find me!” He giggled and raced off while Darren loudly counted to fifty. On fifty, he yelled “Coming to get you! Ready or not!”
Then quickly slipped out of the house and went to meet his friends.
He wandered back four hours later, the streetlights flickering on in the early evening dusk.
His house was in pandemonium. Red and blue flashes lit up the evening gloom. His mother was bent over, wringing her hands, crying. His dad was being a man, talking to the policemen.
A cowardly part of him suggested he make a run for it, but the big brother in him drove him forward at a run.
All eyes were on him as he panted to a halt in the driveway.
“Is Darren okay? What’s happened?”
His mother started wailing. “He isn’t with you? Where is he? Have you seen him?”
A police officer ushered him to one side. “Your brother’s gone missing, mate. When was the last time you saw him?”
Grady felt faint, guilt already washing through him. “We were playing hide and seek. I kinda left. Maybe about two o’clock? A bit after? What’s going on?” He found it difficult to breathe. He wasn’t sure how, but somehow he knew it was his fault. He was supposed to be the big brother, it was his job to look out for Darren. His eyes were stinging with unshed tears, he could feel his face burning hot. A sure sign of guilt. Was he going to jail? He felt almost like he should be, although he wasn’t sure what he was guilty of. Big brother negligence? He certainly felt guilty enough to go to jail.
The policeman knelt down so he was at eye level. He balanced his two big hands on Grady’s shoulders. “Hey, mate. It’s okay. We just need to know the last time you saw your brother. Can you tell me what happened?”
Grady felt his throat lock up. How could he tell his story without coming across as a complete asshole. He decided that honesty was the best course of action. The important thing was finding Darren.
“I was playing hide and seek with Darren,” he whispered. “When Darren went to hide, I went to see my friends. That’s the last time I saw him, honest to God. I don’t know where he would go. Have you checked right through the backyard? He’s pretty crappy at hiding.”
The policeman stood up and sighed. “It’s okay, mate. We’ve checked the backyard, we’ve looked all through the house. No-one can find him.” He shook his head at the parents. Nothing here, sorry.
Grady could hear the police talking to his parents. We’ll put out bulletins, we’ll check the sex offenders registry, we’ll do this, we’ll do that. I’m so sorry, we’ll do everything we can to bring your boy home.
He skulked his way into the house. Maybe he could find Darren. He went from room to room, calling out his name. He went out into the back yard and checked behind trees and bushes, calling his name. Even, bizarrely, checking under rocks. Darren was nowhere to be found.
Grady returned to the present, his face wet with tears. The concrete roof was getting cooler now as the afternoon darkened into evening. The dying sun lit everything with the golden glow of summer, the shadows contrasting dramatically with the magical colours of evening.
He stood and stretched, leaving his memories behind.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of blue and pink. He walked around the side of the chimney.
He looked down and whispered. “Found you.”
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