~Melanie~

After lunch clean up, everyone disperses to relax under the canopy, take a short hike on one of the nearby trails, or swim in the cool lake water. I'm grateful to get away from all the grandparents and parents. I want to stay as far away as possible from their prying questions and hang with the kids, or rather now 'young adults.'

Grandma Rogers was right, though. I can't believe the youngest two, Kara and Graham, are now also in college. I remember running around this place with everyone not taller than four feet.

I chuckle as I remember when Ethan had tripped in the woods that one time during the last game of hide-and-seek we were ever allowed to play. He couldn't have been more than ten years old. As the oldest of the group, Sean had always been the first to seek while we hid. While trying to find a place to hide from Sean, I found Ethan.

My heart was racing as a huge grin spread across my face. I hopped over a fallen log, landed with a soft thud in my light-up Sketchers sneakers, and continued running through the woods behind the cabin.

I needed to find a hiding place as far away as possible. Last time we played, Sean had found me in minutes since I had hidden near the cabin. I continued running further and further into the woods until I heard a yelp.

I skidded to a halt and looked in the direction of the yelp.

"Hello?" I called out.

I slowly walked toward the yelp as I began to hear soft cries.

Ethan leaned against the back of a mossy tree, holding his left knee to his chest with tears in his blue eyes.

"What happened?" I asked.

Ethan quickly wiped the tears from his eyes, "I fell."

"Are you okay?"

I bent down and saw the skin on his knee was torn and turning red, but there was no blood. Dirt caked the torn skin, and I tried to brush it off.

"I'm fine," Ethan grunted as he quickly pulled away.

"Come on, let's find a better hiding spot," I said as I looked in the direction of the cabin and vaguely saw it through the litter of trees. "Sean will spot you in a second."

I stood up and offered my hand. He took it, and I pulled him up. We continued holding hands as we began to run into the woods. Eventually, we came across a thick fallen log.

"Let's hide behind here. He'll never spot us if we lie down," I suggested.

Ethan chuckled with a grin as we helped each other cautiously climb over the thick log. I smiled back, happy to see he was okay.

Sean never did find us, and eventually, he had all the parents and kids calling our names, looking for us. We had heard them but didn't want to lose the game, so we stayed put, giggling like two little idiots.

Mr. Page had found us, and when we returned to the cabin with him, our mothers were so upset they forbade us from ever playing hide-and-seek again, even inside the cabin. All the other kids had been so mad at Ethan and me that they didn't speak to us for the rest of the day.

I smile as I remember how after that, the two of us had ended up playing House, and Ethan had been my fake husband, even though I was taller and two years older than him.

I chuckle as I reach the large dock where most of us kids are.

"What's so funny?" Graham asks.

I look over at Ethan as he takes his cap off. "I just remembered the last time all of us had played hide-and-seek and how Ethan and I hid so well, we worried our parents to the point they forbade us from ever playing again."

"That happened?" Kara asks as Ethan looks my way, then quickly looks toward the water.

"Oh, we were so mad at you two that day," Charlie says.

"I guess you were too young to remember, Kara," Bianca says.

Kara crosses her arms across her chest as her face turns into a pout. I roll my eyes. What is up with Ethan?

Everyone begins to undress until they're only in their bathing suits. I'm glad I remembered to wear my bikini underneath my clothes.

"Come join us, James," I yell across the field.

James looks up from his spot on a stump surrounding the bonfire, then begins walking to the dock.

Swimming in the cool, refreshing water should get James distracted from his thoughts and smiling again. I know it'll distract me, I think as I jump off the dock.

Man, it feels good to be back here.

~~~