A good game of hide and seek is simple. You count for several seconds with your eyes closed, and your friends run and hide. You find them, you laugh and you start it all over again.
If you've been searching for awhile, you call a forfeit. The game isn't very fun when it takes longer than a few minutes.
But what if you refuse to call a forfeit, and what you're looking for isn't willing to give up either? If you're still searching after an hour, you're definitely losing. If you're still searching after several years, it might be time to wave a white flag.
Your sock
You started playing hide and seek with your sock one afternoon in May 2005. Your right foot has been cold ever since, but the search continues. It has to be somewhere in the washing machine.
Your retainer
You're pretty sure this is hiding somewhere in your first dorm room. Whenever you go back to look for it, the current occupants are always like, "Why is this middle-aged person digging through our stuff?"
Your remote control
The game began in 2003 while you were watching an episode of Friends. You both agreed on a living room only rule, but you can't find the remote anywhere. The TV's still stuck on TBS.
Your math homework
You gave your homework 15 seconds to hide in 2000, and you're still searching for it so you can turn in your third grade homework. Every year you let Mrs. Matthews know that you're still looking, and every year Mrs. Matthews says, "I don't remember that. Please stop calling."
Your wallet
This game began in late 2010, but it is still going strong. You know you lost it somewhere along the East Coast. You continue to search but refuse to cancel your credit cards. If someone else finds them, that's for the best. You will be closer to tracking them down.
Your family's will
You started this game out of boredom when you were 7. Luckily no one has died, but now it's a race against time. It has to be in the attic somewhere.
Your ear
Four years ago, you were sitting in the back of an '89 Chevy Silverado when a bird flew straight at your face. Its beak knocked your ear off. You went back to the site of the accident on Route 48 in the light of day, but no ear was to be found. It was then that you officially declared a game of hide and seek. That bird definitely has your ear.
Your house keys
You haven't been able to get inside your home in three years, but you haven't given up to your keys yet. Thankfully, you can still open your mailbox to pay the bills so if you ever do find the keys, you'll be set to live comfortably.
Your sense of wonder
While exploring in your backyard twelve years ago, you foolishly started a no boundaries game of hide and seek with your sense of wonder. You know your sense of wonder is probably hiding on a mountaintop, but you don't have the curiosity to go look for it.
Your friend Jeremy
