Hide & Seek – Chase Sequence 1 – Daniel 33

 

[For back story go here: Story so far, and definitely this one.]

[Relevant back story links also within text.]

It was raining outside and they were locked down and they were isolating. Each of these elements indicated a day that would be spent entirely inside and each meant Daniel was faced with balancing childcare with work. He couldn't just abandon Together... Apart having had a great conversation and feeling so positive. But nor, obviously, could he abandon Daisy, and he’d left her in front of enough screens for the time being.

And so, by means of compromise and possibly by means of unsatisfactorily doing both of these things at the same time, he devised a game of hide and seek around the house, which, if carried out correctly, might just give him enough time to plug some ideas into a plain text app on his phone.

With Daisy counting to fifty behind the sofa he stowed himself in the wardrobe in his bedroom and started in on listing possible market sectors for the app. He knew he'd have to find a way to reach each market so he concentrated on places where he might reasonably be able to find a mailing list or a good online club or two.

He got as far as parents, home workers, self-employed, carers and delivery people before he heard Daisy come into the room. If he just kept entirely still and silent maybe he could find another market to tap into. Dog walkers he thought – they go out on their own, might like some company, probably still being used at the moment, or even if they're not there's a unique...

Suddenly his phone let off a huge Ding! as a text landed on his screen. It said – How Are You Getting  On? and came will several emojis, some were quizzical, a couple smiley and one had a heart. As well as experiencing slight panic that Trinny was already trying to catch up with him, it reminded Daniel that Daisy had been playing on his phone this morning, very loudly.

"Found you daddy!" said Daisy, delighted as she swung the wardrobe door open, so over-enthusisatically that the hinge slipped off the internal bracket and the door came crashing down by her side without touching a hair on her head.

"Ohh!" she uttered and burst into tears.

Daniel pulled himself out of the wardrobe and switched into full on parent mode spouting copious amounts of soft and warm words and phrases designed to gauge how badly shaken she was and how he could make it all better. They had a cuddle on the bed which Mr Sparklehat – Daisy’s seeking companion – joined in with and then Daniel gave Daisy and Sparklehat a magic kiss and said he'd count up to fifty and be after them.

Daisy – and Sparklehat – set off in the same direction. Daniel sat on the bed, counting steadily aloud. He flicked open his text app and was annoyed to find the phone had only saved the text up to the work 'self'. He remembered dog walkers and then managed to type in 'animals' without interrupting his counting. He then deleted this.

'Research office work' he wrote. He knew everyone had been told to work from home, but the tide would turn eventually and maybe Together... Apart could play a part in giving offices some unity and preparing everyone for coming back in the fullness of time. After all with all the information on distancing, tiers and what you could or couldn't do this could work well for getting the message around businesses. He also wrote 'vaccine impact' with a question mark after it. And then 'Easter' with three question marks after it.

Daisy – and Sparklehat – had been quiet for some time and tempted though Daniel was he couldn't just leave them wherever they were and not try and find them. So with a "Here I Come, Ready or Not!" He left the bedroom and set off on his search.

He started of course, by looking while still watching his phone and trying to type on it. However, as time went by and he realised he wasn’t going to just stumble across them automatically he put the phone down and started looking in earnest. Daisy – and Sparklehat – were very good hiders.

Giving up on upstairs he scoured the ground floor, finally calling out to them in a funny way to try and get the giggles out of them. But no giggles came. Daniel didn’t panic – he knew she wouldn’t leave the house, but was finally calling out:

“You win! I don’t know where you are! You win!”

There was a vague sound from upstairs which Daniel traced to find back in his bedroom. For a moment he was flummoxed, then another loud Ding! Came from his phone with an accompanying message. Before Daniel could focus on this he heard a “Shhhhhh!” Coming from under his bed.

Lying on his side he found Daisy – and Sparklehat – under the bed.

“That was very clever,” he said.

“Shhhhh!” Said Daisy again. “Mr Sparklehat’s asleep.”

And he was. Lying motionless with a small flannel draped over him. Quiet as a mouse.

“Ok,” whispered Daniel. “Shall I leave you two to rest?”

Daisy nodded solemnly. Daniel got up and went downstairs. He made himself coffee, responded to Trinny and wondered if he could think of any other games that involved lying still or pretending to be asleep.