Tess and the Swaying Ferns

“Ready or not, here I come!” Tess called from behind a boulder.

She stepped into the broad meadow, her little trunk lifted like a trumpet. Tall ferns stood in clumps among the grass, and round boulders made fine hiding places. The afternoon breeze sent the fern fronds swishing back and forth.

Tess’s friends had hidden for the last round of hide-and-seek. There was Nella, a young mammoth with a tuft of hair that always stuck up. There was Bram, who had big feet and a very quiet laugh. And there was Oona, who could squeeze behind almost anything, even though she was rather wide.

“Find us all before the round is over!” Nella had called as they scattered.

Tess wanted to do just that. She loved being the seeker, especially when she found everyone. She began near the boulder where she had counted.

“Clue number one,” she whispered. “A hiding place should be close by.”

She peeked behind the boulder. No Nella. She looked beneath a low bush. No Bram. She checked beside a patch of soft dirt and found only one tiny beetle carrying a crumb.

“Good hiding, beetle,” Tess said. “But you’re not playing.”

A fern swished to her left. Tess hurried over. Its fronds swayed again, making a leafy shape that looked almost exactly like a mammoth’s ears.

“Bram?” she asked.

The fern wobbled.

“Come on out!” Tess called, giving the fronds a gentle nudge. They brushed her trunk like a tickly green mustache. Tess giggled, but Bram didn’t appear.

Tess looked over one shoulder, then the other, taking in the ferns all around her. One leaned right, another leaned left, and a third gave a little jiggle.

“Hmm,” said Tess. “That’s a lot of clues.”

From somewhere near the far boulders came a muffled snort. Tess’s ears perked up.

“Was that a laugh?” she called.

The breeze rustled the ferns again. The snort did not repeat.

Tess trotted toward the boulders, careful not to miss a hiding friend. She spotted a long shadow, a patch of mashed grass, and a fern that waved as if it were saying hello.

Which clue would help her next? Tess wasn’t sure yet, but she was ready to look.

Tess checked the long shadow. It belonged to a boulder. She peered around it, then behind it, then even under its edge, though there was hardly room for a beetle.

“No friends,” she said. “Just a very sneaky rock.”

The mashed grass was next. Tess followed it to a fern clump. The fronds swished to one side, then the other. A round shape appeared between them.

“Oona!” Tess cried.

She hurried over, but the round shape was a boulder, too. The breeze had pushed the fronds apart just long enough to make the rock look like Oona’s wide back.

Tess sat down with a little plop. “The ferns keep pretending to be clues.”

She watched them for a moment. A frond bent toward the boulders. Then the breeze changed, and it bent away. Nothing was hiding there. The ferns were simply swaying with the wind.

“Oh!” Tess said. “A clue that moves might not be a clue at all.”

She stood up. “I’ll look for something that stays put.”

Tess studied the ground. The grass sprang up after the wind passed. The boulder stayed still. So did a small patch of dusty earth beside it. In the dust were three fresh footprints, each shaped like a little scoop.

Tess leaned close. “Those are mammoth footprints. And they point that way!”

She followed them across the meadow. The prints went around a fern, past a smooth stone, and stopped beside a low, round boulder. Tess put her trunk against it.

“Bram?”

A quiet giggle came from the other side.

Tess stepped around the boulder. Bram was crouched behind it, trying to make his big feet small. He wasn’t doing a very good job.

“Found you!” Tess said.

Bram sprang up. “How did you know?”

“Your footprints stayed in one place,” Tess answered. “Unlike those wiggly fern tricks.”

They searched together for Nella and Oona. Behind a fallen log, they found Nella, whose tuft of hair poked out at one end. Oona was tucked between two boulders, with her tail sticking out at the other end.

“Found!” Tess called. “That’s everyone!”

The friends bumped shoulders and laughed. Tess had found them all before the final round was over—and now they had one last round to play together.

“Let’s make this last round a silly one,” Bram suggested.

“Everyone hides, and everyone seeks!” said Nella. “We can all look at once.”

They chose the biggest boulder as the starting place. Tess shut her eyes while the others hurried off. Bram hid behind a fern, then popped out when it tickled his ear. Nella squeezed beside the fallen log, her funny tuft sticking up like a tiny brush. Oona stood behind a narrow stone, with most of her still showing.

Tess opened her eyes. “I see a tuft!” she called.

Nella laughed and stepped out. “That clue was attached to me.”

“I see two big feet!” Bram called, pointing to the fern. Bram’s own feet were planted right beside them.

“Those are mine,” he said, looking down. “I hid myself by mistake.”

Oona tried to stay quiet behind the stone, but her tail gave a slow wag. Tess spotted it and walked over.

“Found you, Oona.”

“I thought the stone would cover me,” Oona said. “It covered a little bit.”

They played another quick search, taking turns calling out clues. Nella found Bram by his feet. Oona found Tess because Tess had left a curved trail in the grass. Tess found Nella by the tuft that refused to stay tucked down.

When the friends had all been found again, nobody hurried to start over. The breeze moved through the ferns, and this time Tess only smiled at their swishing.

“They almost fooled me,” she said. “Those ferns were very good at pretending.”

“Maybe they were playing, too,” Bram said.

The friends walked home together across the meadow. Their steps made a slow row of prints in the soft earth. They talked about the fern that had looked like a mammoth’s ears, and Oona tried to make her tail swish like a frond. It only made her wobble, which made everyone giggle again.

By the time they reached home, the meadow was quiet. Tess rested her trunk beside her, while her friends settled nearby. The ferns swayed once more in the evening breeze, but now they looked like ordinary ferns, nodding as the little mammoths grew still and sleepy.