Hiding

-The boy liked to hide. It was part of his disposition, he didn’t like crowds or having to share, or germs.
He could never get away from all these things. So, he took a box, an ordinary box, and carved holes into it. He started to collect things. At first it was just insects, as he had been taught these were the bearers of most germs. The box quickly filled with roaches, and beetles, and a couple of flies. Then he started adding dogs and cats. He hated the fact that they licked themselves and then tried to lick him. He felt safer in his hiding place having placed all these things in the box. He started to add the ducks at the pond, as well as the pigeons. One of them had once sent him into a panic when it had flown over him and spoiled his shirt. He could look up at the sky now without the fear that he had become too accustomed to, on the rare occasions when he left his hiding place. But he felt more peaceful, like he had less to hide from. The insects no longer let themselves be seen, dogs and cats stayed away from the neighborhood and ducks and pigeons migrated on a path that avoided the neighborhood entirely. The boy felt happy. At least until his parents invited the neighbors over for dinner. He was forced to share his toys with the neighbor kids. He didn’t like that. Not only was it expected, but he was also to overlook the fact that their hands were sticky and the residue remained on the toys. He put them in the box. The neighbors and their kids. When his parents punished him by forbidding his retreating to his hiding place, he was forced to put them in the box too. Then he returned to his hiding place and he felt safer than he ever had, even though he kept the box at his side.