A stranger flings open the door, with eyes shooting daggers at me, and my anger quickly dissipates. This is all his fault.

“Let’s go, we're going to be late!” my parents exclaim.

“Ok, I’m coming,” I call back, my indignation surfacing as quick as lightning. It’s in the middle of the day, and we are going over to my parents' friends’ house. They have a son named Simon who is five years older than me. He has black hair,brown eyes, and is tall for his age. While the adults are talking, my eyes start to get bleary. Can this get ever more monotonous? Glancing at Simon, I can tell he’s getting bored too.

“Hey, you want to go outside?” he asks.

“Sure, I feel like dropping dead right now, I say. Listening to them talk is like watching grass grow." After extensive deliberation by the sophisticated means of rock-paper-scissors, we decide to play hide and seek out on the playground in his backyard--with me as the first seeker.

After counting to 50 with my eyes buried in a tree, I turn around and start to search for him. I start looking in the usual spots, between the slide and behind the structures. Not able to detect anything, I go on top of the playground to see if I can get a better chance of discovering him from up there. Looking from the top of the playground is like looking down from a mountain. The cool, fresh air surrounding me feels invigorating. I still can’t find him so I start searching behind trees and bushes.

As five long minutes go by, I still can’t find him. Where is he?, I wonder. The playground isn’t big, and there aren’t spots he can hide in that would make him unnoticeable. A bit exasperated, I yell “I give up!”. But he doesn’t come out like I think he would. I, being only 6 years old, start to panic. I yell out for him to come out, but still, nothing happens. Finally, I realize what he did, and I start to get mad. It’s a bright and sunny day, but I feel like there are storm clouds rumbling over my head.

Simon lives in a condo, so the house next to his has a door that looks exactly like his; dark gray, with a round door handle. After running around everywhere, I fail to remember which door is the one to his house. I advance toward the door, unaware of the impending doom that would fall over me unexpectedly like a strike of lightning across the sky. I turn the handle. It doesn’t budge, and so I knock on the door, anticipating that it would open. No answer. I knock again, but still no one answers the door. Why won’t anyone answer? 

Enraged and frightened, I begin pounding and kicking the door as hard as I can. I also start screaming in Chinese for someone to open the door, evidence of how desperate I was. The door finally opens, but I find myself staring at a complete stranger.

Oh. Immediately, a bunch of thoughts start jumping through my head. He must think that I am some shady little kid, that I’m trying to rob his house… he might even call the police! He must think I’m completely insane.

I do the only thing an elementary kid can think of during this situation. Mumbling an apology, I get away from the door as fast as I can. Looking back, I can see bemusement and a hint of vexation on his face. Wearily, I walk up to the next door.

This better be the right one. Luckily, it is. Walking in the house, I spot Simon playing a computer game. Far too piqued to even talk to him, I just glare at him with dismay. Desiring to forget this experience, I forgive him for what he did and I decide to proceed on with my life, not wanting to resent him.