Animal Hide-and-Seek

Rhino is very shy. She always plays by herself around the lake. Gecko decides to play a trick on her. He asks all the other animals to join him.

"Rhino!" Gecko calls. "Do you want to play hide-and-seek with us? We will decide who hides first with rock-paper-scissors."

The other animals know that Rhino can only make paper with her big feet. They all make scissors on purpose. Rhino will have to be the seeker.

The animals start looking for places to hide. They ask each other, "Where should we hide so Rhino can’t find us?"

Rhino starts counting. "Five… ten… fifteen…" When she’s done counting to a hundred, she opens her eyes. "Where is everyone?" she wonders. "How will I find them now?"

Monkey had climbed into a tree. Rhino is overjoyed."Monkey, you have a long tail!" she calls. "I can see it clearly!" Squirrel had hidden in a tree's trunk. Rhino smiles. "Squirrel, I can see your fluffy tail!"

Rabbit is hiding nervously inside a cave. Nearby, Hedgehog had covered herself with flowers. Rhino finds them immediately. "Hedgehog and Rabbit! How could you both hide in such obvious places?" Rhino giggles.

Snail is crawling slowly under a leaf.

Parrot hides confidently on a tree branch. But his feathers are so bright that spotting him is easy. Rhino has found more than half the animals!

Silly Deer hides among the leafless trees. Giant Bear tries to hide behind the rocks.Rhino laughs out loud. "I can see where you both are hiding!"

Turtle hides in her shell, pretending to be a rock. Frog hides among some bushes across from her. But Rhino sees them both.

Finally, only Gecko remains hidden. Rhino cannot find him anywhere. The other animals tease, "You will have to look really hard now!"

Soon, Rhino has searched for Gecko everywhere. Her feet are worn out!

Rhino sits down, trying not to cry. The other animals start to feel bad. "Do you need a hint?" they ask. "No, I don’t need anyone’s help. Gecko might be good at hiding, but I will find him soon!"

At last, Rhino bows her head and stares into the lake. Suddenly, she cries out, "Gecko! I've found you!" Gecko grins. "I hid right on top of your horn! Pretty genius, right?"

Rhino laughs. She no longer feels shy. "Now it’s my turn to hide, and all of you will have to find me. I already know where I’ll hide!"