Laughter bubbled up through her chest and into the tiny space that sheltered and protected her and her two furry, soft elephants. Sydney was hiding with her two favorite toys. The biggest one was purple and had two little black eyes, a long skinny tail and two raggedy ears that were barely as long as its' head. She called him Berry. the other was pink with a white chest and white tummy and ears so long and big that they went from its' head to its' toes. When she got it for her birthday her mom said it must be a cousin to dumbo because it had such big ears and so from then on she named it Zoe after her cousin. Mommy laughed when she told her. Mommie's can laugh at silly things. The three of them were hiding under her Mom and Dad's bed. They were playing Bear which was the favorite game she played with her daddy and her brother Lincoln. She could hear dad growling like a bear as he crawled down the hallway. He sounded so silly it made her laugh. It was very dark in her mom and dad's room and it could be scarey but she wasn't ever scared when she was around her daddy. He was big and strong and smiled a lot. She giggled again and daddy stopped growling. "I'm gonna get you." Daddy's growly voice came from just behind the bedroom door. Ah, oh, he must have heard her giggling. She didn't want to get caught first. Lincoln always won. He found really neat places to hide. Once he hid on the top shelf of the hall closet. Daddy didn't like it but he still won.Sydney really, really wanted to find a good hiding spot. She looked out from under the bed and could see the window. The moon shone through it. She could see the big tree. Its' branches nearly reached Mommy and Daddy's bedroom window. Lincoln had climbed it once. Sydney got so excited about winning that she didn't think about danger. She didn't remember what her mommy and daddy told her about climbing the tree. She didn't think about the fact that she had never climbed from the window to the tree. She just wanted to beat Lincoln. She left her purple elephant behind as she scrambled across the room to the window. She carried Zoe with her. She dragged her by her long floppy ear. The window was open. Sydney pushed on the screen and watched it pop out just like Mommy did when she cleaned the windows. Light came in through the bedroom door. "The bear is going to get you..." growled her daddy. Sydney crawled up on to the window just as daddy reached under the bed. He found only purple Berry all by himself. Daddy was surprised. Sydney never went anywhere without her bears. Then he heard a muffled cry. "Sydney" Daddy called in his regular voice. "Where are...." Just then daddy looked over at the window. He saw it was open and he only two tiny hands clinging to the window sill. In one tiny hand was Zoe's pink and white ear. Daddy jumped up and ran to the windown. He pulled Sydney to safety just as her tiny hands were slipping and she was starting to fall a long way down to the ground. Daddy hugged her and hugged her. Sydney wasn't giggling any more she was still really scared. When she had tried to climb out of the window to the tree she had slipped and almost fell. Sydney was crying. "i just wanted to beat Lincoln one time." Daddy hugged her until the tears stopped. "Sydney" daddy said. "Mommy and Daddy have taught you to never climb up on the window sills. We also taught you not to climb too high into the tree. You were going to break both of those rules weren't you?" Sydney buried her face into her daddy's shoulder and said "Yes." "Sydney, Mommy and daddy make rules so you will be safe not to be mean. Rules need to be kept all the time. Winning a silly game of bear is not more important than being obedient. Do you understand what I am saying to you Sydney?" daddy asked her gently. "Yes, Daddy, I do. I'm sorry." "Well, I am glad you are sorry and I am glad you did not fall and get hurt but you could have been hurt. And, it was because you broke our rules. What should daddy do?" Her father looked into her big blue eyes that still had tears in them. "I don't know. I said I was sorry." "yes, you did but I think because you broke two big rules you need to go to your room and think about two things. First winning is not fun if you have to break a rule to win. Two always obey Mommy and Daddy's rule that are made to keep you safe. Can you think about those two things?" Daddy asked. Sydney walked slowly to her room with Zoe and Berry pulled in a tight hug. She had never been so scared before. She didn't like making her daddy sad. She was determined to be a very, very good girl even if she could never beat Lincoln in the game of Bear.