It was a hot summer afternoon.

A bunch of farm children were playing outside. Someone suggested hide and seek.  A bandana was tied around the eyes of the little girl who was “it.” Kids scattered everywhere, to find a hiding place.

Tommy wanted a special place to hide, where they’d never look. He thought he knew the perfect place.

He’d seen an old refrigerator out in a field not too far away. He raced through the chest-high weeds, leaping and laughing with exhilaration.

Finally, he saw it. Boy, was it rusty. And old. And… sorta spooky.  But, nobody would find him. When time was up, he’d pop out and run back and win!

When he got close, he thought, "perfect."

 He opened the door. It had dirty old shelves. He yanked them out, and threw them on the ground. Then he climbed in. Perfect fit.

Grabbing hold of a shelf in the door, he pulled it closed.

Boy, was it dark. And hot. And stuffy.

After a while he hoped they would find him. He was tired of the dark and it was getting hard to breath.

He decided to leave.  He pushed on the door, but it didn’t open. There was no handle on the inside.

He was so scared, he cried and yelled, but nobody heard him.

Nobody found him.

Until it was too late.