"Dad! Dad!"

Kasey was running toward Calvin who always seemed just on the horizon. "Dad! Come back!"

Suddenly, two large people blocked Kasey's path. "I'm sorry little girl. You can't see your dad anymore."

"No! I'm not a little girl! I wanna see my dad!"

Hobbes appeared out of nowhere. "I told you that you were a little kid! You're a little kid!"

Tears were streaming down her face. "No! Where's my dad? I wanna see Dad!" Kasey tried to see around the two people in front of her, but couldn't. The two people started pushing her away.

Kasey shot out of bed. "No!" She was sweating. Her bedroom was black and she was cold. When Kasey looked down she realized she'd kicked all her blankets off, and Hobbes was on the floor.

"Are you all right?" Hobbes asked quietly, "You were talking in your sleep."

Kasey was panting heavily, but clamed herself down a little. "I was…I'm fine Hobbes."

"Hmm." Hobbes stood up. "How long are you going to lie to me Kasey? I know you aren't fine." He climbed back on the bed as Kasey covered herself with blankets again.

"I'm tired Hobbes. Go to sleep." She lied down and closed her eyes.

"Kasey…"

She made fake snoring sounds. "I'm sleeping, you can't talk to me!" Then she rolled over and tried to fall asleep again. Hobbes seemed to fall asleep quickly, but Kasey lay awake for a long time, thinking about her dream. She was afraid she would have it again.

Suddenly, Kasey heard walking downstairs. Her heart pounded. Was someone in their house? Then she realized it was Susie, pacing. She knew it was her mom because she could hear her mumbling to herself. But she didn't know what Susie was saying.

Why is she up so late? Kasey thought, Maybe she can't sleep like me.

Eventually, around four in the morning, Kasey was able to fall asleep. When she woke up, Hobbes was waiting for her. He was sitting at the foot of her bed, twiddling his thumbs.

"Are you on Spring Break?" he asked.

Kasey rubbed her eyes, not completely awake yet. "Um…no…why?"

"Because when your dad went to school, he'd usually be at the bus by now."

Her heart sank as she looked at the clock. 8:01. Her bus was going to be on her driveway in five minutes! Kasey rushed out her bedroom door and was surprised to see Janey in their living room, sipping coffee. She looked up.

"Good morning Kasey. Did you sleep well?"

Kasey ignored her greeting. "I'm going to be late to school!" she blurted.

"Honey, I don't think you're in good enough shape to go to school. Your mother barely slept last night. I don't think you slept well either. Just go back to bed." She smiled.

What was Kasey going to tell her friends tomorrow? That she was sick? Should she tell them about the car accident? No, she had to go to school to avoid that whole conversation. Why would she stay home for a little thing like a car accident? They couldn't know. "Janey, I can go to school. I'm fine."

Janey looked skeptical. "You don't look fine. In fact, you look as if you hardly slept last night."

Right on cue, Kasey yawned. "No…I slept fine."

"Uh huh. Sure you did. Your bus will be here any second and I'm not driving you. So you'll have to stay home and sleep." Janey smiled again. "Aww…poor Kasey. Being forced to sleep instead of going to school."

Kasey refused to smile, but went back to her room anyway. Hobbes was waiting for her.

"Yay! We can stay home and play!" he shouted. Kasey hadn't used the word 'play' in a long time. Usually she and her friends would hang out, nothing more. She wondered what was involved in playing; she hadn't done it in so long. She lowered her eyes.

"I…I don't know how to play…"

"You don't?" Hobbes' eyes widened, but then he grinned. "I'll teach you! We can play CalvinBall!"

"Umm…" Kasey wasn't sure what to say. She didn't want to disappoint Hobbes, but playing sounded so…childish. She fell back on her bed and yawned again. "I dunno Hobbes. Can I sleep first?"

"Sure you can! I'll wait. I've waited for your dad plenty of times; I can wait for you too." Then he went back to looking like a regular stuffed animal. Kasey closed her eyes and fell asleep quicker than she thought she would.

When she finally awoke, Hobbes was waiting for her, like he said he was. Kasey felt uneasiness in the pit of her stomach. She wasn't sure if she wanted to play.

"Come on! Let's play!" Hobbes said excitedly, and something about his enthusiasm drew Kasey toward her bedroom door and she went outside with Hobbes.

It was almost eleven, the dew had since evaporated and the sun was already warming up the morning chill. Still, Kasey shivered. Her previous dream still circled in her head, and she was still embarrassed by the idea of "playing."

Hobbes was bouncing around in circles around her. "Come on, come on! Let's play CalvinBall!"

"But I don't know how to play…"

"That's the best part! You make up your own rules! Ok, rule number one: If you're tagged, you have to do five jumping jacks."

Kasey scowled. "That's a dumb rule!"

"Then you think of another rule. But rule number one stays!"

"Fine…" Kasey thought for a minute, "If you don't catch the ball, you need to spin until you're dizzy! Then run to that tree."

Hobbes raised his eyebrows. "What ball?"

"I'll go get one!" Kasey ran up to her room and grabbed a dusty dodge-ball she hadn't used in a long time. She was actually excited to play outside. A smile crept up on her mouth. By the time she rushed outside again, Hobbes had another rule waiting for her.

"If you fall down while trying to run to that tree you have to sing "Mary Had A Little Lamb!"" he called.

Kasey giggled and threw the ball at Hobbes, who caught it.

"I caught the ball! Now you have to run around until I tag you!"

"Ok," Kasey said, "But if you don't tag me on the first throw, I get five points and I try to tag you!"

"After you spin around until you're dizzy and try to run to that tree," Hobbes reminded her, "Let's not forget your rule."

"All right, I think we have a stable foundation for a game. Let's go!"

Hobbes laughed.

"What? What did I say?" Kasey raised her eyebrows.

"Oh nothing," Hobbes grinned, "You sounded just like your dad when you said that."

The two of them started playing. Susie watched from the window after she had woken up and smiled at her daughter. She saw Kasey running around a stuffed tiger, but Kasey herself had learned to see more than that. She was running around her new friend, slowly grasping the idea of playing once more.

Then the phone decided to ring a few hours later. Kasey and Hobbes had gone back outside after lunch, so Susie answered with worry circling her mind. Was it the hospital? Was Calvin ok?

"Hello?" Susie said shakily.

"Oh, hi Mrs. Grayson. Is Kasey there?" said a young voice.

Relief flooded Susie. "Yes Mariah. She's outside, I'll go get her." She called in Kasey, who looked somewhat disappointed to leave Hobbes behind.

"Hello?" Kasey said into the phone, trying to catch her breath.

"Hey Kasey! How's it going? You sound tired."

"Yeah I was just…" she stopped. Her friends would call her a baby if they knew she had been outside. They would laugh if they knew she had also been playing with a toy. She decided it best not to bring it up. "Um…I was just…working out." That was true. She had been working out. Outside. With a stuffed animal.

"Oh ok, that's cool. Yeah, it's probably best we stay in shape this summer."

Mariah was already considering herself "out of shape," though she totally wasn't at all. Kasey pretended to care when Mariah was going on about her new diet. In reality, she found it all kind of sickening. She sighed. "Come on, Mariah. You're not out of shape."

"Oh please," Mariah scoffed, "Have you seen my thighs? They're all jiggly."

Kasey rolled her eyes. Arguing with her wasn't going to do either of them any good. She quickly changed the subject and talked for a little while. Then Mariah asked the question she was trying to avoid.

"So, like, why weren't you at school?"

Silence.

"Kasey?"

"Uh…I…"

Susie walked in the living room and sat down.

"I didn't feel like going to school."

"Oh, are you sick?"

"Yeah, kinda. Um…Mariah…I have to go. I'll talk to you later, ok?"

"Ok. Bye."

Kasey hung up. Susie looked at her strangely.

"You didn't tell her about Dad. Why not? I thought you two told each other everything."

Kasey's pounding heartbeat thundered in her ears. She hated being put on the spot. "Um…I just…didn't want to."

"Are you scared?"

"No." There was that word again.

"All right. Hobbes is outside waiting for you."

Suddenly, playing outside was the last thing Kasey wanted to do. She went outside anyway. Hobbes noticed how glum she looked.

"What's wrong? Who was on the phone?"

"Mariah. My friend." Kasey chose a sunny spot on the grass and sat down. Hobbes sat down beside her.

"Do you want to play, still?"

Kasey shook her head. All she could think about was what she was going to say to her friends when she goes back to school. She rested her head on her knees. Her dream started circling her head again.

She didn't notice when Hobbes put her arm around her. And when she did, she didn't push him away.