Mr. Lafta is very kind to me

My dad took me to the park today. I’m 4 years old, and he’s the best daddy in the whole wide world. I got a new ball and I wanted to play with it, and when we were driving there I asked him if he’d play with me. He said he had to work but it was okay because he asked his friend Mr. Lafta to come play with me.<br><br>I saw dad hand Mr. Lafta some money, but I didn’t ask about it. Dad turned me over to Mr. Lafta and walked away, so I did too. I showed him my ball and he said it was very nice and wished he had a ball like it when he was a little boy. I asked him how old he was and he said he was older than he looked. I can’t tell how old he is but he doesn’t look too old. He looks like one of dad’s friends, and dad is 34.<br><br>I asked him if he wanted to play catch with me and he said yes. I threw the ball to him and he caught it - good job. He said I was very good at throwing and he could tell I practiced a lot. Then he asked me if I wanted to play a game and of course I said yes. He said he was going to play hide and seek with me and I had to close my eyes and count to 10. I did and then I looked around but I couldn’t find him. He’s very good at hiding.<br><br>I called out his name but he didn’t answer. I looked behind the slide and the swings, even in the parking lot, but I couldn’t find him anywhere. I got really worried that I lost him so I ran all around, calling out his name.<br><br>Then I heard a voice say “Over here.” I couldn’t see where it was coming from, but after a minute I saw a path that I hadn’t noticed before. I didn’t think about it, I just ran toward the voice. The path got very narrow so I had to slow down a bit. It was getting darker and I couldn’t see very far ahead, but when I turned a corner I saw Mr. Lafta. He was smiling at me and said “Good job finding me.”<br><br>I asked him how he hid so well and he said he has a lot of practice. Then he said we had to go back the way we came, but first he had to tell me a secret. I said OK, please tell me the secret. He lifted up his shirt and showed me something on his tummy. I asked him what it was and he said it was a very old symbol that protects him. I asked from what and he said monsters. I told him I wasn’t afraid of monsters and he said he could tell.<br><br>He pulled his shirt back down and told me to go back to the path. I tried to find my way back but I couldn’t. I called out to him again but he didn’t answer. So I just ran as hard as I could until I saw a light and I was back at the park. Dad was there and he asked what took me so long. I told him I lost Mr. Lafta and he said that wasn’t very nice. He said maybe next time I can find him quicker.<br><br>I love my daddy. Today was fun, and I want to play with Mr. Lafta again.