The gang was playing hide-and-seek in the clearing, and Rex really wanted to join in. “I'll count to ten!” said Pigúiça, with her eyes covered. “One, two, three...”
Trici dashed behind a bush. Tico squeezed into a hollow log, but, long as he is, the tip of his tail stuck out. Bolota lay down behind a rock and stayed very, very still.
Rex looked for a place. Behind a skinny tree? His head stuck out. Behind a bush? The bush looked like a hat on top of him. Behind the rock? The rock barely came up to his knee.
“...nine, ten! Here I come!” Pigúiça opened her eyes and found Tico's tail in two seconds. Then Bolota, who was snoring. Then Trici. And Rex was still in the middle of the clearing, crouching, with his little hands over his eyes. “Rex, I can see you.”
Rex plopped down on the ground with a thud. “I'm too big,” he said. “For everything. I can't hide, I can't fit through the tunnel, I can't play on the seesaw without sending the other one flying.”
Fofuxo, who had arrived and heard it all, sat down beside Rex. “I'm pretty big too,” he said. “I don't fit through Bolota's little door. But sometimes, being big helps.” “How does it help?” asked Rex.
That was when the clouds let loose a sudden sprinkle, pit, pit, pit. The pups looked around. There was no big tree nearby, no roof, nothing.
“Rex!” shouted Pigúiça. “Lie down!” Rex lay down on his side, and his tummy became a big green roof. They all squeezed underneath, between his legs and his tail. It was dry and warm, and it smelled like leaves.
“Rex,” said Tico, peeking between his big toes, “you're the best hiding place I've ever seen.” “Even the rain can't find us here,” said Bolota.
Rex had never been the best at anything. He was so happy that his tail started to wag all on its own, from side to side.
“Careful with the tail!” they all laughed. And then they discovered something else: when Rex wagged his tail, it made a gentle swing, like a hammock. One by one, the pups climbed on and were rocked.
The rain moved on. The evening settled in. Rex stayed lying down, not wanting to end the game, while his friends grew sleepy all around him.
Pigúiça rested her head on his tummy, which rose and fell. “Rex,” she whispered, “tomorrow you count to ten, and we'll hide inside you.” Rex smiled. “Deal.”
And, with the rain singing outside and his friends snug beneath him, Rex slowly closed his eyes. The biggest of the gang had found his own way to play. And he was the first to fall asleep.
