ONE wet Sunday afternoon, Mario agreed to play hide and seek with his children. Figuring it would be condescending to overlook their pathetic hiding, he found them quickly. On his turn he folded himself, impressively, into a tiny space in the linen cupboard. Five minutes later, Daniella shouted, ‘Daaaad? Where are you?’ Ten minutes after that, Paolo implored, ‘Come out, Dad! You win!’ Then silence. He may have drifted off then, for the next thing Mario heard was the clink of cutlery and his wife’s laugh. Ha! If they thought they’d flush him out so easily they were kidding themselves.