As he stood quietly in the corner of the busy store, memories of his childhood swept over him.

"Ready or not, here I come!"

Her voice was that of an angel. That voice that had nurtured him since the moment he entered this world. It took all of his might not to run out from his hiding place behind the curtains into her arms, and he giggled quietly to himself.

In retrospect, his hiding place was not all that great. His toes peeked out from under the not-quite-long-enough drapes, and there was no way that his favorite red and white shirt kept him concealed. But yet, as with each time they played his favorite game, she stomped by his concealment, wondering out loud in a sing-songy voice:

"Hmmm, where could Waldo be?"

After a few minutes of her ruse, he couldn't take it any more and leapt out at her.

"Mommy, I'm here, I'm here!"

A customer jostled by him in a hurry, awakening him from his vivid flashback. She had disappeared so suddenly. Without warning, without so much as a goodbye. In the following days and weeks, everybody told him it wasn't his fault. Yet he swore that he would find her, and he did this in the best way he knew how.

When he hid, she always found him. Always.

And so he would keep on hiding, searching for that warmth and comfort that he had lost so many years ago.

They said to wear the stripes and he would be found.

Waldo's dreams were getting more and more vivid; yet more and more mysterious. The mysterious beings who had visited him in his first encounter had told him that he was next. Whatever that meant. All they said was to wear the stripes.

It was an Christmas gift from his grandmother. Red and white. He figured he would stick out like a bright mushroom in a field of grass. But nothing, not even a bleep from the other side had come through since he wore the outfit.

The act seemed to be getting old. He had been to circuses, beaches, art galleries and shopping malls. Anywhere people were gathered, Waldo lurked.

"Join the others" - they commanded, "And we will find you. We will save you."

He never expected it would be in at the town parade. As bands stomped by and children bumped into him with cotton candy, Waldo got a funny feeling he was being watched. It was a feeling that began in the center of his spine and gently tugged him upwards. Soon he was floating off the ground and being pulled upwards towards and unknown vessel.

As he was sucked through the bottom threshold he came into a large room of creatures that looked oddly human.

In front of him was a giant mirror. He gazed deeply. A young boy stared back.

"Welcome Waldo. You've found yourself."