I give him a friendly smile, then I wave. The one eye that I can see goes still but he keeps it fixed on me. So I sit down opposite him, keeping a healthy distance between us for his comfort, and I cover my face, too, mimicking his body language. Then I peek out at him by parting two of my fingers, the same way he just did.
He drops his hands a little. I catch the top half of his face first. I’ve definitely seen him before. He’s staring at me wide-eyed, mouth open, confused and wary and skittish.
I pull my hands down, too. He immediately hides his face again. I do the same. When he peeks out at me, I follow suit.
Back and forth. Back and forth.
And then, I hear something that makes my heart lift.
He giggles. It’s loud and sudden and childlike. And it clearly takes him off-guard, too,
