I Found My Neighbor’s Twin Toddlers Hiding in My Empty Trash Can—Then Their Mother Told Me Why They Had Been Sent to Find Me

She looked toward the house next door, then up at me.

“We’re not playing,” she whispered.

“We’re just hiding.”

Something changed in the way I was holding the lid.

“Please don’t let him know that we are here.”

I kept my voice level because theirs was already full of fear.

“Who are you hiding from?”

She pressed one finger against her lips.