[doors opening]
[narrator] It's that peaceful time, when night has just turned into morning
and everyone is still cozy in bed.
Except for Square.
Because today was his regularly scheduled
Bi-Monthly Semi-Annual Ultimate Beach Tidying Day, where he thoroughly…
and I mean thoroughly, tidied up the beach.
And there was quite a bit to tidy.
A big storm had come through last night
and washed up a whole bunch of stuff on the shore.
Hmm.
Hmm?
-[narrator] Wait, what's that? -[groans] Sneaky devil!
Hmm?
"Long walk today. I counted 30 new palm trees.
I love Square's pancakes.
The secret ingredient is obviously cinnamon."
Wait, what? Square?
[narrator] Square was the only Square he knew.
Who wrote this? How do you know about the cinnamon in my pancakes?
That's a secret!
Relax. Relax, Square. This must be Triangle's.
He is always saying he's a supertaster.
[chuckles] I'll just go return his note to him.
[panting] Square!
I found your note by the ocean, and frankly I am not amused.
That stuff is personal!
My note? What?
[grunting]
"The little leaves make me itchy, but the flowers are pretty.
It looks like it's going to rain. Triangle talks in his sleep."
Nobody else sees me asleep as much as you do!
I doze off during your stories all the time.
And I do not talk in my sleep!
Oh, everyone knows you talk in your sleep, Triangle.
But I didn't write this.
I came over to show you this note I found
that blabs about the secret ingredient in my pancakes.
Oh, cinnamon! Of course.
Wait. [gasps] You know what this means, right?
Mm-mmm.
It's obvious, Square! There's a spy on the island!
They're gathering all our secrets and stuffing them into glass bottles.
But who? Why?
Wait. What about Circle?
[narrator] Circle! Of course. It must be.
Maybe she could give us some advice about how to deal with these spies!
[narrator] Oh.
No, no! The spies have only written about you and me, not Circle.
We can't drag her into this. [gasps]
Do you think we're being watched right now?
[seagull squawks]
Look, we just need to stay calm and-- [screams]
[narrator] "Message in a Bottle."
[panting] Read it! [gasps] Read it!
"The moon was so bright tonight. I need to drink more water.
Triangle took Square's yo-yo without asking"--
-So that's where it went! -I was gonna give it back when I fixed it.
Wait, wait, wait, y-you broke it?
Focus, Square!
Another deep, dark secret that I may or may not have done?
This proves it! We're being watched by spies!
[narrator] In moments of crisis, even sensible Square was easily swayed.
It happens to the best of us.
Okay, okay. [shushes] No more talking until we're inside.
They could be listening to us right now.
-[bird squawking] -[grunts]
[grunting] Okay, okay.
This should eliminate the spy's line of sight.
We can't be too caut-- Whoa! [shouts]
-[shouts] What is it? -We're not safe here.
My house is bugged.
Hmm. Pretty sure this is just a regular bug. [chuckles]
What's next? Are they gonna find out about the lemon in my sugar cooki--
Oh! I've already said too much.
We can figure this out. We just gotta think.
What do the spies want from us?
Information about us?
Particularly our sleeping and pancake habits?
Exactly! So we give them our secrets on a silver platter.
And when they least expect it, boom! They fall right into our trap!
-What trap? -Just trust me. Quick, put this on!
[Triangle grunting] Yeah, yeah.
Okay, this looks deep enough. Now go set up while I cover the top.
[Triangle grunting]
-We're good to go. -Perfect!
Now we just loudly act like ourselves,
and when some spies come along to steal more of our secrets, boom!
Stuck in a hole! Ditch the suits. It's showtime.
I can't wait to dig into these--
mm-mmm--
delicious pancakes when my good friend Triangle wakes up.
Now, hmm. Where's my secret cinnamon?
[grumbles] Here I am, dreaming about all my secrets.
[snoring, grumbles]
-[gasps] -Huh?
[both gasp]
So that's where you are!
-[gasps] Circle! -Circle!
I've been looking all over for you two.
Wait. Why'd you dig this hole right on the path? Someone could fall in.
Yeah, that's the plan! We're catching spies.
-Hmm? -We found these bottles
that had hidden messages with all of our secrets inside.
[gasps] What are you doing with those? You didn't read them, did you?
Of course, we did! But don't you read them, okay?
There's some very sensitive information about us in them.
I-- I-- I-- I know what's written in them. Uh, they're mine!
[both gasp]
[narrator] They should've figured this out sooner.
Those notes are personal.
You mean you're the spy?
Spy? What-- What are you talking about?
[sighs] Fine. I'll tell you, but y-y-you better not laugh.
Sometimes when my head is foggy and I need to sort through my emotions,
I like to write out my thoughts and toss them out into the ocean.
It's cathartic for me to watch them drift away.
That storm must've washed some of the bottles back onto the island.
I-- I can't believe you two read these! I'm-- I'm so embarrassed!
[sighs] Sorry. We got so wrapped up in our secrets coming out--
That you ended up reading all of my secrets? Is that right?
W-We weren't thinking straight. I-It won't happen again. Promise!
Pinkie promise.
[both] Pinkie promise.
[breathes deeply] Okay, it's okay. You guys didn't know.
It's a simple misunderstanding. Let's just put it all behind us.
Oh, Square, according to my calendar, today was your regularly scheduled
Bi-Monthly Semi-Annual Ultimate Beach Tidying Day, right?
Yep. And there isn't a grain of sand out of place.
Well… [sighs] …then it sounds like today's a perfect beach day.
Look, we even have some pancakes to snack on.
[chuckles] So silly of us to think we were being spied on.
-[chuckles] -[chuckles] Yeah.
[chuckles] Although now that I know it was Circle,
I can't help but wonder what other things
she's written about us in those bottles of hers.
Hey, guys!
[grunts]
[chuckles] Yeah. [chuckles]
I bet she has a lot to process after today. [chuckles]
Oh, well. I guess only the ocean will know for sure. [chuckles]
I'll see you two tomorrow, okay? I'll just take one of these for the road.
[chuckles] Well, she's awfully cheery.
[laughs] Yeah. A bit too cheery, if you ask me.
Square, we have to get that bottle.
Wait, what? Have you lost your mind?
Look, it's right there! Don't you wanna know what Circle wrote?
She must've really let us have it in that one
to get over how upset she was so quickly.
Don't you think?
I can't believe you would even suggest this.
Sure, she was really upset earlier, and yes,
she mostly sat by herself all afternoon.
And actually, I did catch her glaring at me when I filled up the water bucket.
Oh, she definitely wrote about us. Maybe we could--
[narrator] Oh, no. Square, don't!
But wait, no, no. No, we can't. No, of-- of course not! [scoffs]
[narrator] Phew!
Square, we can grab it, read it and throw it back before she'd ever know.
That note could be scathing.
What if it washes up on a distant shore and someone reads it and thinks,
"Wow, this Square fella sounds like a real nasty character"?
-Nasty? -Or worse!
What if she revealed another one of your secret pancake ingredients?
[gasps]
[panting, grunts]
[gurgles]
[mumbling]
Read! Read, Square! Read!
Okay, okay, okay, okay!
[sighs] Forgive me, Circle.
[clears throat]
"You two pinkie promised me you would never read my journal again."
[both gasp]
Find something?
-[Square, Triangle gasping] -How could you?
-We triple-dog pinkie promise… -Circle! Oh, no!
…to never do it again for the rest of our days!
-[Triangle] You gotta believe us! -Cross my heart. We really--
Enough! [cries] I'll never be able to trust you two again. [sobs]
[sighs]
[strains] She's right. I can't believe us. We're terrible friends.
We are. Absolutely terrible.
I can't-- I-- [sighs] I just gotta go.
[inhales sharply, sighs]
[strains] Huh?
I, uh, couldn't find a bottle. [chuckles]
-[grunts] -[grunts]
[grunts]
[Circle sighs]
[Square] Mmm.
[panting]
[narrator] Square was in a hurry to meet up with Circle and Triangle.
Because Triangle had said he had something very important to discuss.
[pants] Almost there. I can't be late.
Triangle said, "This is the next big thing," after all.
I just hope it doesn't go too long.
I still gotta water the plants and wash the dishes and--
Oh, no, I'm starting to sweat. I hope they don't notice.
Hello, Square. You're looking dry.
Phew.
[Triangle clears throat]
Thank you for joining me here in this forest clearing.
We are gathered today to play a game I just made up.
New game?
Interesting.
It is interesting.
In this new game, two of us will hide, and the other will seek them.
I call it, shroud-and-find.
[chuckles] Wow! That's a very original idea.
Thanks. I agree that the game is original, and I am an original.
Thank you for that.
To begin, I'll close my eyes and count to 20 while you both hide, eh?
Vamoose!
-[gasps] -One. Two. Three. Four.
Oh! Here we go.
-[grunts] -[Triangle] Five.
[straining]
-[Triangle] Six. -Something's wrong with this hole.
-[Triangle] Seven. Eight. -[straining] Oh, better keep looking.
Aha!
-[Circle] Oh! -Oh! Oh, sorry, Circle.
-Didn't see you there. -[Triangle] Nine.
[sighs]
-[Triangle] Ten. -[shrieks]
-[grunting] -[Triangle] Eleven. Twelve.
[gasps]
-Gotta hide. Gotta hide-- [gasps] -[Triangle] Thirteen.
-[animal groaning] -Mm-mmm.
[growling]
-[Triangle] Fourteen. Fifteen. -Come on. Come on. Don't screw this up.
[squirrel chittering]
Oh, no! I'm running out of time.
-[Triangle] Sixteen. Seventeen. -Did I leave the oven on?
-[Triangle] Eighteen. Nineteen. -[groans]
[Triangle] Twenty!
[Square] What's this? Hmm?
-Found you! -Ha.
Okay. Square, next time I'd encourage you to actually find a hiding spot.
And, Circle, you just floated a little higher than usual. Ineffective.
Shoot. I didn't know you could look that high.
Circle, it's your turn to seek. Square and I are gonna hide.
Come on. Come on. Come on.
-One. Two. Three. Four. -[panting]
[gasps, gulps]
-[Square] Hmm. -[Circle] Five.
[grunting]
[inhales deeply] All right, I just gotta find the right angle.
Probably gonna want to get low so they can't see me through the hole.
[chuckles] Oh, boy, I hope this spot is good enough-- But not too good.
I just want them to think I did the game right. [chuckles]
[grunting, sighing]
[insect buzzing]
I like this?
[narrator] "Square's Special Place."
-Found you! -[gasps]
Oh. Okay.
Well, now that we all agree
that my new and original game is a huge hit,
I think we can call it a day.
Okay. Hey, good work, Triangle.
Thanks. And bye.
And don't forget to tell everyone, shroud-and-find,
the game with the name as immortal as it is unforgettable.
Hmm?
[Square] Hmm.
Phew! Nice. [chuckles]
[gasps] Hmm.
[teakettle whistling]
[timer ticking]
[timer dings]
All right. [sighs] What else do I gotta do?
Oh, I could organize the bookshelf again.
Well, I just did that this morning, but it couldn't hurt. [chuckles]
Oh, and I need to, um… Need to, um…
[breeze blowing]
Mmm. Could I?
Mm-hmm.
Mmm.
Ooh! [chuckles]
[sips, swallows] Ah.
[narrator] It seemed that for Square, this was more than a mere hiding spot.
Oh, hey there, little friends.
[chuckles]
Oh, wow.
[narrator] You know, it can be really nice
to find a special little part of the world that's all your own.
Hmm.
[sips]
Mm-hmm.
[yawns, sighs]
[narrator] Well, it looks like Square is really getting into it.
So I think it's best to leave him be for now. Let's wait outside.
Oh!
[narrator] Square lost track of time.
[inhales deeply, yawns] Hmm?
[narrator] I think that's okay sometimes.
Square started coming back to this place every once in a while.
Something about it just made him feel good.
[sighs]
-[Circle] Square, is that you in there? -Huh?
You're still hiding? Aw, sorry, bud. That was the old next big thing.
We've moved on to the next, next big thing.
It's a game where we run around and tag each other.
I call it "tap."
Wow, another original. Would you two like to come in?
Sure.
Hey, it's pretty nice in here.
Yeah. I like the subtle decor.
Did you embroider this yourself?
Mm-hmm.
This is a pretty good setup.
Oh, except you've got ants. Here, let me help you.
[grunts]
[sips]
[wings flapping]
-[birds squawking] -[gasps]
Thought you might want some more natural light.
[stammering] Thanks.
[groans]
I can see why you hang out in here.
Uh, it's no shroud-and-find or tap, but it's a pretty good next big thing.
Wait, no. It's a current, normal-sized thing.
-Hey, this bark has a pretty cool texture. -[groans]
-Whoops. [chuckles] -[whimpers]
Thanks for letting us hang out in here for a bit.
I can't wait to drop by again.
Yeah! It kinda feels like it could be, like, our place, you know?
Um, definitely. [chuckles] It was great to see you both.
Bye, Square. Until next time.
Peace!
[whimpering, inhales sharply]
[sips]
[sighs]
[narrator] Square's place felt different now.
[sighs]
[narrator] Square didn't return any time soon.
He didn't return any time later either.
Why don't we check in and see what he's up to instead?
Okay. It's easy to alphabetize,
but doing things by size or color might be cleaner.
Ah, and what do I do with my oversize graphic novels?
Ooh!
[grunts] Where do all these crumbs even come from?
I should really invest in meal trays-- Uh, I don't know. Maybe that's tacky.
I don't wanna overheat the tea-- Or oversteep the tea--
-Or oversleep tomorrow. [sighs] -[timer ticking]
Oh. [inhales deeply] Oh. [breathes deeply]
[breeze blowing]
[timer ticking continues]
[narrator] You can always go back to your special place.
Even if you're not there.