Babysitting was my speciality. I have taken care of children for many different families. Boys and girls of different ages. I had a lot of free time, so much of it was spent watching kids. I was scheduled to look after two of the cutest kids I’ve ever seen on Friday. A little girl, who was four years old. Her name is Charlotte. And Benjamin, who is six. While they are very precious, they can be a little hard to handle at times.

It was was 6:30 as I was leaving my house. Their parents wanted me there at 7:00. Once I arrived, I was greeted with hugs from the kids and friendly hellos from the parents. The mom, Cynthia, said her and her husband, Bryan, were going to dinner and a movie. They did this often; a little escape from all the chaos. Mrs. Cynthia told me that their movie was sold out except for the latest time, so they would be out longer than usual when I babysat for them. After a little more chatter, it was time to say their goodbyes to the kids. Charlotte and Benjamin are pretty good with this part. They handled it well, each receiving a kiss on the forehead.

The parents were gone and now I was in charge. Charlotte wanted to show me her new doll that she got for her birthday. It was an American Girl Doll that looked just like her. They even had matching clothes. Benjamin obviously had different games in mind. He showed me all of his toy cars and super hero action figures. We went back and forth jumping from game to game, toy to toy. They kids were starting to get a little tired so we decided to watch a movie to wind down. I put in the movie Toy Story and got the kids settled on the couch.

They were allowed to have a snack while they watched the movie, so I popped some popcorn for them to enjoy. They were very happy when I came back with bowls of treats just for them. Being so young, they have a very short attention span. Not even half way through the movie they already wanted to do something else. We were in the play-room, so there were was many things for us to do. We did some puzzles, colored for a while, and “cooked” in the play kitchen set, etc. Eventually they wanted to continue on with the movie. So, we sat down to finish the movie, and by the end of it they were both very sleepy. To be honest, so was I. It had been a really long day and I was counting down the hours before I could go home.

I took Charlotte and Benjamin to the bathroom to brush their teeth. I read them each a bedtime story of their choosing, and stayed with them till they fell asleep. Finally, both kids were sound asleep in bed. I cleaned up the snacks and everything that had been out from playing earlier. Once I finally finished I sat down on the couch and turned on the TV and watched for a while. I was exhausted from the previous week of school and the cozy couch was not helping one bit. It was 11:45 and I could feel myself dozing off. I tried as hard as I could to fight it. I needed to walk around to keep myself occupied and awake.

I took a stroll around the house, looking at all of the cute framed pictures of the kids. I decided maybe I should peek in their rooms to see if they were still sound asleep. First I went to Charlotte’s room, creaking the door very slowly, not wanting to make a sound. When the door opens I realize she’s not in her bed. Where did she go? Then I remember that sometimes she likes to crawl in bed with her brother. I guess she tip-toed to his room while I was cleaning up. So I went to Ben’s room. Again, opening the door ever so slightly. What I saw was frightening. An empty bed. No kids. Where could they be? Why are they not sleeping in their beds? I go to their parents room; maybe they like to sleep in their parents bed? Nothing. A bed nicely made with no kids in sight.

I began to panic. They have to be somewhere in this house. I frantically ran from room to room, calling their names. “Charlotte!”, “Benjamin!”. There was no answer. I need to call their parents. How could I have lost two kids that I tucked in and put to sleep? It didn’t make sense. As I run over to the couch to get my phone, the news flashes on the TV. A live news report of a local kidnapping. A man was seen carrying two small children, a boy and a girl. They were last seen at a local supermarket parking lot where the man put the children into the car and drove away. That’s the supermarket right by their house! My heart sank. My mind is racing, my heart is pounding, and I am shaking. I don’t know what to do.

I pick up my phone in a panic and call Mrs. Cynthia. Out of breath and sobbing, she can barely understand what I say as I explain to her that the kids are missing. I can hear the fear in her voice. Her voice cracks as she explains the situation to her husband. I can hear screaming and crying coming from the two. They are rushing home and will be here in no time. When we hang up I start panicking even more. How did I let this happen? How did the kids get out? Or did someone break in? Confusion, worry, fear, anger; so many emotions rushing through my head. I hear a door slam. The parents are home. Mrs. Cynthia and Mr. Bryan come running in, flushed faces, bloodshot eyes. "Get in the car," said Mrs. Cynthia. "We're going to get my babies". We quickly get into the car and take off.

The police are already after the suspect, but so were we. According to the witnesses, the man was seen driving a blue truck. His records show that this isn't the first time he has taken children. He's been in and out of jail throughout his life. We don't know where to look, where to go, but we're just driving. He could be anywhere by now but that's not stopping us. "Stop!", yells Mrs. Cynthia, "There's a blue truck!". We pull into the eery gas station and pull up next to the truck. A grungy man looks at us, then looks away. Mr. Bryan gets out to confront the man. He shows the man a picture of Charlotte and Benjamin. "Have you seen these kids before?" asked Mr. Bryan. The man shook his head no. Mr. Bryan looks into the truck but sees nothing. No sight of his children. He walks to the bed of the truck. It is cluttered with a bunch of bags and luggage. Mr. Bryan starts tries to get a closer look right when the man jumps in his car and speeds away.
Mr. Bryan runs back to the car and peels off right after him. We don't even know if this is the man that has the kids, but we would be fools not to assume he was. The police are notified that we may have found the kidnapper and they are also on the chase. It is everyone against him. Only a few minutes passed by but it seemed like hours. The police finally caught up to us and are prepared to stop the man. They try to corner their cars around his and trap him in, but he manages to get away. The chase continues.

At this point Mrs. Cynthia has lost it. She is screaming and crying and cannot control herself. We pick up speed and try to catch up to the truck. We took a turn and suddenly the truck was no where in sight. Where did he go? How did he get away so fast? We speed up. Still driving aimlessly with a glimpse of hope that we will find him. Twenty minutes passes by when we spot it. We see the blue truck on the side of the road. Us including the police all pull up and rush out of our cars. We run up to the truck. It's empty. The police are searching the car for a trace of anything. Some are searching the woods around us.

I start to wonder off. I know the man has to be around here somewhere. And if he's around here, so are the kids. I feel like I am responsible for most of this and I'm not going to let anything happen to those children. I'm walking further away. Walking away from the madness behind me. I see something moving in the woods. It's not an animal. I signal the cops to come over because I know this is something I can't handle on my own. They rush over to figure out what was moving. They locate the man and pull him out. The guilt in his eyes, I know he has the kids. Mrs. Cynthia and Mr. Bryan run over screaming with fear and anger, "Where are my kids!", "Tell us where they are!".

The man is fighting and trying to get away, but the police have him secure. If the man is here, the kids must be hidden some place in the woods. I quickly glimpse around, but know I shouldn't wander off alone again, until I hear the screams. It sounds like Benjamin. Some cops, the parents, and I follow the sound of the screams while some cops stay behind with the kidnapper. Ben is screaming and crying when we finally get there. He is tied up to a tree and wounded. The chase is not over yet.

"Ben!" yells Mrs. Cynthia, "Where's Charlotte?!" Ben starts to cry even harder. He points to the left, hands shaking, at the most horrific sight. Charlotte's little body is lying on the ground, helpless. "Charlotte!", Mr. Bryan yells frantically. She isn't moving. Mrs. Cynthia's emotions quickly switched from panic to anger, angry at me that I let this happen. "How could you let this happen Rachel?! What did you do?! Rachel! Answer me!" Mrs. Cynthia hysterically yells at me. I can't say anything. All I can do is cry.

After examination, the police pronounce Charlotte dead. Without a heartbeat, without breath, her life is gone. Mrs. Cynthia continues to yell at me, wanting me to say something, anything. Wondering how I let her precious babies get hurt. "Rachel!" "Talk to me Rachel!" My name being called out repeatedly, "Rachel..." Rachel..." "Rachel..."

That’s when I woke up. “We’re home Rachel," said Mrs. Cynthia, “you must have fallen asleep on the couch." The kids were still tucked safe and sound in bed. Everything was okay. It was all just a horrible nightmare.