A mother’s nightmare

A mother’s nightmare

It was mid-afternoon October 31st when I put 6 month old Owen in his swing and sat 2 year old Olivia down to watch cartoons and eat their cookies. I went into the kitchen to unload the dishwasher, and not even two minutes had pasted before I put the plates away and went to check on them. Owen was in his swing, looking down at the cookie he had dropped... but Olivia was nowhere to be seen.
‘Wonderful,’ I thought to myself. Calling her name a few times proved fruitless. The house was silent. Figuring she was up to no good, I ran upstairs to check in the bathroom and bedrooms, leaving Owen safely in his swing. I checked all the rooms on the upper level, and still couldn’t find her.
“Ok,” I said aloud. “If she’s not on the main floor or upstairs, she must be in the basement.” As I went downstairs again, I called her name softly, and was still not answered. The gate leading to the basement squealed a bit as it opened, and I carefully picked my way down the treacherously steep and narrow staircase that led into two small rooms. By now, 5 minutes have passed, and I was getting nervous. Why was she not answering me? Where could she be? Was she hurt? Olivia wasn’t in either of our two basement rooms. Could someone have come in and taken her without me noticing?
Time was ticking by, and I dashed back upstairs, almost yelling her name franticly. Only Owen’s gurgling was heard in the otherwise quiet house. I yanked open every cupboard in the kitchen, looked behind every piece of furniture, tore apart the pile of laundry that was lying on the couch, and then ran back upstairs for a better look there, calling her name louder each time. When that proved useless, I checked the empty front yard quickly, and then ran to the back of the house and searched the back yard.
Still nothing...
Back in the living room, Owen was still sitting in his swing, happily oblivious to everything that was going on around him. Panic set in as I ran around the house, searching nook and cranny I could think of. By this time, I was envisioning the worst: that someone took her, or that she had hit her head and couldn’t answer me. 20 minutes had gone by since I first noticed she was missing. This time as I dashed around the main floor, I picked Owen up out of his swing and headed back toward the front door. There, I threw open the door and yelled her name as loud as I could.
Across the street, my neighbour was out in his yard. I yelled to him that I could not find my two year old girl anywhere. Within minutes, there were 5 more people searching the area for her. I closed the door and continued to search the house. I put Owen in his playpen, where he was safe and happy. I dashed about; flinging clothes, blankets, towels, and other loose things about, hoping to find her under them. This time, on my way down the stairs leading to the second floor, I knocked my husband’s framed diploma to the ground, where the glass smashed into a million little pieces.
I ignored the glass for the moment, and reached for the phone in the kitchen to call my husband and tell him what was happening. At this point, I was getting ready to call the police. I picked up a now-crying Owen and walked back outside. One of the men who had come to help me find my baby told me to calm down, but I was so panicked that I can’t even remember what I said to him. All I knew was that I couldn’t find my little girl!
After a few moments outside I walked back into the house and into the living room. Suddenly, there was a shuffling sound of coats and boots sliding against each other in the front closet, and Olivia pulls herself out from underneath them all. She hid under the far shelf and buried herself under piles of jackets.
With a mixture of relief and anger that only a mother could come up with, I picked her up to avoid all the glass that was still on the floor, and placed her on the couch. I quickly opened the door, still keeping Olivia in my sight, and told everyone that I had found her, and to thank them for helping. Next, I called my husband and told him the news. It seems my little girl was playing Hide and Seek for at least 30 minutes without telling me!