It was a Friday night and of course I had no plans. Mrs. Stevenson knew this, which is why, when her friend Mrs. Ray called her in desperate need of a last minute babysitter, she asked me. I didn't mind making some extra cash that Friday night, so I instantly agreed.
I arrived at her house around 8 pm just as she was gathering her things to head out.
“I’m so glad you were available on such short notice!” She exclaimed.
“Oh yeah, I usually am!” I answered, just a bit embarrassed.
“The kids are in their room, this way,” and she began to walk down a long hallway. I followed as she turned to the right and opened a white door.
“Kids, this is your babysitter, um-”
“Casey”, I answered her unasked question.
“Casey,” and she smiled towards her three little kids. Two of them sat on a twin-sized bed, a boy and a girl. The boy seemed about eight years old and the girl was probably around five. They looked at me and didn't smile. They looked a bit sad. My guess was that they didn't like their mother leaving. The other little one was a girl with pigtails and a light blue dress on. She sat on the floor, next to the second twin-sized bed. She smiled at me when she saw me. Her teeth shining bright, I couldn't help but smile back.
“Okay,” Mrs. Stevenson and she closed the door. “They will probably be in their room most of the time.” She began walking back the way we came. “I will be back no later than 11:30. I hope that is OK?”
“Yeah sure, no problem.”
“OK, you can help yourself to anything in the kitchen, and if you need to reach me,” she took a notepad that was next to the phone on a small table next to the couch and began writing, “you can call me at this number.”
“Yeah, okay,” I replied
She put on a sweater and headed out the door, "Thank you so much! See you later!” And closed the door behind her.
I stood in the quiet living room for a few minutes before I decided on what to do. I sat down on the couch and took out a book I was reading. About ten minutes had passed when I heard a small voice say, “What are you doing?” I looked up from my book to see that it was the smallest child.
“Hi, I'm reading.”
“I'm Alice.”
“Hi Alice, I'm Casey.”
“I know.” She stood quiet for a moment before she continued. “I’m bored”
“OK, what do you want to play?”
She smiled then, her teeth bright.
“Let's play hide and seek!”
“Okay, you hide and I'll seek.”
Her eyes got wide then and she giggled, her nose crinkling, and she ran. I began to count all they way to 10. I counted loud so that she could hear me. When I got to 10, I stood up.
“Ready or not, here I come,” I said loudly and heard a low giggle in the distance. I began walking towards the hallway, the way I had seen her run. I opened the first door on my right. It was a closet. I looked behind the clothes but she wasn't there. I kept going. The next door was on my left. It was a dark wooden door, the door said Alice. I figured this was her bedroom. I went to try to open it, but it was locked. I knocked on the door.
“You know it's cheating if you lock yourself in there,” but she didn't answer. Instead, I heard a laugh that sounded far away. It didn't seem to be coming from the inside of her room, so I kept walking. I got to the other bedroom, where I had first seen the kids. I opened the door thinking that Alice might be there with her sister and brother, but when I opened the door, I only saw the girl and boy in the same bed I had seen them in earlier. They stared at me, not saying a single word, their expression almost angry. I would have told them to join in on the fun, but their expressions made it clear that they were not interested, so I closed the door without a word. I heard the laugh again, and this time it sounded closer. I kept walking until I got to the end of the hallway. It was a glass door that lead to the backyard. I could see a large pool there. I was just about to turn the knob on the door when I heard Alice speak.
“I wouldn't go there. I don't like the water.” I turned around to see her standing behind me. Her face was now sad.
“Hey, you're not suppose to come out of hiding,” I said.
Her expression quickly changed and she smiled. She turned and ran back towards the living room. I followed but once I got to the living room, she was nowhere to be seen.
“Casey,” a small boyish voice suddenly spoke. I turned to see the boy standing in the middle of the hallway.
“Oh! Yes?” I asked as I bent down towards him.
“We’re hungry.”
“Oh! Okay! What would you guys like?” I asked and started walking towards the kitchen, which was to the left of the hallway. He followed.
“We like chicken nuggets, they're in the freezer,” he answered.
I went to the freezer and opened it. There was a large box of frozen chicken nuggets. I looked at the box and read the instructions.
“OK, it's gonna take about 20 minutes, is that okay?”
“OK,” and he turned and walked away back towards the bedroom.
I turned towards the oven and tried to figure out how to turn it on. After about five minutes, I was finally able to turn it on. Alice came into the kitchen then.
“You stopped looking for me,” she said.
“Oh, I'm sorry! We’re gonna have to put that game on pause for a few minutes. Your brother and sister are hungry, would you like some?” But she didn't answer. She began to walk away.
“Why don't you go play with your brother and sister while I put these in the oven?”
“They don't play with me, not anymore,” she answered and left the kitchen. I thought her comment was odd, but then thought like any other siblings, they probably fought. I finished putting the chicken nuggets onto a tray that took me about 10 minutes to find and then placed them inside the oven. I looked at the time, 9:45. I went back to the living room, thinking that Alice might be there waiting for me, but she wasn't. I decided to wait and see if she'd come back out, partly because I didn't know where she was and partly because I didn't really want to go looking into the kid's room after that cold stare they had given me. So I sat back down and began to read my book.
Twenty minutes later I went back into the kitchen and took out the chicken nuggets. I put them all on a large plate and put them on the kitchen table.
“Kids, the chicken nuggets are done!” I realized then that I didn't know all of their names, only Alice's.
Only the girl and boy came out. They sat down each across from each other. I handed them a plate and a ketchup bottle I found inside the fridge. They began to eat in silence.
“So, what's your name?” I asked, mostly to get rid of the awkward silence.
“Stephanie,” the girl answered, her mouth half-full with chicken nuggets.
“Mario,” the little boy said soon after.
“Oh, those are some nice names,” I smiled at them and that was about the end of our conversation. After they finished, they returned to their room and I stayed in the kitchen, washing the dishes. There were still some chicken nuggets, and I decided to cover them in case Alice got hungry. As soon as I had finished the dishes, I heard the front door open.
“Casey?” Mrs. Stevenson called out.
“In the kitchen,” I answered. She walked in.
“Oh, you don't have to do the dishes!” She exclaimed.
“Oh, it's nothing, really.”
“How were they? Did they give you any trouble?”
“No, not at all, they were quiet most of the night.”
“Oh good! I was afraid they would be difficult,” she said as she began to take off her sweater. “It's been very difficult for them,” she explained.
“What's been difficult?” I asked, curious.
“Ever since what happened with Alice,” she answered, her head hung.
“What happened?”
She looked up and took a picture frame that was on the kitchen counter.
“This is Alice,” she said, pointing at her. She wore the same dress she was wearing today. I smiled, recognizing her. I wasn't quite sure where she was going with this.
“She drowned in the pool three months ago,” she explained.
I looked at her then, confused. She had drowned? But I had seen her. That same little girl in the picture was the girl I had played hide and seek with.
“Casey, honey, you look pale, are you OK?” Mrs. Stevenson asked me, but I couldn't answer. I had seen a dead little girl.
