Unfound

3

When I was abducted by the family friend, I thought he was nice. Then I thought he was just okay. And then I thought that I didn't want to be anywhere around him anymore. I wanted my parents and my friends and my life back. He started to scare me for the first time in my life, he was a completely different person.

He first took me into his house and sat me down at his kitchen table where he had grabbed some lemonade out of the platinum fridge. The fridge was covered from top to bottom with magnets and pictures that his sons had no doubt made for him. They were so full of life and color, many of them depicted the whole family. He interrupted my view of the fridge and poured me a glass. He sat across from me, watching me carefully. The wooden table grew damp under the glasses, dripping condensation. I was tracing a smiley face onto the condensation, growing frustrated that more would drip through my design. He was talking about things that I don't actually remember and I would only reply when I deemed it necessary or a good place for me to interject, but overall I stayed quiet, enjoying the drink in front of me. Eventually, I finished my lemonade, the only thing left were the ice cubes, and he got quiet. When I thanked him for the drink and asked to go home, he just sighed.

He stood up and walked over to me, crouching beside my chair, making sure we were eye to eye. They say the eyes reveal a lot about a person, but I didn't see anything that explained what was going on. All I saw was sadness. He was lonely, the eyes looking back at me were full of remorse. He smiled at me and asked if I liked ponies at all.

Of course I got really excited, I loved ponies, who didn't like ponies at the age of seven. I told him that I had all of the My Little Ponies movies on DVD at home. I then told him how my dad never liked those movies and he would never talk ponies with me. He smiled and told me that he thought he had some ponies in the boys' room and that I should check it out and to play with any of them that I wanted. I nodded my head to agree to go with him to the play room. My mind was happy and content, full of excitement to see some new toys. He ushered me towards their room, grabbing the empty glass I had left on the table. All I was thinking about were the pony figurines that were surely awaiting me in the room. I couldn't keep the smile off of my face as he led me to the room, his hand on my back guiding me.

He pointed at a plastic, navy box where his kids kept all of their toys, set down the glass on the side table, and closed the door behind me. He left me alone to play for a bit, but as I rustled through the boxes, I didn't find any ponies or horses or animals of any kind. I was completely and utterly disappointed, coming face to face with cars and transformers, very few actions figures and absolutely no barbies or anything else I had an interest in. I went to the door and jiggled the handle, but it was locked. This had never happened to me before, at home our doors were always open. I don't think we had locks on any of the doors unless they led outside or in my parent's bathroom.

I called his name, but he didn't come. I decided to sit by the door and wait for him to come back, assuming that he had just made a mistake and would be back any second, but after only ten minutes I started to get antsy. I went back over to the box of toys, grabbed some transformers, cars and stuffed toys and made a spot in the center of the room.

I sat and played with the toys for hours, thinking I was just wasting time for him to let me out of the room. I was always a more independent child, not counting on my parents for much except for food, buying stuff, and taking me places, so I thought I could handle being without an adult for a little while. I didn't know what I was thinking, I must have trusted him enough to believe that he made a run to the grocery store or to talk to my parents or even to make some food for us. I didn't even think about the fact that my parents would both be home and surely would have noticed my absence by then.

After about two hours of playing and waiting I got bored again. I went to the door and tried hanging off of the handle, but it was still locked. I called his name again, but no reply. I tried banging on the door and jiggling the handle some more, hoping that my super strength would kick in at any moment. Then, I got scared. I got scared and upset and just wanted to go home. I screamed through the door, tears starting to roll down my face, uncontrollably. When I was convinced that he had truly forgotten me, I curled up into a ball and I cried. I cried and screamed and threw the toys and wished for nothing else but to go home. I wished for ruby red slippers to take me back to my parents who were just a few blocks away. I cried for so long that the sky had become dark, the ice fully melted in the near empty glass, and that was when he came back in.

When I heard the click of the door handle, I jumped up, wiping the tears from my eyes. He held out a plate for me with chicken nuggets, Mac and cheese, and tater tots, holding it with a smile. I didn't mention the obvious lack of greens or anything else healthy on the plate, trying to be polite. I tried to tell him that I wanted to go home and see my parents. He sat me down on the bed and told me that my parents had asked him to take care of me for a couple of weeks since they both had a lot going on at work. This made me very confused since my father had just gotten laid off work and was looking for a new job, but he didn't want me to tell anyone that, so I kept my mouth shut. Plus, my mom always told me beforehand if someone was going to look after me for a night or two and it was usually my grandma.

The confusion must have appeared on my face because he gave me a hug and tried to console me, even though he had left me in there to cry alone for at least two hours by myself. I let him comfort me, just needing an adult to stay with me. He handed me the plate and said he would make a few calls to double check for me and let me know for sure what my parents said.

I nodded, accepting the answer from the grown man, not knowing to be suspicious of his words. I didn't know that he would in fact dial up a number so that I would hear the beeps through the wall. I didn't know that he was talking to no one on the other end. I didn't know that he would do this throughout my stay, all the phone calls going to his dead wife's old phone number. I didn't know that I wasn't completely safe and cared for, but I suspected it the first day he didn't take me to school.