The Babysitter

BY NICOLE TEENEY

Kate was your typical high school student. She would always come to class on time. Always get good grades. People would consider her as a pretty, sweet and innocent girl.

But all that changed with just one phone call, the one phone call that destroyed her life forever.

"Hello" said Kate, when she had picked up the phone.

"Hi, Kayla! It’s me, Brad!" the voice on the other end of the phone said.

"Oh, hi Brad, what’s up?"

"Yeah, I was just wondering. Well, my wife Crystal and I were planning on going out to dinner tonight and our babysitter cancelled at the last minute. So I was wondering, I know it’s short notice, but could you baby-sit our daughter Kim tonight?"

"Yeah, of course, what time should I come over?"

"How about now?"

"Sure, I’ll be there in about five minutes."

"Great! See you then. Bye!"

"Bye!"

Five minutes later, Kate arrived at Brad’s house.

"Hey, Kate!" Brad said greeting Kate at the door.

"Hi!"

"So, we should be back around ten. She’s already been fed so you don’t have to worry about that, and all the phone numbers that you need, if something went wrong, are on the fridge."

An hour went by peacefully. Then the baby started to cry. But she already had her diaper changed, so Kate thought she needed to be fed again. Kate went into the kitchen to get the baby her bottle. When Kate came back, she noticed the baby lying still on the couch. She went closer and noticed that the baby’s face was blue. At first she panicked, but then she did the responsible thing and called 911.

"Hello, 911…" the operator said.

"Yes, hi, I need an ambulance quick!"

"What seems to be the problem, Miss?"

"I just left the child I was babysitting alone for two minutes and when I came back, I noticed her face was blue and she’s not breathing."

"How old is the child?" the operator asked.

"About 6 months," Kate replied.

"An ambulance is on its way. Have you called the child’s parents?"

"No, not yet."

"I suggest you call them before the ambulance arrives."

Kate hung up and then she called Brad.

"Uh..hi ..Brad"

"Kate? Is that you?"

"Yes..uh…"

"Kate? What’s wrong? Is something wrong with Kim?"

"Yes, you need to come home now!"

"Why? What happened?"

Kate told Brad what had happened and within 10 minutes Brad and Crystal arrived home only to find an ambulance outside their home. When they got into the house, Kate explained to them what had happened.

Soon Kim was rushed to the hospital. Kate tried to find out if she was ok, but no one would let her anywhere close. She had no way of knowing if Kim was alive or not.

Two weeks later Kate received a restraining order from court stating that she was to stay as far away from Brad and Crystal as possible. Kate was confused. She didn’t know what she had done wrong. Why was everyone blaming her? Why would no one listen to her?

Kate was completely shattered. A few weeks later she decided that the best thing to do was to get out of town as soon as possible.

Kate was never seen again.

Review or comment on The Babysitter –

Reviews:

Poor Kate…… a touching story.                                              – Kim R  11/26/05

Excellent!                                                                 –  Siva Gopal Ojha 1/1/06

A great story, Nicole, and beautifully written. Hope to see more of your stories.

–  Sam   1/28/07

I liked it very much except for the last paragraph, Kate took off but it should have been more explainable, wasn’t Kate just a kid? I think the writer should add something more to that last part. But it started off really great, like I said it’s just the last paragraph.                                                                                                                                                                                                   –  Beth   2/3/10

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