‘Sarah! Sarah!’

She’s calling her daughter to come take a break from playing to eat her snack.

‘Sarah? Sarah where are you?’

Panic is staring to set in as she realizes she doesn’t see her daughter on the playground. She looked down for only a minute, where could Sarah have gone?

I sit on a bench next to a nearby tree with my unlabeled blue ball cap looking down pretending to read my book about first time parenting, but enjoying the sound of her search.

‘Sarah!! Please, somebody help me find my baby!”

Other playground parents gather their children while looking sideways and whispering about her. One mother decides to help, but it’s clear the other parents would rather protect their own child than help another out. Sarahs mother finds her daughters favorite crusty one eyed teddy bear left unattended in the sand under the swing set.

Hysteria sets in as I close my book, tuck it under my arm and casually stroll away with excited heat crackling through my skin and smiling to myself knowing I’m the cause. She can look all she wants, but Sarah is already gone.