“Mommy, is today Saturday?” Gracie had been waiting and waiting for Saturday to come. Saturday was our day to go to the pig park on the other side of town. The one with the twisty slide she loved.

“Yes Gracie, it’s Saturday. Go brush your teeth and get dressed”, I said, wiping the sleep out of my eyes. She jumped off my bed and ran towards her room. I got up and made my way to the kitchen. _Cereal, or eggs, _I thought as I got my tea water boiling. _Waffles_. I put two in the toaster and finished making my tea. Gracie came ripping around the corner.

“Can we go now?”

“We have to eat breakfast first. Then we can go. Here you go”. I handed her the plate of waffles, and she tore through them. I would have told her to slow down, but I just didn’t care. Something felt off, and I didn’t want to go to the park anymore, but I promised. And a promise to a six year old can NOT be broken.

We headed to the park, and as usual Gracie went straight for the swings. There were kids using them, so she went on to the climbing structure. I sat on a bench nearby and sipped my tea. I saw Gracie running around and making new friends. There were other parents around who I exchanged smiles and head nods with. I don’t know what I was so worked up about earlier, but it seemed it has passed.

I watched Gracie climb up to the twisty slide, and she went down screaming. She sort of fell out of the slide and landed on her side, but she got up quickly and ran around to the stairs again. Again I watched her go up, heard the scream as I sipped my tea and shifted in my seat. My keys fell out of my lap, and as I went to pick them up, I looked up but didn’t see Gracie. I slowly sat up straight, all the while looking at the play structure, straining to see where she’d gone off to. I looked over by the swings, and she wasn’t there either. I stood up and walked toward the play structure. It felt like I was going in slow motion.

“Gracie?” I called out. Nothing. “Gracie!” Still nothing. I went all the way around. She was gone. Some of the other parents had started to come over and ask if everything is alright. I tell them I can’t find my daughter and describe her; brown hair, brown eyes, freckles, purple hoodie and jeans. One women said she saw Gracie briefly with a man. She asumed she knew him because she followed him so quickly. She was so sorry.

I sank down to the ground. My baby was gone.