It was a sunny day in California without a cloud in the sky. As the final bell rings at her high school, Maddie Shultz makes her way to her car. Maddie was a tall girl for her age at a height of 5’8. She would always tower over her friends. She had long. brown hair that cascaded down her back like a waterfall. Her hair shone in the warm, bright California sun. Her bright blue eyes were like small little pools of water that sparkled. As she would laugh her head would tilt back and her eyes would crinkle up. Maddie had always been one of the more popular girls at her school, but it was because of her personality. She had a contagious laugh and a smile big enough to light up a room. When you met her, you automatically liked her. She was just like a ray of sunshine.

There was only one problem in Maddie’s life. She wouldn’t admit it, but she can’t deny the fact that she feels like she is being watched. There are always eyes on her….. always. As she makes her way down the familiar street to Johnny’s school she thinks about it more. Am I just going crazy? Should I tell someone? Maybe I’m just being paranoid. She waits in the car until Johnny comes up and distracts her thoughts.

“Can we go to the park?” Johnny asks.

“I guess so, but we aren’t staying for long,” Maddie responds.

As they make their way to the park, the only thing going through Maddie’s mind is the fact that she feels like she is always being watched. She can’t stop thinking about it but she is too nervous to say anything.
They got to the park and Johnny runs off. Maddie takes this time to sit down and think. She wants to tell someone about her weird feeling, but what if that makes it worse? Just thinking about it makes her stomach churn.

“C’mon Johnny, it’s time to go!” Maddie yells across the playground and Johnny makes his way toward the car.

*******

Jennifer thought to herself while sitting down at the table in the morning. She thought back to the day that everything was ruined.

The police arrive at the crime scene five minutes after they get the call. A small car has crashed and flipped over on the road. The only person in it, a teenage girl, it was Olivia Smith.

Jennifer got a call from the police saying her daughter was involved in a brutal car accident, and that she was dead. She immediately started crying and the first thing she felt was guilt. Her fight the morning before… was that needed? How could their mother-daughter relationship get so messed up? Jennifer wished that she could have just told her one thing before she died, but now she is gone forever. How will she ever get over this guilt?

This was the day everything was ruined, her life, her family, her marriage, her personality. Everything.

It has now been two years since the car accident and the death of Olivia Smith. Her parents have now gotten a divorce and her mother has gone crazy. She doesn’t have a job and she stays home all day in her messy, unkempt apartment. No one has ever seen the inside of her apartment, and no one plans to. All of her old friends now say they never see her, she quit her job to do whatever she does in her apartment and she never talks to anyone… not even her neighbors. Jennifer Smith has completely fallen off the face of the planet.
***

Maddie and Johnny arrive at home. Johnny goes straight into the living room, sits down, and starts watching his favorite show. As Maddie walks into the house, she puts her keys down and walks into the kitchen. She stops in her tracks as she sees the door leading to the back yard open. Her and Johnny came in the front door. She starts panicking. She feels that queasy feeling in her stomach. That feeling when you become nervous. The first thing she does is take a knife and goes to see if Johnny is ok.

As Maddie sprints into the living room she grabs Johnny my the arm, motions at him to be quiet, and sprints upstairs with the knife at the ready. Her heart is beating so fast it feels like it it going to beat out of her chest.
“Johnny are you ok? Are you hurt? Do you need help?” Maddie asks.
“I’m ok,” Johnny says as he starts to tear up.

Maddie calls 911.

Dispatcher- 911 what’s your emergency?
Maddie- Please help! There is someone in my house and I’m really scared and I don’t know what to do because I’m home alone with my little brother.
Dispatcher: Stay safe, we are sending help.

She goes into the first place she can think of, a closet. As they get themselves situated in the small, claustrophobic closet, they hear footsteps. Johnny, as you would expect from a little kid, starts to cry. Maddie quickly covers his mouth to make sure he doesn’t make another sound, but it was too late. The footsteps take a sudden turn and they see the shadow coming towards them. Her head is going crazy, she doesn’t know what to do. Is this her stalker? Maddie wonders. She feels her world spinning in circles around her . What’s next?

*****

It was all a blur when Maddie woke up. “What just happened? Where am I?” She was so puzzled and she had so many questions. What had even happened? she keeps asking her self over and over again. Maddie opened her eyes to see a hospital room. She saw her mom, dad, and brother all standing there waiting for her to wake up.

“You’re ok!” Maddie’s relieved mother said as she looked at her.

“What happened?” replied Maddie.

“Just rest for now, we will talk later.”

Maddie arrived home later that day. She had learned that that woman in the house had attempted to kidnap her. The weird part is, she doesn’t remember much of it. All she remembers is being in a closet with Johnny seeing footsteps of boots coming towards them, and then her memory goes blank. The police are after that woman, but she still doesn’t seem safe. Madde decides to give it a rest and take a quick nap.

It’s December 5, 2009 and the police started a new case just a month ago. They were  trying to find the woman that attempted to kidnap Maddie. Even in the first month of this investigation, it already proves to be extremely difficult. Jennifer Smith had no connections to anyone. All she did was sit in her apartment doing who knows what.

The air was crisp and Detective John Lang was sitting in his office at the police station. His mind was spinning as he tries to find a lead on the Maddie Shultz case. He has been trying and trying but there was nothing. Neither of the kids remember anything about what the kidnapper looked like, and whoever it was, the were extremely sly. They didn’t leave any trace of them being there.Detective Lang had no where else to go. The case was closed.

Back at the Shultz house, Maddie’s mom  were furious. How can the police just totally close a case that hasn’t even been open for that long? She want to know who attacked their family and she is determined to find out. She marches down to police station to find answers.

“How can you just close a case?” she yells. “You have been on this case no longer than a couple months and you’re telling me you just want to close it? Give up? My daughter was kidnapped and that person almost got away with her! We will not stop until we find the man or woman that did this.”
“Mrs. Shultz please calm down. We have tried all that we can but there is no lead… anywhere. We have no where else to go from here.” Mr. Lang responds calmly.
“Please, call me Dianne, and this is outrageous.”
“Then go ahead and find your daughter’s kidnapper on your own, Dianne, because as of right now, we don’t know how to proceed. We are unfortunately lost, but we will find a leed, we just need time and your patience.”
“Maybe I will go have my own investigation! I can’t wait this long, it’s killing me.” Mrs. Shultz cries as she stomps out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Mrs. Smith was back in her apartment, as usual. She saw in the newspaper a story about a girl almost being kidnapped and it reminds her of her own daughter. As she remembers her passed daughter, it just brings back more of her guilt. Why couldn't she be a better mother to her lovely daughter? It really hit home to Mrs. Smith when she got that phone call... that dreaded phone call informing her that her daughter was dead. She can't get the voice of the man out of her head and the fact that she couldn't say anything else to her broke her down. All the bad fights they had, all the arguments, she couldn't apologize for anything. And that broke her heart.

It was a cold, rainy day in San Diego, California. Maddie and Johnny just got home from school and find their mom there.

“Mom why are you home? You are usually at work right now. Is something wrong?” Maddie asks in a concerned voice.

“No honey, actually I have exciting news!”

Maddie and Johnny turn to look at each other, each of them giving a weird face. Almost like saying, what is going on?

“Ummm,” responds Johnny. “What is the exciting news?”
“We are going on a family vacation!” yells Mrs. Shultz.

“Yay yay yay!!!!!! Where are we going?” Johnny asks as he can hardly contain his excitement.

“New York City, New York! We are going to have a blast.”

Maddie didn’t want Johnny and especially her mom to find out, but this doesn’t sound like the best place to vacation. Maddie has always been scared of busy places, even when she was little she was worried about this. Although the idea of going to New York City was a little frightening, Maddie did have to admit it sounded very fun, so she decided to go along with it.

“New York City, here come the Shultzs,” she murmured to herself.

It’s the morning of their flight to New York and Johnny can’t stop talking about it. Although it is five o’clock in the morning, he had as much energy as possible. Maddie, on the other hand, didn’t express her excitement as freely. As the time to get on the plane neared, so did her nervousness.

They were now in the airport waiting to hear their plane is ready to board and Maddie is starting to doubt her decision.

Off to the east coast we go, thought Maddie.

***

Maddie’s plane has now landed safely in New York. They step out of the plane into the airport and the flood of people consume the little family of three. Together, they stick together and make their way outside where it is freezing.

“It is so so so cold,” Johnny muttered as he trembles.

It’s definitely different from San Diego,” said Mrs. Shultz.

“You can say that again,” Maddie added in.

They somehow find a taxi and make their way to the hotel.

When the three wake up the next morning, they get bundled up with an extremely excessive amount of clothes and try and make a decision on where to go first.

“You look like a snowman with all those layers of clothes on,” Johnny giggles as he teases Maddie.

“Shut up Johnny, you don’t look any better.” Maddie nagges back.

It was the second day of the family vacation and Maddie was becoming more and more comfortable with the idea of New York City. She actually kind of enjoying it. She likes the cold weather, the style of the city, and the people around the city. She is warming up to New York very fast and the rest of the vacation just kept getting better each day.

It was now the fourth day of their vacation and all of them were having the most fun they had had in a while. They were now walking in the streets trying to find somewhere warm to sit down for a while.

As they make their way down the crowded streets of New York City trying to stay together there is three people running in the opposite direction. Maddie get separated from Johnny and her mom. Maddie attempted to shove her way into the direction she was going before, but she failed. All of the sudden she felt a hand grasp her arm and yank her away from the crowd of people. She was snatched into a dark alley. She attempted to scream but there was already a hand over her mouth and a bag over her head. Her kidnapper directed a flailing Maddie to a car. The car sped off, and just like that Maddie has no idea where she is going. This was the last thing Maddie remembered of that day.

Jennifer Smith looked back periodically as she drove her car down a familiar road. She had planned this out for a long time, which meant planning where she would go, which meant driving down this road maybe one too many times. She had studied this girl for the past two years. Maddie Shultz. She reminded Mrs. Smith of her own daughter, and that’s why she wanted her.

As she drives down the dirt path surrounded by thousands of trees, Mrs. Smith rolls the window down to get fresh air. After about twenty minutes a smell of smoke starts to drift into the car. Jennifer silently panics as she sees flames spring up into the air. Mrs. Smith didn’t know what to do, the only thing she did know was that this was not part of the plan. She made a sudden u turn and out they were out of the middle of no where and back towards civilization, the police, and everyone looking for poor little Maddie Shultz.

They followed the bumpy path back towards the rural areas of New York. Maddie, laying down in the back seat passed out, was finally starting to awaken. All she saw was blackness as she woke up. She was extremely confused until she realized there was a bag over her head. She shook it off and looked up towards the passenger seat. It was getting dark, but she could make out the features of the person. She was obviously a female. Long, curly brown hair, a petite nose, and interesting shaped, narrow eyes. Maddie didn’t recognize her. Many question kept rolling through her head like the credits after a movie. Who is this lady? Why me? Why did she kidnap me if we don’t know each other? Is she dangerous? Where is she taking me? She couldn’t help but wonder about her biggest question, Why would this odd lady that she has never seen in her life kidnap her?

Maddie was too scared to say anything so she kept her mouth shut and acted like she was still asleep. The car suddenly came to a stop. Oh no, Maddie thought. Oh my goodness she is going to kill me now. She is just going to leave me on the side of the road dead. All of the sudden the woman that was driving opened the back door of the car and quickly woke up Maddie. Mrs. Smith led her from the one car they were just in to another car. Maddie was so confused.

They made their way down another road. As the night was coming upon them, Maddie was getting more scared as they went. Down, down into a bunch of nothingness they went. Finally, the woman spoke.

“I’m Jennifer, but you can call me Mrs. Smith.” the woman spoke while looking to the back seat.

There was a long, awkward silence until Maddie responded. “I’m Maddie, but I’m guessing you already know that judging from the fact that you kidnapped me.”

“Listen,” Jennifer started. “I know this looks really bad but I can explain. I will fill you in once we get to our destination.”
“Ya about that,” Maddie responded. “Where exactly are we actually going?”

“You will see. It’s somewhere that I can guarantee you have never been before.”

Time passed and Maddie looked longingly out the window. Jennifer was right, she truly had no idea where they were going, but how could she? She had never been to New York. This was the exact issue she was worried about when she heard the announcement that they were taking a trip to New York. She was enjoying her vacation, why did this have to happen and ruin her vacation? And her life. This thought made her think of her family. She wondered where they were right now, what they were doing and when they were going to find her. She was hoping soon because this lady was freaking her out, and what was freaking her out even more was the fact that she had no idea where she was going and based on the road they were on now, it was not going to get any less creepy. Maddie started to panic again.

The car makes a sudden stop. Maddie follows Mrs. Smith out of the car and into a small but cozy log cabin. The area was surrounded by tall, thick trees. It was a cute little one story cabin from looking at the outside. There were a few steps leading up to the front door. A chimney pokes out the top. As they walk through the front door, a cheery smell greeted them. It smelled like the cookies her mom used to make at home. It smelled so good that Maddie felt she could taste the deliciousness.  Thinking of that reminded her stomach how hungry she was and her stomach grumbled. She gazed out the window and into the darkness outside. Maddie heard small waves hitting the sand. She didn’t get to take in her surroundings while she was walking up to the house because she couldn’t see anything, but the fact that she could hear waves slapping against the Earth surface made her feel a little more home.

It was nice and warm inside, very comforting. On the left wall, a big wooden door leads into a small room only containing a bed just big enough for one person and a petite mirror. On the far wall rests a clock and a nice flatscreen tv. A few feet in front the the tv was a big, comfy looking couch. Maddie could hear it calling her name telling her to come sit down, but she didn’t want to seem too comfortable in this little cabin in the middle of no where with a lady that kidnapped her.

As they make their way into the house, Mrs. Smith walks over to the couch area where a bedside table with a lamp lays. She flicks it on and the room lights up.

"Where even are we?" Maddie asks.

"This, my dear, is my late, rich great grandmother's cabin. No one in my family knows about it but me."

Lovely, Maddie thought to herself. I'm in the woods with a stranger, I have no idea where I am, and one one else knows where I am either. This will end well.

She suddenly remembers her phone in her back pocket and reaches for it. She clicks the home button but the screen stays black. Great, it's dead. While Maddie was checking her phone, Mrs. Smith disappeared into the kitchen. She came out holding cookies and milk. Maddie hesitantly nibbled on the cookies and looked out the open window.

“Feel free to go into the room to the left and go to sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.” says Mrs. Smith cheerfully.

Maddie responded with silence and Mrs. Smith turned around looking defeated and stepped into the other room on the opposite side of the cabin.

Maddie stayed awake the whole night for the fear of her safety. She asked herself many questions as she stared off into the absolute darkness of the cabin. As she sat there, it hit her how tired she was. It had been an extremely long day but she didn’t want to let her guard down and sleep. After all ,she was in a stranger’s cabin and that stranger also happened to have kidnapped her so she was in a bad situation. She could feel her eyelids drooping as her brain pleaded to turn off. She fought to stay awake but eventually her body took over and she was out like a light.

Maddie woke up with a couple blankets over her and the smell of bacon flooding her senses. She opened her eyes to see Mrs. Smith in the kitchen making breakfast. What is this lady doing with me? She asks herself. She doesn’t seem like a bad person but you never know, so Maddie was so confused. Jennifer called Maddie over to breakfast when she saw her awake and Maddie declined the invite. They were obviously not comfortable with each other, as you would expect. Mrs. Smith ate in silence and then started walking outside.

“Come take a walk with me, we can talk.” Mrs. Smith said to Maddie as she approached her. Maddie slowly got up and followed a few feet behind her cautiously. It’s the first time Maddie has seen this area fully because last night it was pitch black. It was quite a beautiful area with tall, beautiful trees reaching up to the sky and a big, round shaped lake. It was a perfect vacation place. Maddie could get used to this. She loved being with her friends but when she had the time, a secluded area was what she needed to relax and be peaceful. She enjoyed this area, other than the fact that she was kidnaped and for that reason she was there. They sit down on a bench, each sitting on the other side. Mrs. Smith started the conversation.

“So I’m pretty positive you are extremely confused and most likely scared out of your mind.” Mrs. Smith started.
“That, Mrs. Smith, is a perfect way to describe what I am feeling right now.” Maddie responded.

“Call me Jennifer, and you can live with me for a while. I know this may sound crazy but I have researched you for a while. Now listen, my dear daughter died in a car crash a couple years ago. At this point you are probably wondering, what does this have to do with me?, but I did not have a good relationship with her. Because she died in a car crash, I never got to say my goodbyes so we left off on a bad foot and I feel terrible. I’ve always regretted the fact that our relationship was so horrible and I wish I could have another chance. So with you, I get that other chance. I get to be a mom again, and I get to attempt to have a lovely relationship with my daughter, you. All I want is a good life with a daughter that loves me and that I love. I know this sounds so so so crazy but all I want is another shot, a new opportunity at this whole child thing. I swear, I have no intentions to hurt you. Please believe me on that.”

Maddie didn’t know how to respond. She was shocked.

“But why me? Why did you pick me? How am I in any way relevant to any of this? I don’t even know you and I didn’t know your daughter.” Maddie finally said.

“Yes that’s all true, but you remind me greatly of my daughter. It is awesome, I love it. It feels like she is still here.” Jennifer answered.

All Maddie did was stare off into the distance. She took in her surroundings, too a long, deep breath and let it out. How was she even suppose to process this? Maddie got up and made her way back to the house. she had no idea what to think right now and it didn’t matter. This was a lot. So someone kidnapped her because she is like what their late daughter was. This was definitely something she had never read, watched, or heard of. Ever. This was a different story and she was not ready for it. What is going to happen to me? Maddie wondered. Should she trust this lady? Where the police trying to find her yet? She couldn't think anymore. This was too much to handle. What was she ever going to do to get herself out of there?

Back in the heart of New York City, the police just got the case. A woman by the name of Mrs. Shultz filed a missing person report for her daughter, Maddie Shultz. It had been a night or two and the mother was freaking out. All the police had heard all night was her pleading for them to get her daughter back. The only thing Mrs. Shultz could think of was this was all her fault. She could tell when she told Maddie about the trip that she wasn’t too excited. She knew Maddie didn’t like extremely crowded places but she thought that she could help her through that, and she did up until this happened. Maddie was having an awesome time in New York until now. Mrs. Shultz wished they never came here, that they were home in California safe from whatever took Maddie, but that is not the case and her only option now was to find her daughter. And Mrs. Shultz knew she would.

At this point, Maddie had no idea what to do. She was stuck in a huge area of land in the middle of no where with a lady she had never met before until she was kidnapped by her because the woman wants to have a daughter to re-try parenting. “This is absolutely crazy,” Maddie thought. As she layed in bed, she was trying to make up escape plans in her head. Calling someone was out of the picture, her phone was dead, she was sure Mrs. Smith didn’t have a charger, and even if her phone was charged, there was probably no cell service so there goes that idea. The next option was running, but she had no idea where she was and if she made it out she didn’t know where to go. Also, this area was absolutely enormous. She couldn’t run for that long. Her next thought was pleading Mrs. Smith to take her back home. Try to convince her that this is not the right thing to do. Convince Mrs. Smith that she has a real home with her real family, but she knew that wouldn’t work. This lady was dead set on having her as a daughter for some reason. Maddie was soon left there on the bed with no idea how to get out of this place and get away from this lady she doesn’t know. Maddie’s conclusion was that she would suck it up for right now, let the police search for her and hopefully find her. Maybe living with this lady won’t be so bad after all. Maybe she will treat her with respect and care for her like a good mother would. We will see, Maddie thinks to herself.

Mrs. Shultz sits on the bed of her hotel room thinking to herself. She and Johnny were going back to California today. The New York Police had briefed the San Diego Police on Maddie’s case, so they were starting there.

As two-thirds of the Shultz family arrived in San Diego they went straight home to find two policemen waiting outside their house. As Johnny and Mrs. Shultz got out of the car and started walking to the front door, one of the men got in their path.

“Excuse me ma’am, me and my partner are from the San Diego Police Department and we would like to ask you a couple questions about your daughter. We are doing the best we can to track her and her kidnapper down but we need your help to do so.”

Mrs. Shultz invited them in and sat down in the living room. After a couple questions she couldn’t take talking about her daughter anymore. Mrs. Shultz broke down in tears as she thought about Maddie. After that incident, the policemen settled her down and decided it was time to leave. They quietly disappeared out the door.
The first thing the police department did was look into people with bad histories around the area, nothing turned up. Next, they looked into Maddie’s school, still nothing turned up. As weeks went on the case of the missing Maddie Shultz seemed to be dead. There was no leads anywhere. The police didn’t know what to do next. They started where they could and nothing turned up. Just when they were about ready to give up, an anonymous call came in.

“This is the San Diego Police Department, how can I help you?” an officer answered.

“Hi, I have some useful information for you.” a speaker on the other line revealed. “About the Maddie Shultz case, I have one thing to say, look into a woman that goes by lots of her neighbors by Mrs. Smith.” The person on the other line abruptly hung up.

As weird as this was, they had to give it a shot. This was their only lead, and they weren’t going to pass it up. An officer started looking for Mrs. Smith’s house and something came up. They arrived at her apartment and the first thing they did was talk to her neighbors. As a couple of them said, she was a weird, secluded person. This sounded right.

BAM the door to Mrs. Smith’s apartment was taken out and five policemen armed with guns invade the house. They check each room and it’s all clear. The policemen finally take a moment and look around the house.

The walls were scattered with pictures of Maddie. It was an eerie feeling apartment. There was a musty smell to it. It was dark, there weren’t that many windows in the apartment. The walls were painted a very plain beige and there was hardly any furniture. It was freezing inside like someone had been trying to keep people out. Right as you took your first step across the threshold of the house, you could sense an uneasy feeling.

“This place is creepy,” one of the officers states.
“Agreed. Where even are we?” another officer offers.
“This lady is definitely crazy. Collect all the things you can that will help us with the case and lets get out of here.” the last man orders.

“Well, we have the right kidnapper,” stated an officer.

Her inside her house, at school, at the park, everywhere Maddie went, so did Mrs. Smith. There were laid out routes of back streets to get away from the city and well planned back up ideas just in case something didn’t work out well. With them they hold the key to every move Mrs. Smith has make or will make. They just landed a gold mine.

Back in the middle of no where Maddie was starting to enjoy her time away. Yes it was weird but she kind of liked it out here. Mrs. Smith was pretty nice and Maddie got to do whatever she wanted, but her whole appearance changed. She dyed her hair a strawberry blonde color. She actually really liked the color. It matched her skin tone really well and it was a new found symbol of her new life she was forced to live until she was tracked down by the police. She decided to spend this time like a vacation as weird as it sounds. She knew Mrs. Smith wasn’t going to hurt her, so why worry? 

It’s been a while now and Maddie is starting to warm up to her new living partner. Well at least as warm as you can be with your kidnapper. She is pretty confident in the fact that Mrs. Smith won’t hurt her. But she often wonders when she will be at her home, safe with her mom and brother. She missed them and it didn’t feel normal without them.

The team of detectives checked out the house, taking down every piece of evidence there. Once they had every picture, map, and diagram picked up they headed out. They stormed into the police department building they immediately went into a conference room. One guy laid everything out on a long table and started connecting the dots. Pictures started lining up with maps and Mrs. Jennifer Smith’s plans were coming together. By all the information she had on Maddie, they could tell, she had been working on this for a while.

It was now around one o’clock in the morning and the detectives were still hard at work. Small things definitely seemed to be adding up but not the big picture. How exactly did she pull it off? Where had she taken the girl? Questions like this swirled around in all of their heads. Finally, something clicked. A place. A house on the outskirts of New York. They contacted the NYPD and within ten minutes three cop cars were headed down that same, dusty road that Maddie and Jennifer Smith took a while ago. They drove down the road and saw to the left and right of them tree, bushes and everything else burned. There had been a fire so surely, the cops thought, they were no longer there.

The cops arrived at the small cabin in surrounded by forest fire remnants. Luckily the fire didn’t reach the cabin.

“Lets check out the house!” an officer yelled.

A group of five cops entered the cabin, gins up ready to fight but they soon found out the house was empty. There was no sign of anyone ever living there. Or at least no one in the past fifty years. It was cold and kind of creepy. Every time someone took a step a floorboard creaked. There was an eerie feeling once you took a  step inside. Once again, they had hit another dead end.

“If they didn’t come here,” an officer asked, “then where did they actually go?”

“I have no idea, but we will find out.” someone replied.

Great. They were now back to square one.

It was a chill day back at the cabin until an unexpected visitor arrived. This was weird for Maddie. She hadn’t seen anyone but Mrs. Smith for a while now. She hasn’t interacted with anyone else. As they heard a knock on the door, Mrs. Smith panicked and told Maddie to stay in her room, close the door, and not make a sound. The only thing she could think of was the fact that her Maddie was going to be taken away. All she wanted was a good relationship with what she thought of as her daughter. She was nervous as she went to answer the door. Her palms were sweating and she could barely walk. She reached out her hand and twisted the door handle. Standing there was a bulky looking man about 6 feet tall. He had huge muscles and a long beard. He was wearing work boots, a short sleeve tshirt and shorts.  He was very intimidating. She looked at him with fear in her eyes. Too many questions were running through her head. He introduced himself as a construction worker working on a new cabin down the dirt road a bit and Mrs. Smith let out a sigh of relief. Then he left and Mrs. Smith couldn’t have been happier. “Thank god he wasn’t a police officer,” she thought. Although that guy wasn’t a police officer, she couldn’t help but think that the police were onto her. She felt like they were so close to catching her and she didn’t want Maddie to be taken away. Maddie was just like her late daughter and she couldn’t help but wonder how they were so similar. The thought ran through her mind that they were somehow related, after all Mrs. Smith never really knew her family because when they were little they were split up. The thought quickly slipped her mind and her brain discarded it. That couldn’t be true. “What are the odds?”  she asked herself. “There is no way.”  

Days passed and Mrs. Smith became extremely nervous. Maddie could tell but she didn’t want to say anything. Maddie was afraid Mrs. Smith would lash out on her or something so she kept to herself in her room. Maddie often cried herself to sleep. All she wanted was to go back home. She missed her mom and Johnny and she couldn’t stand being in a place like this. She was in the middle of no where, not like the usual scene at home. Kids walking around, cars speeding down streets, palm trees creating a small amount of shade. She missed San Diego but she had no idea when she would be able to see her home again and she had a feeling it would be a while. She didn’t understand how Mrs. Smith was this good at hiding them. Another thought that passed through Maddie’s mind was the fact that she could get out of her head that she felt like she had known Mrs. Smith. She seemed familiar, like she recognized her actions. “Hm, weird but whatever.”

In San Diego there were a mix of emotions. Maddie’s mom, Mrs. Shultz, was so upset. There were a flurry of thoughts swirling around her head. She didn’t know what to do.  Maddie could have been dead at that moment and she didn’t even know. This was killing her inside. Mrs. Shults couldn’t live like this. She had to find Maddie or she couldn’t go on with her life. She was determined to find Maddie and whoever took her. The first thing Mrs. Shultz brainstormed what who in the world would take Maddie. She had always been a sweet girl. She had no enemies as far as her mother knew. Mrs. Shultz went over to Maddie’s best friend’s house to ask her about it but the trip ended up being of no help. All she did was cry and that made Mrs. Shultz cry and it was just a huge mess. She couldn’t get any words out because of her emotions running so high.

Maddie’s mom arrived home with a face drowning in tears and no new information but she wasn’t about to give up that easily. She thought about it more and made the decision to move on to a person that wouldn’t make her cry as much… but who was that person? One of Maddie’s teachers, she decided.

It was now Monday and Maddie’s mom was on her way to her daughter’s school to talk to Mr. Jennings, Maddie’s english teacher. She aske him a couple questions and it was at least a little productive. Mr. Jennings told Maddie’s mom about the way her daughter acted at school. She was a very well-liked girl and she didn’t really have any issues with anyone. Mrs. Shultz exited the classroom and felt defeated. She didn’t know of anywhere else to go with her search. Her last option was to look towards her family to see if they had any ideas. It had been a while since Mrs. Shultz had seen her family. They all parted a while ago and she only had one phone number, it was her mom’s but who even knew if it was the right number? She dialed the number and after a few rings a voice answered.

“Hello you have reached the Thames residence how many I help you?”
What the heck? Mrs. Shultz thought.
“Um yes I think I have the wrong number…” responded Mrs. Shultz.
“Are you looking for Mrs. Karen?” the voice on the other line asked.
“Well, yes I am. Do you know where she is?”
“Oh yes, she is right here. Just give me a second.”

There was a long pause and suddenly the voice of an older woman answered. It was her mother.

“Who is this?” Karen asked.
Well this was awkward. “Hi mom, it’s Dianne. I know we haven’t talk in a while but--”
“A while? Dianne you haven’t called me in decades,” Karen interrupted.
“Well, I need your help.” Mrs. Shultz proceeded.
“So the only reason you contacted me was because you need help? That’s harsh.” Karen retaliated.
“I’m sorry but can we do this later? I need help. My daughter was kidnapped and I need to find out who took her. That’s where you come into play. Will you help me?” Mrs. Shultz was nervous. She was scared for her mother’s answer. She had a feeling that she would say no. She never even met the child and why would she help when Dianne had just called her out of the blue?

There was a long pause and you could feel the tension. Karen let out a long sigh and agreed to help. Mrs. Shultz was extremely shocked. She actually said yes, she thought.

“Well,” Mrs. Shultz started. “First thing is first, meet me at my house in San Diego on Friday and we will get started.”

Dianne decided she could push away all the things that made her family disconnect and fight to make sure her own little family of three wouldn’t fall apart like her relationships with her sisters and her mother. “This will definitely be an interesting experience, no doubt,” Mrs. Shultz said aloud to herself.

Maddie woke up on her little room surrounded with boxes filling to the top with all the stuff that was in the room she had been sleeping in. She became scared. What was going on? Why was everything being emptied from the cabin? It’s not like there was a whole bunch of stuff in the cabin but the stuff that was in there somehow filled all the boxes. She clutched her phone to her chest and curled up in a ball trying to go back to sleep but it didn’t work. She was just laying there staring at the ceiling picking at her sparkly phone case. As she was picking one of the sparkles came off and she got a genius idea. What if I could just pick one or a couple of these off and drop them as we go, assuming that we are leaving the cabin. Then, when the police get here, they can follow the sparkles and find me. They could bring me home. She ran through the plan in her head and started. She picked a sparkle off and laid in on the ground in a way that it would sparkle from the sun that shone in through the window. The hardest part of this plan was keeping the sparkles away from Mrs. Smith so she wouldn’t ruin the procedure. I can do it, I can do it, I can do it, Maddie kept telling herself. Doing this correctly will get me home to my family and get me back to my normal life, she told herself. An hour later Mrs. Smith rushes into her room and tells her to get up and go out the door.

“What is going on?” asks Maddie.
“Oh nothing honey we just have to move,” responds Mrs. Smith.

Mrs. Smith hurries Maddie out the door and into the car they arrived at the cabin in. Mrs. Smith puts some boxes in the truck and turns on the engine. She turn the car around and off they go back onto that little dirt road.

Maddie slightly rolls down the window and Mrs. Smith gives her a confused look through the rearview mirror.

“May I ask why you are rolling down the window?” Mrs. Smith speaks up.
Maddie’s face lights up a bright red color like a Christmas tree and she quickly comes up with something but right as it slips out of her mouth she regrets it.

“Um, uh, well I’m just a little hot so I um just wanted to get some air.”

Mrs. Smith gave her a suspicious look but kept driving. Maddie slowly slipped a sparkle out the window…. the plan had commenced. Throughout the long car drive, Maddie periodically rolled the car window down to throw out a small sparkle. It was becoming dark outside and Maddie was becoming sleepy. Her phone fell out of her hand onto the floor of the car with a “thump” but she was so tired she didn’t even care to pick it up.  Then, she instantly fell asleep.

Maddie woke up confused but as she took in her surroundings she remembered where she was… still in the car of a stranger whom had kidnapped her while she was on a family vacation. Maddie vaguely remembered her phone falling out of her hand and onto the floor of the car. As she bent down to retrieve it, she noticed it wasn’t there. Uh oh, she silently contemplated, Mrs. Smith is onto my plan.

After a couple more hours, the car finally stopped. Unlike the other place they had stopped at, the cabin, Maddie felt this place was familiar. It almost felt like she had been there before. She recognized the area, the people roaming about. This is the first time in what felt like forever that Maddie had seen people. People other than Mrs. Smith and the construction worker that paid them a visit at the old cabin. Am I in a dream? Is this real life? Questions kept running through her head. She wanted answers but she wasn’t getting them. She slipped out of the car and Mrs. Smith rushed her into a roomy, one story house that only contained two bedrooms and one bathroom. It was a really cute house, painted white with light blue trim but none of that mattered right now. The only thing that mattered to Maddie was finding out why she recognized it and when she had been there. This is so trippy. It was very tempting for Maddie to ask Mrs. Smith where exactly they were, but she didn’t want to ruin it. She wanted to stay here as long as possible and find out what her connection is to this area. She was determined to find out. She knew she would. To start out, she decided to take a nap. She was tired and couldn’t think with fatigue on the horizon.

Dianne Shultz was freaking out, pacing back and forth in her living room. Her mom was coming to her house. Her mother whom she hadn’t seen in decades. She was nervous thinking of how they would work together. What if nothing has changed in 30 years and they still can’t seem to get along? Then what would they do? She had to push all her worries out of her head and just go with it.

A knock on the door woke Mrs. Shultz from her thoughts. She made her way to the front door and turned the handle. Standing there was her mother. Apparently now known as Karen Thames, but she wouldn’t bring that up right now. There is too many things going on. It was a little awkward, as you would imagine, but they acted like adults. Mrs. Shultz led her mother to the living room and disappeared into the kitchen. She came back with two steaming hot mugs of tea. Over tea, they caught up as best as they could. The tension was easing down but you could still clearly notice it. Mrs. Shultz told Karen all about Maddie. She showed pictures and they talked about all of Maddie’s shining moments. Mrs. Shultz almost enjoyed it for a little until she realized that she was basically sharing all of this with a stranger. Sure her mother had given birth to her, but she still hadn’t seen or talked or even written to her in at least twenty five years. It was just so weird and she couldn’t shake that out of her mind but the two were going to have to band together and find her daughter. After all, she was the one who called her mother seeking for her help.

The first thing they started with was what the police had turned up, a cabin where they had not been, and a bunch of pictures and things written in a code no one could seem to crack. Together they decided that’s where they would start, at the code. They marched down to the police station and demanded to see everything that was found in that lady’s apartment. They sat down and started.

Karen and Mrs. Shultz stayed up for hours and hours every night hoping to find something they could use when finally Karen found something. She found out how everything that was written was connected. Although they couldn’t figure out who took Maddie, they figured out where she was taken. The police did find out the first cabin that Maddie was taken to but they didn’t dig deep enough to find what the kidnapper’s back up plan was.

“I guess we are going to New York,” Karen smiled.

“I guess we are,” responded Mrs. Shultz.

Karen and Mrs. Shultz step out of the airport and into the crisp, New York air. They arrive at the hotel and part their separate ways to their hotel rooms. Mrs. Shultz arrived in her hotel room, threw her stuff on the floor relieved that she got a break from carrying it and laid down in the bed. I can’t believe this is what my life has turned into. My daughter was kidnapped and that lead me to contacting my mom and now we are in New York looking for my daughter. What a weird life. As thoughts swirled around in her mind she dozed off. Mrs. Shultz woke up to the sound of her alarm beeping. She looked down and forgot that she had fallen asleep in the clothes she had worn on the plane. She got up and took a hot, steaming shower and put on new clothes. The phone started ringing. She picked up to her mother’s voice.

“Hello, meet me in the lobby in ten minutes and we can go from there,” she said. Mrs. Shultz could tell she was smiling, she could hear it in her voice.

It was the day that they were going to the address that Karen had gotten from the decoding. Mrs. Shultz was nervous. What if they find her but they can’t get to her? What if they person that kidnapped her hurts them if they get near her? What if Maddie is already dead? The last question brought tears to her eyes. She is not dead, she is not dead, Mrs. Shultz kept telling herself.

“Ding.” The elevator opened to the lobby. Mrs. Shultz stepped out of the elevator and saw her mother sitting in one of the chairs. Karen stood up as Mrs. Shultz got closer and they greeted each other and started toward the big glass doors at the entrance of the hotel. The weather was cold as they got into a taxi which took them to get a rental car. Once they had a rental car they were off. Next stop…. saving Maddie.

It was taking a while to get to this place and Karen and Mrs. Shultz started to wonder if they had something wrong. They were now turned onto a dirt path going deeper and deeper into a mystery of trees. Ahead of them, they saw a small cabin poking out from the trees.

“There!” yelled Mrs. Shultz. “Turn in there!”

As the came closer though, they saw there was construction going on. Hmm that’s weird, thought Mrs. Shultz. Karen pulled up next to the house. There was a construction worker standing on the porch so Mrs. Shultz got out and went to go talk to him.

“Hello sir we need your help with--” Mrs. Shultz began.
The man held up his hand. As he turned to face her she could see he was on the phone and she quickly shied away.
Mrs. Shultz could faintly hear him mumble, “Can I give you a call back? Some lady just came up to me. Never seen her in my life.”
He hung up the phone and turned to her. “Yes?”
“Well I am looking for a certain cabin. It should be around this area. Maybe a couple miles away. Do you know where it is or even what I’m talking about? We really need to get there as soon as possible,” Mrs. Shultz started up again.
“As a matter of fact yeah I do know about a cabin close to here but I can’t guarantee it’s the one you are looking for. I went there about a week or so ago to let them know about the construction.” the worker said.
“Oh my goodness that’s great news! Who exactly was there? Was there a girl about this height, brown hair?” she asked the man holding up her hand to show the height she was referring to.
“No, I only saw a woman but there could have been a kid. Why do you need to--”
Mrs. Shultz cut him off.
“Can you give me some directions on how to get there?”

He wrote something down on a piece of paper and handed it to her. Before he could ask any more questions she was off. She ran to the car and they sped off.

They arrived at the cabin a few minutes later and a few miles down the road. Mrs. Shultz was extremely nervous. Karen pulled the car up outside the house and she looked in.

“It doesn’t look like anyone is there. That’s weird.” she stated.

Together they walked up to the door. Mrs. Shultz tried the door handle. It was open. The two of them looked around the house making sure to stay quiet. Karen made her way to a bedroom and found something. A minute later Mrs. Shultz arrived in the same bedroom. When she walked through the door she saw her mother crouched in the corner. The first thought that ran through her head was that she was hurt. She hurried to where her mother was crouched to find that she was ok, but she was holding something. It was a little sparkle.

“I think she left it for us to find.” Karen stated.
“But what does a little sparkle like that mean? What is she trying to signal?”  asked Mrs. Shultz.
“I don’t know,” responded Karen. “But I think we should take this to the police now.”

Mrs. Shultz agreed and the two of them got back into the car and went back on the road that they came from. As they were riding along Karen kept noticing something sparkling in the road. It had happened a couple times in the last ten minutes and she just connected the dots.

“Dianne! I think I found something!” she said.
“What is it? Mrs. Shultz asked.

Karen suddenly stomped on the brakes and pulled the car over to the side of the road. She bent down and she saw it. It was another sparkle. It was identical to the one they had found in the cabin.

“This is amazing,” Mrs. Shultz regarded. “We are definitely taking this to the police.” She went to go pick up the sparkle but her mother stopped her.
“Don’t pick it up. I’ve been seeing a couple of these for the past ten minutes. They are leading us somewhere. We have to leave them, tell the police, and from there the police can use these sparkles to lead them to Maddie.” Karen said as things were still circulating in her head.

Once they were back in the city, they went straight to the police with their findings. The police were on it right away. Cop cars were soon on their way to the sport where the sparkles started. They kept going on the path that the sparkles led them until it suddenly stopped. They were in the middle of no where and they didn’t know where they were going and the sparkles stopped. Great, just great. They were about to turn around and go back when an officer stopped them all. He knew a town around where they were and he could lead everyone there. He believed that the sparkles were leading to a small place that goes by the name of Pearl River. They arrived in the small town and showed around a picture of Maddie Shultz. After many people didn’t recognize her, one did. He said she was with a woman and he didn’t know who she was. Now they had more information. Maddie was with a woman. It wasn’t enough information though. The small city of 10,000 residents was then put on a lockdown. No one was allowed out of their houses. The streets became erie and everyone became scared. The police proceeded to checking every house in the area. Nothing was coming up and policemen were starting to grow tired. Just when everyone was about to give up, there was a breakthrough.

While Mrs. Smith was freaking out Maddie couldn’t have been any more excited. The police had put the whole city on a lockdown and hey were checking every house. She was going to be found. She was going to be reunited with her family. All she did was lay down and stare at the ceiling. She was so thankful that she was ok but one thing she really wanted to know what still why she felt so safe in this place, like she had been here or maybe even lived here. Maybe she would ask her mom when she got home. Her mom. The person she had missed the most. She could picture her face, her sweet smell, her warm hugs. Maddie closed her eyes and smiled. She felt herself starting to drift away when on the door she heard a “Whack, Whack, Whack, Whack, Whack.” Someone was hitting the door. “Open up! This is the police, open up!” When no one answered the door they broke it down and pounced in. They saw me and right as someone started to come towards me, Mrs. Smith stepped in the way. Simultaneously, all the policemen pulled out their guns. The one closest to Mrs. Smith and Maddie knocked her to the ground, took her hands, and handcuffed her while Maddie just stood there, mouth hung open trying to process what just happened. They stood Mrs. Smith up and walked her out the door while she screamed for Maddie to go with her. Maddie’s mother was called and she and Karen pulled up to the house just in time to see the kidnapper. Both of their jaws dropped as they both said at the same time, “Jennifer?”

“It was Jennifer. Jennifer kidnapped my child. My daughter was kidnapped by her aunt.” Mrs. Shultz kept saying. She couldn’t believe it. Her own sister was the one they had been chasing for so long. Jennifer had never met Maddie before. How could she know her? Why did she kidnap her? There were too many things Mrs. Shultz had to think about. This was crazy. She couldn’t process it. Next to Mrs. Shultz, her mother couldn’t process it either. One of her daughters kidnaped the kid of one of her other daughters. Everything was a blur for both of them. Maddie broke them out of their confused selfs. She ran over giving her mom a huge hug.

“Mom I missed you so much,” she said crying onto her mother’s shoulder.
“I missed you too honey,” Mrs. Shultz responded.
Maddie looked over at Karen confused. She whispered into her mom’s ear, “Who is that?”
“Maddie, I would like you to meet my mom, Karen. This is your grandmother.” Mrs. Shultz responded reluctantly.
“Oh um hi,” Maddie whispered quietly.
“Hi nice to meet you,” Karen said as she reached out her hand. Maddie shook it, still confused as to what was going on.

Maddie and Mrs. Shultz make their way back to the hotel. Right as Maddie’s head hit the pillow she was out like a light. As Maddie laid there, her mother watched. She was happy to have her back but that fact that it was her sister that kidnapped her kept her uneasy. She had lots of questions but decided for right now just to let them go and she fell into a deep sleep. She was so happy that Maddie was safe she could let anything go right now. She could honestly say that this was the best day of her life. Life couldn’t get any better than this. She saw and talked to her mom for the first time in at least 25 years and she was reunited with her daughter. The only thing that could make this better was Johnny being here, but you can’t have everything in life. You just have to be thankful for what you do have.