Escaped [On Hold]

Taken

Louise Harrison thought it would be a good idea to bring her son George to the playground today. Both of them needed fresh air.

"Hey Georgie," she says in a soothing tone. "Do you want to go to the playground?"

The three-year-old shyly giggled, then nodded in affirmation. The little one could talk, but for some reason chose to stay silent. Louise packed up the things she and her young boy may need at the park. Once the pair were strapped into their seats, they were off.

After 20 minutes of driving, they finally arrived at the playground. By the time Louise opened the backseat door, George was practically jumping through the straps holding him in his seat. She chuckled to herself and unbuckled the wiggling boy.

Once they left the parking lot, George wriggled out of his mother's arms and waddled excitedly over to the sandbox, Louise not far behind. Once he got to the small plastic wall holding in the sand, he put his hand on top of the wall and started bouncing up and down, being too small to climb over it.

Louise helps George over the barrier, then spots Julia Lennon sitting on a nearby bench. Julia was there with her son, John, who was also in the sandbox. Louise walks over and sits next to Julia, starting a conversation.

In the sandbox, George quietly plays in the sand. John gives the younger boy a questioning look, then goes back to building his sand fortress. The two of them stay in the sandbox for ten to fifteen more minutes until two strange men approach them.

"Hello," one of them said. "My name is Pete, and this is my friend Ivan. What are you boys called?"

"My name is John and I'm six and this is George and he's three. He doesn't talk much." John said confidently, whispering the last part.

"Well, we were wondering if the two of you would help us get something from our house. We'll have to get in our car first." Pete told the two.

"Well, my mom told me I was not to trust strangers." John said.

"My too!" Squeaked George, now hiding behind John.

"But John, George, remember? I told you our names, then you told us yours and his. We're not longer strangers. We know each other." Pete said, sounding a bit on edge. Like he was about to burst into anger. The two kids in front of him didn't seem to notice though.

"Okay then, come on George. Let's help the nice men." John cooed the younger boy. He took George by the hand and followed the two grown men to their car. The two of them willingly got into the back, Ivan strapping George into a toddler booster. John got into a less bulky booster seat of his own. The car drove off, and the boys would be in that car for a long time.

Meanwhile, at the park, Julia and Louise didn't notice that their two boys were no longer there until the two women decided it was time to leave. When they first saw that their boys weren't in the sand anymore, they thought they were on the playset. They were not. By now, they were a few miles from the edge of town in the back of a car of two strange men.

They start to panic, deciding to drive together to the police station to file two separate missing person reports. But the police told the two worried mothers that they had to wait three days before that the police could treat both their sons missing people.

Louise's and Julia's life would spiral downward from there. Divorce, abandonment, death, and everything in between. They both regret not keeping a watchful eye on the child that they loved so much. If only...