The Kid I Was Babysitting Went Missing L'enfant que je gardais a disparu ベビーシッターをしていた子供が行方不明になった O miúdo que eu estava a tomar conta desapareceu Зникла дитина, з якою я няньчилася.

- 15 years ago, a night of babysitting

turned into one of the scariest nights of my life,

and This is That Story.

(playful strings music)

All right, so this story goes back to 2005, 2006-ish.

It was a Saturday night and I'm 16 years old.

So of course, you know, I'm living it up by, um,

uh, babysitting.

I didn't really go to a lot of parties in high school,

so most of my weekends were just spent

getting paid to watch kids.

You know, it was family friends, neighbors,

neighbors of family friends, family friends of neighbors,

I was everywhere!

I was cleaning up, I was just raking in the money, Eu estava limpando, só estava juntando o dinheiro,

and I don't mean to brag, but, um, e eu não quero me gabar, mas, hum,

I think it's because I was good at it.

Oh, you're good at babysitting?

What does that even mean? Afinal, o que isso quer dizer?

I will tell you what it means, two reasons:

one, kids have this amazing ability to not give a (bleep)

about what anyone thinks about them,

and for me, it's just so easy to get swept up in that. e para mim, é tão fácil ser arrastado por isso.

And then it just becomes legitimately fun E então se torna legitimamente divertido

when you let yourself be dumb and silly quando você se deixa ser burro e bobo

and talk in weird voices

and do all the kid stuff you forget about.

Then the kids start having more fun,

AKA, they're more likely to listen to you

because you've infiltrated the way they communicate.

Now reason number two,

which is arguably the more important reason,

I always get the parent tasks done.

Make sure everyone eats dinner,

no one has a meltdown, everyone's in bed by 10:00 p.m., ninguém tem um colapso, todo mundo está na cama às 22h,

whatever it is.

Basically maintain order.

I like to think I've seen it all until this

one specific night,

(tense music)

which brings us to this story.

So like I said, it was a cool fall night, Então, como eu disse, era uma noite fria de outono,

I show up at this house at like 6:00 p.m. or something. Eu apareço nesta casa às 18:00 ou algo assim.

It was actually my first time babysitting for this family,

so I kinda had my work cut out for me. J'avais donc du pain sur la planche.

We're talking three kids and a dog.

I meet the kids, and honestly, they all seem super chill, Eu conheço as crianças e, honestamente, elas parecem super tranquilas,

like suspiciously chill, like the second that door closes, como suspeitosamente frio, como o segundo em que a porta se fecha,

they're all gonna turn their heads ils vont tous tourner la tête todos eles vão virar a cabeça

at me and attack me chill.

(ominous music)

Age-wise, the oldest boy is like eight, nine, En termes d'âge, le garçon le plus âgé a huit ou neuf ans,

then there's a girl that's like six, seven,

and then the littlest boy

could not have been older than four.

Eh, I can handle that.

Then I meet the dog, this little white, poofy dog,

I have no idea what breed it is. Não faço ideia de que raça é.

They tell me the dog is new

and they've only had this dog for three months.

"She's pretty mean," the dad says, "Ela é muito má", diz o pai,

"So prepare yourself for that."

Now look, I love dogs,

I've grown up with dogs my entire life,

but I don't think I've ever heard a dog introduced as

pretty mean.

If she tries to bite you,

just shake this can of quarters at her. lui secouer cette boîte de conserve. apenas agite esta lata de moedas para ela.

Okay.

I get the rest of the info I'll need for the night.

They ordered pizza, it'll be there in an hour,

everyone can watch TV, in bed by 10, 10:30,

they'll be home at midnight, whatever.

Overall, this seems pretty by the books. Dans l'ensemble, cela semble assez conforme aux règles.

And eventually the parents leave and uh,

the night has begun.

I'm sure anyone watching this who has babysat before

is all too familiar with that awkward moment

when the night starts.

The kids are definitely thinking,

"Who is tall weirdo in my house?" "Quem é o esquisito alto na minha casa?"

And I'm just thinking,

"Please don't let this night spiral out of control."

But turns out those chill vibes I was getting Mas acontece que aquelas vibrações frias que eu estava recebendo

were in fact very real chill vibes.

The little girl starts coloring at the kitchen table,

the two boys ask if I want to play video games,

and the dog is just...

I don't know what other word to use besides lurking.

(ominous music)

An hour or two goes by,

the kids are perfectly nice to me,

they're perfectly nice to each other.

(doorbell rings) The pizza comes,

everyone eats, no one makes a mess, todo mundo come, ninguém faz bagunça,

then the oldest boy suggests

that we should all watch The SpongeBob Movie.

So of course I'm like,

I don't want to watch The SpongeBob Movie.

I want to watch The SpongeBob Movie.

- [Both] Twice.

- Sorry if that scared anyone watching,

I can assure you that I love SpongeBob very much.

We watch the movie, we all have ice cream.

I honestly forget that I'm even babysitting,

I'm just having a delightful evening

and there just so happens to be three children

and a pretty mean dog with me.

So it's nearing 10, 10:30,

and we're almost at the point where you have to have

the conversation of it's time to go to bed.

They all voluntarily put themselves to bed!

What is happening?

Yeah, I know, I don't know.

And sure enough, they all put on their pajamas, E com certeza, todos eles colocaram seus pijamas,

brush their teeth, head into their bedrooms, escovar os dentes, ir para os quartos,

and go to sleep.

We're independent, you're not even babysitting us.

At this point,

I'd feel bad accepting any money from the parents,

like what am I even doing here?

I don't know, I'll just go downstairs

and watch TV until the parents get home.

Okay, now you're absolutely thinking,

"Cool story, nice tale, you babysat nice children."

Please relax.

So there I am just sitting on the couch,

flipping through channels, texting friends,

when the little dog enters the room.

Now if this dog could talk, it absolutely would have said,

"Hey, it's a nice night, isn't it?

"It'd be a real shame if someone were to come in here

"and (bleep) everything up." "e (bleep) tudo para cima."

I try my best to not make any eye contact.

As a dog lover, I am really conflicted.

I want to pet the dog,

but the dog has been introduced as pretty mean.

I decide it's not worth the risk

and I just keep my eyes glued to Iron Chef on the TV.

But then something catches my peripheral vision,

and it's this goddamn dog. e é esse maldito cachorro.

It's just laying on its back at my feet. Está apenas deitado de costas aos meus pés.

What, I'm not supposed to pet this dog now? O que, eu não devo acariciar este cachorro agora?

I look down and it's just staring back up at me.

I reach down, immediately flips over,

tries to bite my hand, and runs away.

I knew it, I (bleep) knew it.

God damn it, why do I love dogs so much? Droga, por que eu amo tanto cachorros?

Lesson learned, this dog is in fact pretty mean.

Oh, cool, you got bit by a dog, good story.

No, that's not the story, you need to calm down,

the best part's still coming.

So I'm still on the couch, still watching Iron Chef,

this time with a can of quarters in my hand.

At this point, it's maybe 11:30,

the parents are gonna be home soon.

I probably should go upstairs,

turn off any TVs that were left on,

turn some lights off, you know, shut down the house, desligar algumas luzes, você sabe, desligar a casa,

just nighttime stuff.

I poke my head into the oldest boy's room,

he's passed out, TV's off, lights off, check.

I peek into the girl's room,

she's asleep, lights off, check.

Finally, I check the youngest boy's room.

The lights are on and he's not in his bed.

I have a little glimmer of panic.

Just relax, I'm sure he's in the other bed

that's in the oldest boy's room.

So I check that room and he isn't there either, okay.

I pick up the pace and dart over to their parents' room

and he's not in there, oh god.

At this point, my heart is really starting to pound. Neste ponto, meu coração está realmente começando a bater forte.

Please don't yell at me for this next part. Por favor, não grite comigo nesta próxima parte.

You know what I do?

I go back downstairs and watch TV.

I know, I know, but in my head I'm thinking

he's gotta be somewhere in this house, everything's fine.

I sit there for probably two minutes.

(clock ticks rapidly)

I should find this kid.

So again, I head upstairs. Então, novamente, subo as escadas.

I felt like I was going crazy,

I'm flipping all the lights on

just to make sure I wasn't missing something.

We were playing video games in the basement,

maybe he went to sleep down there?

I wasn't gonna rule anything out at this point.

He's not in the basement.

I go back to the couch, my brain is spiraling.

What am I supposed to do?

Call the parents and be like,

"Hey, um, one of the kids is missing."

I don't want to freak them out.

Do I call my parents and ask them to come help me?

No, no, no, that doesn't make any sense either.

Calling anyone would have involved telling them

what is going on, and it was too scary, I couldn't do it.

Where is this little boy?

Now I'm checking under beds, in closets, in bathrooms,

literally everywhere,

and obviously those things don't make sense,

but he wasn't anywhere else!

I turned the outside lights on to check the backyard,

making sure a child wasn't squeezing in

a midnight jungle gym session. uma sessão de trepa-trepa à meia-noite.

I was so paralyzed with fear,

so unsure of what was going on that,

and I'm not joking when I say this,

I debated waiting for the parents to get home

and just acting like everything was fine.

Oh, right, the payment,

I'm actually gonna give you a 30% discount

'cause I know we started with three kids

and we've only got two now, so, uh.

I know that's bad.

I obviously ruled that out, Eu obviamente descartei isso,

but I needed to figure something out mas eu precisava descobrir algo

because this was getting terrifying.

I turn on every light I can find,

I'm looking behind couches, under tables.

At a certain point, it was time to call their parents.

Was he taken from his room without me knowing? Ele foi levado de seu quarto sem eu saber?

There's no way someone could have gotten into the house,

but that was becoming the only explanation.

I'm pacing around and I just feel sick to my stomach.

I walk by the dining room and the dog is laying there

on her back, staring at me.

Not a good time.

My phone is in my hand,

this is the worst thing that could have happened,

this little boy is gone.

How did everything go so well and just 180 to this?

I wander into the parents' bedroom just dumbfounded

and I sit down on their bed.

This is bigger than me messing up, Isso é maior do que eu estragar tudo,

someone could be in danger, and I need to grow up right now.

Suddenly, there's movement under the covers.

It scares the absolute (bleep) out of me

and I whip the comforter back. e eu jogo o edredom de volta.

There he is, sound asleep,

under the thickest blanket I have ever seen.

Every time I had looked in the parents' bedroom,

that bed looked completely undisturbed.

And when you cover a toddler with a giant blanket,

to the naked eye,

it looks like nothing is out of the ordinary.

I exhaled this sigh of relief that is just unimaginable.

And I'm sorry if this story is anticlimactic in that sense,

but it's the truth.

I was 100% convinced this boy was gone

and that I had lost someone's child.

And just like that,

he was simply sleeping in his parents' bed.

So I scoop him up and put him back in his own bed. Então eu o pego e o coloco de volta em sua própria cama.

So I head downstairs to the kitchen, sit down, and just... Então desço as escadas para a cozinha, sento-me e apenas...

Breathe.

There's a small lick on my hand, I look down and,

of course, the pretty mean dog has returned once again.

Instinctually, I reach down,

and before I can remember to pull away,

she nuzzles her head into my hand.

It's like she knew that I was on the verge

of a full mental breakdown.

The parents eventually get home.

I smile, tell them everyone was well-behaved,

and walk out the front door.

As I'm headed down the driveway,

I remember that I completely forgot to collect the money.

So I turn back towards the house,

but I see the little dog in the window

just staring at me, unblinking.

You know what?

I don't even want the $60, I just want to go home.

And that's exactly what I did.

(haunting music)