Scary Story (Lauren Bjorkman)


I should have known not to go.

But I was fourteen, and my best friend invited me to see a movie.
I went along, even though she picked a scary movie, and I hate scary movies.
I went along, even though it was about psycho killer stalking a baby-sitter.



The next week I got a call from a family—one of my regular baby-sitting gigs. They paid well and had good food. I liked the little girl, Rachel, except when she practiced her violin. I let those factors sway me.

Everything went well that night. No stranger called, no creepy breathing into the phone, no one asking, “Do you know where Rachel is?” She was with me, of course, watching re-runs of Love Boat with me in her parents’ bedroom. Everything went well until something went *crash* downstairs.

You know how in horror movies, how you get furious at someone who goes to investigate? Well, I didn’t investigate. I locked the bedroom door and called 911. When the police car arrived, I went downstairs to meet them. They looked around, but found nothing.

By the time the parents came home, we had fallen asleep in their bed. When the dad drove me home, I forgot to tell him about the 911 call. Or I was embarrassed. Or something else. I was a teenager. Give me a break.

The next day the dad called to chew me out. I’d forgotten that Rachel would tell them about the incident. They never asked me to baby-sit again.

But I didn’t mind.

Comments

  1. I babysat not long after seeing that movies too. It was a creepy house with three floors. For some reason the people had the baby's room on the third floor (!) I never checked on that baby the whole night. I figured if there was a psychopathic killer up there-- what could I do about it? (Yeah, I am not proud of this.)

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  2. Why was he mad that you heard a crash and got the police to investigate? Wouldn't the parents want their babysitter to be over-vigilant rather than too lax?

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    1. He wasn't mad I called 911, just that I hadn't told him I called 911. I guess he felt he couldn't trust me after that.

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  3. I'm with Jennifer! I think I would have called to thank you!

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  4. How dare you be cautious and try to protect yourself and the kids. Geez, what was that dad thinking?

    Jody, maybe not a proud moment, but there's a really terrible part of me that totally giggled when I read your comment.

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