The Baby Sitter
By: TonyX
Inspired by: Quicksand Artist's "Baby Sitter vs. The Sand box" picture

"Oh, my goodness! What am I going to wear?" cried out a 18 year old, beautiful blond headed girl as she searched frantically through her drawers for something to wear. "I have an interview in half an hour an I'm still looking for clothing!" Well, today she had an interview with her next door neighbor about being a baby sitter for the summer, but if she happened to be late, she might not be able to get the job.

She left her room and went to the railing of the stairs and called for her mother. "Mom!! I have to be at Mrs. Paterson's house in half an hour and I still can't find anything to wear!"

"Why don't you wear some shorts and a T-shirt, Sarah!" Sarah's mom called from the bottom of the stairs. "It's awfully hot outside and I wouldn't suggest that you dress up only to be sweating from what you're wearing."

"Why didn’t I think of that!" Sarah said softly and leaned over the railing to thank her mother and quickly found a light green shirt and bright yellow shorts.

"Oh, um honey?" Sarah's mom called out and waited until she got her attention. "I'm going to be at work until about 10 PM. So don't what up for me, okay?" She was near the door when she saw Sarah coming down the stairs without any shoes on. "One more thing," she pointed at Sarah's bare feet, "please put on some shoes."

"But mom, you said that it's really hot outside, so I figured that I wouldn't need my shoes today. Plus it's more comfortable not having to wear shoes."

"Yes, I know that it's hot but that doesn't mean that you can run around barefooted, at least not to other people's homes." Her mom opened the door and a burst of heat came into the air-conditioned house. "And the strangest thing is," she looked up at the sky, "it was raining so badly these last few days and now everything is dried up. Oh well," she turned back to Sarah, "at least put some sandals on." Sarah's mom smiled and left, closing the door behind her.

"Put some sandals on," Sarah said mockingly as she heard her mom's car drive off. "It's too hot to even be wearing sandals or shoes of any type" Sarah went into the kitchen and looked at the clock hanging on the wall.

"Oh crap! I'm going to be late!" She grabbed a spare house key and darted out the front door, nearly forgetting to lock it.

"My goodness it's hot out here! It's hot enough to fry an egg!" Sarah complained as she walked through Mrs. Paterson's lawn. "But at least the grass is cool." She reached the front door and knocked three times and a little girl with red hair open the door before she was able to get off the forth knock.

Sarah kneeled down on the concrete floor just outside the door to Mrs. Paterson's house. "Well hi there! I hope that I'm not too late."

"No, you're not, but my mom is!" The little girl smiled as she let Sarah in and led her to her mother, Mrs. Paterson, who was dressed in a business suit and moving around the living room rather quickly. "Mommy? The baby sitter is here!"

"Oh thank you for coming!" Mrs. Paterson said hastily, not taking note of what Sarah was wearing. "Well I think I've got everything," and picked up a small bag and a briefcase began to go for the door. "Well, I'm sorry about having to leave in such a hurry, but the people that I work for called a last minute business meeting this morning and I'm running late." She turned to Sarah and began to quickly list off the things that she needed to do. "Well, you're going to watch, entertain, feed and clean Liz here. The list for what she needs to eat is on the fridge, um, all of the emergency numbers are there too, and Liz can tell you what she likes to do." Mrs. Paterson walked toward her front door and turned around again, as if she wear forgetting something. "Um, I will pay you generously by the end of very week, which will end up being Friday, after I get home." She quickly passed a smile at Sarah and kneeled down to Liz's eye level. "Now Liz, behave yourself and don't make things hard for... what's your name?"

"It's Sarah Domanga, Sarah's okay."

"...for Sarah, okay?"

"Okay, mommy." Liz said with a smile and hugged Mrs. Paterson.

"That's my baby." She stood up and opened the door. "Bye, guys!"

"Bye, Mrs. Paterson." "Bye, mommy." and she closed the door. Sarah kneeled down to Liz's eye level and moved her hand through her hair. "So Liz, what do you want to do right now? Are there any games you like playing, books you want me to read to you? You that sort of thing."

The young girl thought about what Sarah had said and put her finger near her mouth. "Well, I don't have many games that I like to play, but I like playing outside and..." Liz looked up at the ceiling, "I like to play Tea Time with my mom."

"Okay, so you like being outside then," Sarah watched Liz and she was greeted with a smile. "Well, it's too hot outside right now for anyone to be out, so would you like to play Tea Time until it's cool outside?"

"I was hoping that we could go outside and go to the park for a while, but Tea Time would be okay, for now."

"Okay then, so where do you keep your things so that you can play?"

"Upstairs, in my room," Liz ran toward the stairs, but stopped and looked at Sarah. "Why don't you come up with me? So you can keep me company?"

"Okay then," She walked toward the foot of the stairs and waited for Liz. "Lead the way!"

Liz led Sarah up a flight of stairs and into a large room that seemed to fit the young girl's personality. Liz had a canopy bed with rose bed sheets, a long kids table with dishes for playing Tea Time already set out, and clouds painted on the walls and ceiling of the room. The room amazed Sarah and she wanted to ask Liz how her mom had painted the walls, but soon forgot to ask as she began to play with her.

Time passes as Sarah and Liz entertain each other and it seems that they are beginning to bond together. Then Liz asked a question to change the subject.

"Um, Sarah, I was wondering about something," and Liz takes a seat next to Sarah.

"Well what do you want to know about?" she said cheerfully to Liz.

"Well, I was wondering, why aren't you wearing any shoes? You're not even wearing socks and my mom never lets me go barefooted outside."

"Well, it's more of a matter of preference really. But the truth is, and Sarah looked at Liz happily, "I hate wearing shoes anywhere. Even to school or the store But my mom makes me wear shoes or sandals when it's convenient."

"Okay, so what does it feel like to be barefooted outside?" she asked with overflowing curiosity.

"Well, that depends on what it's like outside. Like if it's hot out, the ground feels warm under my feet and when it's cold it ground's cool or cold."

"So have you ever been outside when it rained or snowed?"

"Well, yes to both, but only when my mom isn't around."

"Why?"

"Because my mom doesn't like me being out when it rains or snows."

"Come on Sarah, that can't be all of it!" Liz said anxiously.

"Well, it's because when it rains, everything outside is wet and the ground gets muddy, especially my backyard. And when it snows, it’s usually to cold to be barefooted, or so my mom says, but I like going in to snow with my feet."

"Okay," Liz sat and played with the one of the cups on the table. "My mom wouldn't me do that though."

Sarah gave Liz a supportive hug. "That's okay. Your mom only looking out for you. Maybe when you’re older she'll let you do it?"

"Maybe," Liz sighed.

"But until then, you have to keep your shoes on unless she says that you can do other wise. Okay?"

"Yeah," and she sighed again. Then she remembered that she wanted to go outside. "Hey, Sarah, didn't you say that we could go to the park when it got cooler?"

"Yeah, I did," and Sarah smiled at Liz, "so what do you want to do outside, anything in particular that you would like to do?"

Liz looked up at the ceiling and began to think about what she normally does. "Well, I like going to the park, so I could swing, ride the marry-go-round, and play in the sand box."

"Hmm...well, it's going to be a long day, so is there anything else that you would like to do after we've been to the park? Remember, just say what it is and we'll do it together!"

Upon hearing this, Liz simply smiled and said, "No that's all that I can think of for now. Lets make up the rest as we go?"

"Okay then. Lets get your stuff and go to the park!"

Liz smiled and nearly jumped with joy as she ran toward her closet and began to dig through her things. A minute later, Liz produced a red plastic shovel and bucket, just perfect for digging in the sand. She also changed into her playing clothes and met with Sarah at the front door.

"Are we all set up and ready to go?"

"Yeah!" Liz said cheerfully and stared at Sarah's bare feet. "But are you still going to be barefooted when we go to the park, Sarah?"

"Yes, I am."

"Okay, just checking!" and she extended her hand to Sarah, gesturing for her to hold it.

Sara took Liz's hand and they walked out the front door, locking it with the house key that Liz wore around her neck. The neighborhood park was down the street and in the dip between two hills, making it, from time to time, an area that was prone to major flooding when it rained. But, today the park was not flooded, but there were no other kids outside for Liz to play with. As a matter of fact there was only one person there, besides Liz and Sarah, and he was an old man that was sitting on the bench closest to the road.

"Well, that seems strange. There's no one here," They walked closer to the park, more and more down the hill. "Well, it looks like we have the park to ourselves."

"Yeah, now I don't have to wait to play where I want to!" Liz took off running toward the swing set and jumped up on the center swing.

"Hey, Liz wait for me!" Sarah began to run after Liz, but stopped when the old man moved in front of her, forcing her to come to a sliding halt.

The old man raised an accusing finger toward Sarah and then to the deserted park. “Beware of anything that appears to be dry, Missy, for you may find yourself in a bind that will be hard to get out of."

"Why would I do that?" She peered over the old man shoulder to check on Liz. "Is there something wrong with the park?"

"Yes, and please pay heed to my warning, or else you'll pay the consequences!"

"Yeah, whatever, sir. If you'll excuse me, I have a little girl to baby-sit." She walked around the old man walked toward Liz.

"Beware I say, BEWARE!! or suffer!!" but the old man's last words were on deaf ears as he watched Sarah go to the swing set and begin to push Liz into the air. "Young kids don't listen to me anymore. Well, it doesn't matter, she'll get what's coming to her , if she's not careful," and the old man walked off in the opposite direction that Sarah and Liz had come from to another block filled with old houses. "They just don't listen anymore."

"So Liz, have you had enough!" Sarah said as she gave Liz another push on the swing.

"No way!! I could do this all day!" she said with playfully laughing. After a while, she asked Sarah to give one final and hard push on the swing.

"Are you sure Liz?"

"Yeah! Make it as hard and as fast as you can!!" Liz moved impatiently as she waited for Sarah.

Sarah grabbed hold of the swing and pulled as far back as the chain and her arms would allow. "Okay, here...we...go!" and she pushed the swing as hard as she could, sending Liz soaring in her swing up toward the sky.

"Weeeeee!" and as the swing began to slow down, Liz jumped from the swing and onto the ground.

Sarah, not knowing if Liz was either hurt or playing around, ran up to her and slipped on a wet patch of grass, sliding right beside Liz. "Liz! Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, but that was fun!!" and she looked at Sarah happily. “By the way, I saw you slid right next to me! And that looked cool!"

"Why thank you, but that was an accident, not intentional."

"But now the butt of your yellow shorts have green streaks on them!!" and she laughed as Sarah examined her shorts.

"Ha ha. Very funny." Sarah got up off the damp grass. "Well, it looks like you're finished playing on the swing, so what do you want to do next?"

"Um, I want to make something, so lets go over to the sand pit!" she then got up and ran to the sand pit.

Sarah promptly followed sat on a piece of wood that surrounded the pit and watched as Liz tried to make something out of the sand. "Hey Sarah, why don't you come in and help me build a castle or something?"

"Okay," and Sarah placed a barefoot onto the sand. "That's funny, the sand feels kind of wet," and she took a spot in the center of the sand pit and flopped down on the sand and placed her legs underneath her butt, leaving her feet and toes to wiggle into the wet sand.

"Yeah it does, but at least it'll stay together as we build."

Liz cupped a handful of sand into her hands and tried to make a cylinder out of it, only having it look like a ball. Sarah, on the other hand, was digging her hands into the sand and was making little walls and tried to a make building.

"Hey Liz, wouldn't it be a little better if you brought your shovel and bucket over here?"

"Yeah, I had almost forgotten about that!" she looked around and saw her things not to far from the swing set. "Hold a sec, I'll be right back."

Sarah nodded and watched Liz as she left the sand pit to retrieve her stuff. Yet, just as Liz was halfway to her things, Sarah felt the sand under her legs quiver and tremble. She tried to stand up, but as soon as she had risen to her knees, the sandy ground gave away, forcing her to sink into the sticky sand like muck all the way up to her waist.

"What the heck!!" Sarah said under her breath. "The sand turned to muck!!" She tried to dig her way out of the yellowish muck, but was only able to cover her hands with muck. "What is this stuff! It's all sticky and," she smelled her right hand, "it smells like a cat has been here. EWE!! It's like being in fully used and unclean kitty litter!!!!!" Sarah called for Liz, and tried not to move too much. "Liz! Liz, can you come here!"

Liz dashed over with her shovel and bucket and was amazed at what she saw. "Wow, Sarah! What happened to you?"

"I was sitting here waiting for you and then the ground just turned into muck!!"

"Well, if you ask me, it looks like you're in quicksand," Liz said cheerfully.

"Quicksand?! So that's what this stuff is!" Sarah began to pump her legs in a running motion and began to sink past her waist.

"Sarah, don't pump your legs, you'll only end up sinking even more!"

On that note Sarah stopped struggling, but continued to sink up to her chest, and then stopped sinking. "Okay, so now what do I do!" Sarah cried out. Somehow she had been able to keep her arms above the quicksand and was beginning to flail them around the air rapidly. "Hello, Liz?!"

"Hold on, Sarah, I'm trying to think." Liz noticed that the sand pit was not that wide. "Umm, Sarah can you reach the wood that's around the pit?"

"I think so..." Sarah then moved her arm toward the edge of the pit and placed her sticky left hand on the wood there, but now she was nearly up to her chin in yellow muck. Liz came around and grabbed her hand and began to pull on it.

"I can't help you out, you're just to heavy!" Liz cried.

"Don't worry, I'm almost there!" Just as Sarah finished talking, she laid her right hand on the wood, but had submerged completely, leaving only her bright blond hair on the surface.

"Sarah!" Liz cried hoping that her new friend and babysitter was still alive. Liz saw that Sarah’s hands were still holding on to the wood and picked up one and pulled with all her might.

Thanks to Liz's pulling and Sarah's unwillingness to die, Sarah's head began to reemerge from the yellow muck, and soon she was able to breath. "Keep pulling, Liz!" Liz continued to pull and after a while, Sarah was able to pull herself out of the muck. She collapsed in front of Liz and still had her legs in the muck.

"Sarah? Are you okay?" Liz kneeled down next to Sarah and saw her eyes open and a smile appeared on her face.

"Yeah, Liz, I'm okay!" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath of air. "Wow, that was the most frightening thing that I've ever done!" Sarah then pulled her legs and feet out of the muck and stood up looking at the sand pit. "Look at me I'm totally covered in this stuff!"

"Yeah, you look like a blob monster!" Liz laughed.

"Yeah, I'm guessing that I do," she said as she looked at her body. "But now I have to get this stuff off of me, so get your stuff and let's get going." Sarah watched as Liz as she went to picked up her stuff. "Now where would I be able to rinse this stuff off?" Sarah thought quickly and remembered that her house had a hose out in backyard. "Come on Liz, we're going to my house for a minute so I can clean off." Liz nodded agreeably and followed Sarah to her backyard.

When they got there, Sarah noticed that the backyard was flooded and was full of thick mud. "Man I had totally forgotten that my yard looked like this! Oh well, Liz you wait here a second, okay?" Sarah opened the fence and began to walk into the yard. She was quickly greeted with more than ankle deep sludge like mud, yet it didn't slow her down as she traversed the yard with ease and made it to the patio.

"Hey Sarah, would it be okay if I came in after you?"

"Yeah I guess so, but keep your shows on."

"well, I don't know if you noticed but the mud seems to come up past my shoes and they are brand new. I don't want them to get dirty. So would it be alright if I went barefooted, through the mud?"

Sarah pondered Liz's request, but ended up letting her come in barefooted. "But Make sure that you keep your shoes away from the mud and get over here quickly!"

"Okay, okay, hold on!" Liz united her shoes and took off her sock and stuffed them in her shoes. She then smiled as she placed her foot into the mud and saw that it came up past her shins.

"Come on Liz, you're not supposed to be doing this so hurry up!!"

"Okay, here I come!" By the time Liz made it to Sarah's patio, the bottoms of her legs were cover with thick brown mud. "this feels so cool! I'd like to go out here and do it again!"

Sarah grabbed Liz before she could go back out into the yard. "No sorry, can't let you do that. You're going to get rinsed off and put your shoes back on." Liz grumbled, but rinsed the mud off her feet and put her shoes back on. "Now I need you to spray me, from head to toe!" Liz took the hose and aimed it right at Sarah and playfully hosed the mud and yellow muck off her body. "Now I'm soaked so I need to change my clothes so come on into my house for a while."

Sarah opened the backdoor and took Liz upstairs with her to her room, or at least the door to her room. She told Liz to stay where she was and not to leave the hallway and quickly went into her room to change. When she came back, she was wearing the same type of clothes as before, only that they were dry and clean.

"Okay, so are you ready to go back home Liz?"

"Yeah, today's been cool, but I'm hungry"

"Okay, I'll fix you something as soon as we get back. Does that sound good to you?"

"Yeah, let's go!" Sarah took Liz's hand and they left through the front door.