Lost Ring of Keys

“He won’t stop crying,” Ally wept into the phone.

“There’s got to be something wrong,” her best friend Sarah said flatly. “Have you checked his diaper?”

“Of course! That’s the first thing I checked. And he’s not hungry. Why did I even take a babysitting job, Sarah? What do I know about babies?”

“Hang on. Let me grab the elevator. I’ll be down in two shakes.”

Ally picked up Tyler. He seemed heavy for a six-month-old. It only made him cry louder. Ally tried the bottle again. He pushed it to the floor.

“Okay, Ty. How about Mr. Snuggles?” Ally plopped the blue, fuzzy bear on the infant’s tummy. “Ohh, Honey, you love Mr. Snuggles. Look.” Desperate, she laid Tyler in his playpen and went to find any toy she thought would make him stop crying.

As she came back from Tyler’s room she heard the doorbell. “Thank God, Sarah!” she gasped, swinging the door open.

“Never fear, help has arrived.” Sarah rushed in, her sweatshirt slung over her shoulders in a make-shift super hero cape. “Ah, a damsel in distress,” she laughed at the frazzled look on Ally’s face and the load of stuffed animals in her arm.

“I don’t know what else to try, Sarah. I’m out of ideas.”

“Let me at the little guy.” Sarah gave her friend a quick hug.

“Just follow the screams.” Ally led Sarah into the living room and to the playpen where Tyler sat, crying his eyes out.

Sarah checked his diaper first. Finding nothing there, she went for the bottle, getting the same result at Ally had earlier. She tried rocking him in the recliner with the pacifier in his mouth. He just chewed on the pacifier and sobbed. She stuck her finger in his mouth.

“Ouch!”

“What did you do that for?” Ally asked, confused.

“I’m trying to see if he’s teething. Sometimes they cry a lot when they’re teething. Nothing you can do, really about that – well, besides Orajel® and stuff.”

“I give up.” Ally flopped down on the couch, hitting something hard. “OW!” She reached behind her and pulled some big, brightly colored plastic keys on a white ring from underneath her. She threw them on the end table. The bell tied to the key ring jingled.

Tyler stopped crying and turned quickly in the direction on the noise. His eyes dried and he reached for the end table.

“Apparently, he thought someone stole his Corvette, Al.” Sarah grabbed the keys and handed them to Tyler, who shook them happily and sucked on the purple key as if it were a grape Popsicle.

“I can’t believe it!” Ally watched in amazement as the small child, wailing just moments ago, sat contently jingling the bell with one pudgy hand and sucking on the keys.

“What, you’ve never freaked out when you lost your keys, Ally?” Sarah teased. She handed the infant back to her friend and headed for the door. “I’ll be upstairs in my apartment if you have any other emergencies, okay?”

“Thanks, Sarah,” Ally said sheepishly, closing the door behind her friend.


Word Count: 516