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"Dumpster Baby"

There are some stories that are often too disturbing to tell, yet shocking enough that it has to be told somehow. Sometimes, it may seem things are going according to planned, but a little touch of interaction and a massive amount of bad luck can lead nowhere but disaster. No matter how horrible the outcome.

My wife was away on a trip to see her family and wouldn't make her way back until tomorrow. I wished she could have been here tonight, perhaps none of this would have happened. I had to leave for work after a few days away and had to find a babysitter to watch our two kids. We have a 5 year old son named Charles and a 6 month old daughter named Rosie.
We weren't too big on having people watch our kids because Charles can often be a little chaotic. The babysitter we hired, a teenage girl named Kendra, promised us she knew what she was doing. She'd watched several kids before and swore to me that everything would be okay while I was gone.
I grabbed my jacket and my keys, gave her my number incase of emergency, and headed out the door. I couldn't quite say why, but something felt off tonight. As I drove, I saw the dead trees swaying in the breeze before I hit the highway. It was weird coming back to work after so long off. Everything felt familiar, yet at the same time, somewhat new to me. It was like I was traveling this road for the first time, though the surroundings were etched into my mind from time.
I arrived at work as per usual. I expected to get a call from the babysitter, but my cell phone remained quiet. That was, until a few hours into my shift. I got a call from my wife, telling me that she was on her way home. I was excited to find that I would see her not too long after I got off work.
The remainder of my shift passed by with not the slightest hint of anything interesting. I really didn't miss being here. I clocked out for the night and headed back home.
Stepping outside, it was nearly daylight, the sun just peaking in the sky, leaving it a nice mix of purple and orange. I drove home to find all the garbage cans pushed toward the curb, leading to my house. I had nearly forgotten to take the trash out.
I drove into the parking lot, stepped inside, and say the babysitter sound asleep on the couch. I couldn't blame her, it was nearly 5 in the morning. Thankfully the kids were asleep, I didn't even hear the baby crying. I slipped my shoes off and woke the babysitter up. I gave her the money and she headed home. I offered to give her a ride, but she said she lived right down the road.
Stepping into the kitchen, I grabbed my garbage can and took the full bag out. Why was it so heavy? Had we really thrown out this much in the last week? I decided to double bag it so that the bag wouldn't rip open on the way out.
I slipped the bag in my dumpster and pushed it to the curb. Not too long after, my wife pulled up in her car. She looked so relieved to finally be home. I approached her and gave her a hug and a kiss. We headed inside and called for our kids. Charles came down but without his sister. He looked so tired and we didn't really expect him to carry her down. It was just odd because he loves spending so much time with her, they were practically inseparable.
I went upstairs to get my daughter, only she wasn't in her crib. My heart nearly stopped. I looked all around the bedroom and even checked Charles' room. There was no sign of her.
Panicked, I ran downstairs. "Where is your sister?" I demanded.
Charles looked terrified. He pointed to the trash can. "We were playing hide and seek," he sobbed.
I made my way over to the trash can and stared in horror. It was empty. She was in the bag. That's why it was so heavy.
I ran outside just in time to see the trash truck arms lower our garbage can back to the ground. She was gone, buried amongst the landfill. All I could do was weep on the curb as the trash truck continued its route.

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