Poor Mom Buys Baby Shoes at Flea Market, Puts Them on Her Child and Hears Crackling from Inside — Story of the Day

A poor mom hears a strange crackling sound as she tries to slip cheap shoes onto her baby's tiny feet. She checks it and finds a note hidden under the insole.

The foggy Saturday echoed with people's voices in the heavy air as Mary made her way through the maze of tents crowded with customers at the Antiques Junk Sale flea market.

She was down to her last $10 and had gone on a special mission to find her daughter a pair of shoes. As a single mother, Mary braved a lot of struggles to make ends meet. She had to take care of her disabled mother and little daughter on a small allowance and a meager part-time salary from her waitressing gig.

As Mary marched across the tents, something caught her eye.A pair of baby shoes that seemed almost new and made from what looked like expensive leather materials. Mary paused, staring, and hesitated...

"Such beautiful shoes? They look so new... Mary wondered if this was some kind of scam. But the seller observed Mary's doubtful expressions.

"A wealthy man visited this morning and sold a bag of baby clothes, dear," the seller told Mary. "He told he was too busy to sell them…So I got them for a terrific deal!"

Mary lifted the tiny shoes off the display. The pair looked new and was in near-perfect condition. So without further thought, Mary bought the shoes and left for her house, pleased with her purchase.

"Hey, sweetie! Look what mama got for you!" Mary chuckled as she slipped the shoes onto her baby girl's tiny feet.

But something didn't feel right, and Mary immediately stopped.

A strange crackling sound emanated from the insole. She heard the strange crackle again and felt something hard under the padding.

She gingerly pulled the insole out. Her eyes widened with alarm when she found a crumbled note, folded several layers over, with small, cramped handwriting scribbled on its surface.

"Please, help me. I've been imprisoned in this house for almost three years. A psycho has chained me forcibly in his house. Here is the address...."

Mary couldn't believe her eyes. A cold sweat drizzled across her forehead, and it didn't make any sense to her.

"Who...? Who is this person, and when was it written?" Several thoughts haunted Mary. Her eyes darted around the room as she quickly put her daughter to sleep. Mary was terrified and bolted with the note to her mother, Doris.

"Something is really wrong. We need to find out," Mary panicked as she showed the note to her mother.

"Oh, come on, darling! It just seems like a bad joke," Doris's calm voice cut through Mary's fear. "You know kids these days. I'm sure this note must be a similar stupid joke. You're overthinking... Just throw that thing in the trash."

But Mary couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, and a sense of uneasiness had settled deep in her mind.

Mary convinced her mother to bring the note to the cops' attention.

A report was filed. A few days later, she got a call from the station while walking in the park.

"Mrs. Browne, this is officer Dan. We searched every inch of the address mentioned on the note but found nothing suspicious. We didn't find anybody forcibly imprisoned there…I feel it was some mistake," the sheriff told Mary.

"But officer, it was written...."

"Whatever was written on that note was some ugly prank to defame the owner of the house. Have a good day, Mrs. Browne!"

But Mary's heart wouldn't allow her to forget about the note. A train of doubts occupied her mind as she pushed her mother's wheelchair across the park.

"What if the cops didn't check properly?" Mary asked her mother.

"I don't know why, but this strange feeling... Should I go out there, mom?"

"Are you out of your mind? Even if we consider the possibility that it wasn't a joke, we shouldn't meddle in the affairs of the wealthy!" Doris yelled at Mary. She was afraid her daughter would invite trouble for herself.

"Look, sweetie...Let's just forget about it, okay? It's risky, and we already have plenty of our own problems to deal with."

But Mary wasn't ready to forget it.

She waited for her mother to fall asleep before sneaking out of the house that evening.

As Mary drove to the house in her car, her heart began racing. She found herself outside a huge mansion with guard dogs inside.

She waited a little away from the main gate for the owner. Moments later, a tall man exited the main entrance in his car.

"It must be him," thought Mary. She followed the man's car down the deserted country road.

As she followed him, she realized she was in the middle of a dense forest. It was getting dark, scary. And when she least expected it, the man suddenly stopped the car.

"Oh, Sh—! Did he find out that I'm following him??" Mary gasped and broke into a cold sweat.

She pulled over and immediately called the police. But due to the weak signal, her call wouldn't get through, and her battery died before she rang 911.

"I can't lose sight of him...I'll have to go after him," she thought and started following the man again.

The drive in the dark woods seemed like an eternity. Finally, the guy's car finally came to a halt in front of a cabin in the woods.

Mary quickly pulled over and crept behind a tree as she watched the guy get out of his car with some grocery bags and disappear inside the wooden cabin, slamming the door shut.

She was afraid to follow him, so she hid behind the tree and waited. An hour passed, and Mary began to worry. She could not call the cops, and there was no time to think.

Mary hid behind a tree as she watched the man leave in his car. She sighed with relief: she could now buy enough time to break into the cabin.

Mary hurried to the shack as soon as the man's car disappeared from her sight and checked for a way to get in, but in vain. The door was secured with double locks.

"Jesus, how will I get in there?" Mary gasped and walked around, and suddenly, she bumped into something and fell to the ground with a heavy thud on what felt like a wooden door.

Mary quickly cleared the mossy rubble and was startled when she saw a cellar door. As Mary slowly pushed it open and stepped foot inside, her heart almost skipped a beat. What she saw in there paralyzed her with fear.

"Help! Help us!" a woman started crying as soon as she saw Mary.

"Shhhh...It's okay!" Mary whispered to the trembling woman.

"I found your note, and I've come to help," she said as she worked her shaky hands to free the woman and the little girl. They had been held captive, chained to the wooden walls in. The cramped room was filled only with a bed, a small TV, a table fan, and a handful of toys.

"Hurry up! We have to get out before he comes," Mary quickly untied them.

They were about to leave through the cellar door through which she'd just entered, but in vain. It was closed.

"Is there any...?" Mary asked, as they heard loud footsteps.

"Where do you think you're going?" the kidnapper, a tall, muscular man, blocked their way as the woman and the girl hid behind Mary.

"You shouldn't have come here, gorgeous. Now you'll all pay the price."

Mary knew she had to think fast if they wanted to make it out alive. Her eyes bolted across the basement, looking for anything that could help her. But the room was bare.

Just as he was about to grab her hair, he suddenly let go as his mouth opened wide. His eyes bulged, and his hand went up to his head, oozing crimson blood.

The woman had struck a hard blow on his head with the crowbar. The man fell on the floor and squirmed in pain, giving the three a chance to run.

"Faster...don't stop... My car is nearby," Mary told as they followed her to the car. But the keys were missing.

The three bolted across the woods, but the man was hot on their heels.

"Where do you think you're going?!" he said, hurling a small log at the little girl's leg and knocking her down. He grabbed the girl and threatened Mary and the woman, forcing them back to the cabin, locking them back in the basement.

Mary burst into tears as they'd lost their only chance of escape. To make things worse, the kidnapper acted strange whenever he checked on them.

"Does that hurt, honey? Please forgive daddy," the man told the little girl as he dressed a minor injury on her leg.

Mary just kept staring at the guy.

"Here, eat this and use the restroom soon: I'm going to tie you all up," the kidnapper served them dinner and went away.

"Is he her father?" Mary whispered, shocked.

"He's not her father! And he's not my husband either," replied the woman.

"I have no idea who this creep is," the woman trembled. "We were returning home after visiting my late husband's grave when our car broke down. He offered us a ride...And when we woke up, we were tied up and trapped in this room. It's been three freaking years."

Mary gasped. "But how did you know the address?"

"One day, he took me upstairs to cook him dinner. I found a courier cover in the trash with an address. I took it without his knowledge, thinking that was the address he'd imprisoned us. One day, he was packing all our old stuff, telling me he was donating them. He had already broken my phone…I had no means to contact the outside world. He keeps telling me I'm his wife and my daughter is his child..."

"Are you done eating?" the man's loud voice shuddered the three as he stormed into the basement. He chained them back to their spots.

Mary lost all hope. Just then, she noticed something on the floor — Her phone with a dead battery. She was sure she had lost it in the forest.

Mary looked around the room. TV tuner had the same charging cable as her phone.

"Great...I'll call the cops. Just cough if you hear him coming, okay?" Mary told, hurriedly plugging her phone for charging.

Mary tried calling officer Dan, but the signal was too weak .

"Come on...come on," she panted and rang 911 when officer Dan's line wouldn't get through.

"Please help us! A man has kept us locked in a basement...in a cabin in the woods on the outskirts of the town!" Mary told the dispatcher.

"We're dispatching a team!"

Mary put her phone in silent mode, hiding it inside the girl's stuffed teddy. And moments later, she heard faint sounds of police sirens outside the cabin.

"HELP! We're in here!" Mary screamed at the top of her lungs. Suddenly, the police dog began barking at the secret door on the floor. Minutes later, the cops broke into the basement.

"Mrs. Browne, that was really brave of you," said officer Dan. "We're glad we found you. And she...Her name is Rose, that's her daughter. They were in a missing person's report from three years ago."

It turned out the man had lost his family in a car crash and was on a path of self-destruction. He confessed that he'd kidnapped Rose and her daughter after she rejected his advances as he couldn't resist her uncanny resemblance to his late wife.

Mary felt relief. She did the right thing.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone’s life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.