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"Are you sure?" I questioned, " This is not possible, this can't be happening." "Regretfully I must inform you that, your niece Sela is missing and your sister is gone," informed Police Chief Gline. He hesitated then cited "Her Range Rover is also missing." Shocked and horrifyed I managed to say "I'm going to find her and my sister." and then hung up. My name is George Bennis and this is the story of the disappearance of my niece Sela Schwartz. Sela was always a happy little girl and very loving. Her mother however could not manage with two kids. She divorced her husband but, lost custody of her son and was on the verge of losing custody of her daughter. Sela's mother Seona used to be a very successful artist who was also a musician. She stopped her career when her daughter was born. Seona was a good mother until she had her second child and got divorce 2-months after his birth. From there, her life went down the toilet. Seona alienated herself from her family and took up a drinking habit. She turned evil when she was drunk, not caring for her kids and using her alimony and child support checks to fund her endeavors. Her finances along with her mental health went wild. Sometimes she would go out on a drinking binge and comeback with tickets to California. Seona bought things on the spot and would fill up her car with beer. Her kids managed through nannies until she fired them. When we tried to step in to help her, she moved. In time, she began to find boyfriends who would assist her drinking habits. Eventually her husband took her to court and got the 2-year-old back and next week was the custody hearing for Sela. Three days before the custody hearing is when Sela went missing. It is amazing how just before something good is going to happen something bad happens. The day was December 19, 2009. Colder than the North Pole, drier than the Sahara Desert and the wind was whipping like the beginning of Hurricane Katrina. I remember I was just leaving Times Square and my phone rang, I answered it. I could not comprehend that this was happening. That a four-year old girl and her mother had gone missing. I called my sister but no answer. I called again. I must have called fifty times each time praying she would pick up the phone. I caught a cab and went over to her apartment. I saw the squad cars in front. I ran past the barricades and up the stairs. By, the time I reached their apartment I was screaming for them to come out. I ran through every room and opened every cabinet. Nothing. I ran down the stairs to the garage. No car. What should I do? What could I do? When I walked back in the building, I saw John, Seona's ex husband walk in. He was holding sleeping Jack. We sat down in the lobby and the Police Chief Gline came over. He explained that Seona's car was being GPS tracked and that they had search teams dispatched all over Manhattan for Sela. Her boyfriend had been apprehended and was being interviewed. The chief asked us questions about a possible motive and we told him that there was a custody hearing for Sela on Monday. We answered every question he asked us. After he was done speaking with us, I left. That night I scoured every alley way and subway in Manhattan. I could not find Sela or Seona. At 7:12 A.M. the next morning I answered a phone call John. He informed me that Seona had been found. She had been in a car accident in Washington, D.C. and was unconscious. Her car smashed into a pole in a tunnel, she suffered crushed lungs and non-life threatening internal injuries. Still, there was no sign of Sela. Two witnesses had come forward. They went to the Manhattan Police headquarters and told a detective what they had witnessed. These two witnesses were mother and daughter. The mother was 38 and her daughter was 15. They told of a white speeding Range Rover pull over at around 9 pm. The mother and daughter witnessed some one dressed in all black get out of the driver's seat and slam the door. The slam of the door is what got them to watch. The person in black got what was presumably a child out of the back seat. They were 25 feet away waiting for a friend to pick them up sitting on a bench. Just as the car was locked, their friend pulled up. They waited around with their friend for a few minutes to see what would happen but no one came out of the park. They were forced to leave because the bus pulled up and they had late dinner reservations. The daughter's last memory while looking out the back window saw the Range Rovers headlights turn on and the car roar off in a quick u-turn. By the time John called me and left this message, I had arrived in D.C. to see my sister in the hospital. My other sister Joi was picking me up from the airport and was keeping up with Seona's condition. In the car, Joi told me that Seona had regained consciousness for a few minutes but slipped into a coma due to her injuries. In the time when she was, conscious Joi said that no one informed her of Sela. According to Joi, Seona kept asking for Jack but made no mention of Sela. When we arrived at the hospital Seona was still in a coma and the doctor said her condition had improved to serious. The doctor believed the Seona would survive but had many months of recovery to go through. I received another call from John telling me that the police were looking in Queens for Sela. They said since it had been two days her chance of survival was slimming in the harsh cold. In addition, a big snowstorm was moving in and it would be extremely difficult to find her after that. It was a heartbreak, to have one sister hanging on to life by a thread and a niece who is lost. If only some thing positive would happen. Just as I thought that, the doctor came in and said that Seona had regained consciousness. When I, went in the room to go see her she was the person she was before the alcohol. I know that sounds crazy but, that is what happens when you experience significant head trauma. She was very weak and wondering where she was. I got the nod from Joi to explain to her the situation. I sat down at her bedside and told her what had transpired the last 48 hours in the most non-overbearing way I could. She cried and cried and cried. When she stopped crying, I asked her what she remembered. She said she remembered bits and pieces. She remembered, hitting the pole, leaving the apartment with Sela and stopping at Forest Park when Sela was in the car. That was it, Forest Park. I called Police Chief Gline and told him that the last place Seona remembered being with Sela was forest park in Queens. He said he was dispatching units as he was talking to me. Seona told me to go and get Sela. I followed her orders and took the Red-Eye out of D.C. I was on the ground at LaGuardia by 1:30. I called up John and he said they were searching Forest Park now. I took a taxi to Forest Park, jumped out and left 100 bucks on the seat. I did not have time to waste. Police Chief greeted me with a crowd of volunteer searchers behind him and dispatched us. We looked high and low in groups of two. John, my partner found Sela's teddy bear. He sounded like he had been shot when he found it. He fell to the ground and cried. The teddy bear named Lou, was his daughters everything. She would have never left it. Another group of searchers found her mitten and that hurt John even more. I called Joi to inform her and she said Seona had suffered an aneurism and her chance of survival had become grim. It was too much to bear and I was thirsty so I walked across the street to get some coffee for John. I was in the check out line and looked up and lying down on the bench sleeping was Sela. I dropped the coffee and ran over and picked her up. She was frightened and I ran out screaming across the street I found her, I found her, she's alive. I gave her a kiss and hug and John came darting out of the forest. He scooped her up and never let go again. The media wanted an interview but time was ticking. The ambulance took Sela to the hospital and a taxi took me to the airport. I took the 6:30 flight to D.C. and caught a cab to the hospital. Seona's condition was grim. The doctors were operating, and Joi was barely maintaining her posture. The doctor came out and informed us that they had operated but to be honest we needed to say our goodbyes. We entered the room and sat down. We told Seona that we loved her and would take care of her children and that Sela had been found. Alive. She was unconscious but we hoped that she could hear us. We told her we were praying that she would pull through and we would not fight over settling her estate. With that, we left. To our surprise, the doctor said that she was slightly better. He informed us that with an aneurism the recovery time doubled. He said it would take two years if she survived to be normal. We waited and waited. It was heart breaking because in such a short time lots of destruction had been caused. John called us and we told him Seona's condition he was devastated but, he was elated to have his daughter back. He said that Sela had only suffered from dehydration and hunger but otherwise was fine. The police child psychologist interviewed her and Sela told the woman that she remembered her mommy pulling over and someone getting in the car and forcing her mommy to make her get out. He said the person forced her mommy to leave her. It now made sense. Seona had been carjacked. She had been forced at gunpoint to force her daughter out. What was missing was the D.C. part? I stayed in D.C. two weeks, until Seona stabilized. After that I made weekend trips there to visit Seona on her road to recovery. She would stay with our sister and Sela and Jack would come visit once a month. Seona had seemed to forget all about alcohol and drugs and became a mentally stable person. After a year and a half with Joi Seona was independent enough to return home. She got an apartment and became an artist again. She won her children back and enjoyed the freedoms of life. It was not until one day that she told me that it occurred to her what happened. She said she had been carjacked then forced to drive to D.C. to be held hostage for a ransom. She tried to speed away but was broadsided into the pole. This haunted her for the rest of her life but she survived. Her life turned around and so did her childrens' lives. They stopped being the subject of rants and anger but the most important part in their mother's life. This one little girl's life changing experience was enough to change the life of her mother. How can a four year old be so strong you ask? Well, read Sela Schwartz's story.

I enjoyed reading your story, it really has a hooker in the beginning and gets you too read more and more. You used a lot of good word choice and made the whole plot of the story very entertaining. I noticed that its also very fast paced and you dive right in from the beginning. One thing you might want too try is adding a little more background info, you did put some after the first paragraph but maybe you could explain more about each person and their individual personalities. All in all it was a great story and i enjoyed reading it. Good job

This is wonderful! Great idea, and very interesting. I didn't get bored and you used great descriptions. I feel like I know some of the characters. Keep up the good work!