Weeks after girl vanishes dad finds bag in yard. They had a huge tree at the end of the garden that rose high out of the ground but they had no idea that their neighbors took note of the tree. They looked everywhere for their daughter every day until weeks had passed. Then one day, a trash bag arrived in their yard. Peter Hoin appreciated the life he lived. He had a wonderful life and a happy daughter, and both his health and work life couldn’t have been better. But just as all things have to come to an end at some point, his seemingly perfect life would take a turn for the worse.
Their new house also seemed perfect except for one tree. There was a huge tree at the end of the yard that blocked out all their sun. Peter and his wife didn’t care for it very much. A lot of people might have liked it, but not them. But once he cut the tree down, he would soon regret it. Peter’s daughter asked him to leave the stump.
She loved nature and didn’t want the entire tree cut down. But others felt the same way. It was just like any other Saturday morning until Peter and his wife found out their daughter was missing. They entered the young girl’s room in the morning to find it empty. Hysteria and panic swallowed the loving parents whole. It was the beginning of the most terrifying journey of their lives.
Peter and his family had only just moved into the neighborhood so they didn’t know many people. They assumed their daughter couldn’t have made any friends so soon. They had to call 9-1-1 to report their daughter missing. It had been a few days and she wasn’t anywhere to be seen. But then a strange thing happened.
They heard a strange noise one night, but they brushed it off as just the rustle of the leaves in the wind. But they noticed that their food started disappearing. They thought that maybe a pest problem was going on. It was already hard enough; it couldn’t have happened at a worse time. They knew that they had to set up mousetraps to deal with a problem while they tried to deal with a much greater problem at hand. They needed to try and find their daughter. Even after the cops gave up searching, they knew it would be hard. What they had to do next would cost them a lot of their own money.
All her favorite dolls were missing. Peter and his wife could have sworn that they were still there only two days ago. They looked frantically all over her room searching for the dolls they knew they’d seen. They looked at each other hopelessly confused. The dolls were gone. Was it the mice? Were they stealing her toys? Peter grabbed another mousetrap and set up three in a room.
Then something even stranger came into view. Just as Peter was placing the traps around her room, he noticed something odd in the distance from her window. Her window pointed out towards the end of their garden which was covered in trees. A plastic bag was poking out from between the shrubs. It was in the area that he’d cut down the huge tree. Curious, Peter dropped what he was doing and walked out to investigate. What he’d find would leave him trembling.
He wondered if the blank trash bag had somehow blown free from the pile around the corner. But when he got close, he realized that wasn’t the case at all. The black plastic bag was sitting on top of a big tree stump. It sat perfectly still and wrapped all the way around it. Someone had definitely put this here. Without another thought, he reached out his hand and grabbed it.
Peter lifted the bag to find a tiny roof with wooden shingles atop the tree stump. Then he looked closer and realized something incredible. The big tree stump had been completely remodeled. It had a wooden door and windows. It even had a small garden with flowers and decorations carved into the walls. But what was more shocking was what lay inside.
Peter lifted open the tiny door and fell back in shock as the view of his missing girl came into focus. She sat in the tiny house playing with her dolls that went missing two days ago. Peter looked around and saw mini chair, rug, table, and lamp. The miniature house was entirely kitted out. He grabbed his little girl and gave her a huge hug as tears fell down his cheek. It’d have been two weeks since he last saw her. What happened? Just as Peter sat her down, a woman appeared from behind the bushes.
« Ah, you’re here. We meet at last. I’m sure your daughter’s told you all about me, » the woman said.
Confused, Peter looked at his daughter, then back to her. « No, what’s going on here? » he demanded.
The woman was surprised to hear Peter’s brash reaction. She explained that she was a neighbor and that she and his daughter had been undertaking this project to turn their tree stump into a little gnome home. The plastic bag was to keep the new roof dry. She explained to him that his daughter said she asked you and her mom, and you both said it was fine. We’ve been out here building this thing for two weeks.
« But how did she not know she was reported missing? » Peter asked.
She had no idea the girl they were talking about was his daughter. In fact, as far as she knew, she wasn’t missing at all. She thought she was still going home after they played together and she was to Peter’s shop. Peter later found out that his daughter used a cat flap in the door to come in and out of the house to eat and sleep, moving around as quiet as a mouse. She wanted to live in the new tiny home and didn’t tell her parents anything. No wonder there were strange noises and new food and toys going missing every day. It wasn’t a mouse; it was his daughter.
Peter expressed his thanks to the woman and told his little girl never to do that again.
