It was late at night when the police received a call from Mia, a five-year-old girl who was visibly distressed and pleading for help. Her shaky voice barely managed to whisper, “Please… can you come? There’s someone under the bed. I’m scared.”
Her parents realized she was talking to the police and tried to assure the dispatcher that their daughter was just imagining things. “You know how kids are,” her mother quickly said. However, the dispatcher wasn’t entirely convinced. It could just be her imagination, but from the tone of her voice, little Mia was really scared and probably needed someone other than her parents to make her feel safe.
It wasn’t long before two officers arrived at Mia’s family home in the suburbs.
When they saw her, she was tightly hugging her teddy bear and led them to her room. They checked under her bed, and there was nothing but forgotten toys and some dust. One of the officers smiled at Mia and was about to say goodbye when the other raised his hand, signaling silence.
Then they heard a faint metallic sound, like a scratch, coming from the bedroom floor. It was real. Mia hadn't imagined it.
Sensing something wasn't right, the officers examined the floor more closely. One of them knocked near the bed, and the sound resonated hollowly. They went to the garage for tools and began prying up the floorboards. Just below, the earth looked freshly turned.
After carefully digging, they discovered a sealed metal hatch.
They found a narrow tunnel running beneath the neighborhood.
The officers called for backup, and before long, Mia's neighborhood was swarming with more police officers and detectives.
They soon located three escaped convicts, dirty and exhausted, hiding in the shadows. For days, or maybe longer, they had been digging at night, silent enough to avoid detection. But not quiet enough for Mia.
Her keen instinct put an end to the escape attempt, with the three men arrested and the tunnels sealed.
That night, as the officers cleared the scene and returned to the house, Mia was finally able to rest and fall asleep. She was happy that someone had heard her cries for help, even though her mom and dad thought she was just imagining things.
