On a sunny Tuesday morning at Jefferson Elementary School something rather unusual happened. Mrs. Robert's third grade class was playing on the playground. This was not unusual because her class had recess at promptly 9:30 every morning. No, the unusual thing about this specific Tuesday was discovered by several students, and that is where our story begins.

Finally, the time had come for Mrs. Robert's class to go to recess; Tommy's favorite part of the day. Today, he planned to play with Sam on the monkey bars. However, Sam was nowhere to be seen. Tommy looked all over the playground: by the swings, by the water fountain, under the picnic tables, behind the big oak tree, and in the slide. He came up empty. Sam had disappeared.

"Where'd Sam go?" Tommy asked no one in particular.

"Last time I saw him, he was playing over there on the monkey bars," Jenna replied. Then she pointed over to the monkey bars.

Tommy thanked her reluctantly. His momma always told him to say "please" and "thank you." He looked by the monkey bars again. Sam wasn't there again.

Then all of a sudden Paul piped up, "Are you on a treasure hunt?"

"No, I don't even have a map."

"Oh, what are you looking for then?"

"Sam. We were going to play. Have you seen him anywhere?"

"No. I heard Mrs. Robert say that he was going to have to go to the hospital."

"What happened to him?" Tommy asked, suddenly worried.

"Beats me."

"Do you think he got attacked by a wolverine?" Tommy wondered out loud.

"Probably. I'm pretty sure that wolverines eat humans."

"I always thought they ate small rodents."

"You don't even know what a rodent is. They obviously live off a diet of human guts and gummy bears."

"I wish I could be as smart as you."

On that note, Paul went to go play kick ball with some other boys. Tommy continued his search for Sam.

"Where's Sam?" Jacob called down from where he was perched high up in an oak tree near the playground.

"He probably just went to the bathroom," Luke called back from where he was firmly planted on the ground.

Ignoring his more logical assumption, Jacob was already coming up with his own ideas.

"Do you think he played hooky?"

"No way that teacher's pet would ever do that," Luke replied. He was shocked that Jacob would even think such a thing possible for someone like Sam.

It was true. Sam was indeed a good student. He was quiet, made good grades, got along well with the other students, and never caused trouble. He was the definition of the phrase "teacher's pet."

"True," Jacob agreed.

Abby sat on the swing all by herself. She was waiting for Sam to come and sit with her. She had a crush on Sam, but if anyone accused her of such a thing she would object most strongly. Much to Abby's disappointment, Johnny came and sat down beside her.

"Have you seen Sam anywhere? I could have sworn I saw him earlier in class today," Abby asked curiously.

"I don't know. I haven't seen him."

"What do you think happened to him?"

"Well, there's really only one explanation..." Johnny said thoughtfully, "He was obviously abducted by aliens."

"Nice try. You're not going to fool me this time."

Johnny had tried to pull the wool over her eyes on numerous occasions, and every time he always made her look foolish. She wasn't about to let him do that again.

"No, I'm serious," Johnny retaliated decisively, "They're probably going to dissect him to learn more about humans. They'll probably come back for a little girl too."

Abby gulped. She couldn't tell if Johnny was being serious.

"Let's just go and ask Mrs. Robert," Abby decided.

As they were walking towards their teacher, Luke and Jacob approached them.

"Have you seen Sam anywhere?" Luke asked them.

"No, I haven't," Abby replied, "We were just going to ask Mrs. Robert about where he went."

Tommy overheard their exchange and asked if he could join them because he couldn't find Sam either.

They decided they should just go and ask together.

"Hey, Mrs. Robert," Jacob said when they were close enough for their teacher to hear.

"Hello children," Mrs. Robert answered, "How can I help you?"

Johnny piped up, "Can you tell us where Sam went?"

Mrs. Robert had a puzzled look on her face. "Sam? Honey, we don't have anyone named Sam in our class. In fact, we don't have anyone named Sam in the whole school."