It was a beautiful summer day. I was floating around in this amazing hot air balloon. The wind was blowing through my curly brown hair when all of a sudden I heard this faint pop. I didn’t think much of it though until I felt like I was descending from the sky. Then I looked up, and saw a hole torn in the balloon. It was about a foot wide. I was losing air, and fast!! There was only one thing I could do to soften my landing. One by one I untied the few sand bags that still hung on the side of the balloon, and one by one they dropped to the ground. I looked around for some help. The problem was… I was in the middle of nowhere!!! I usually fly in the desert so no one notices me. My name is Nick Jonas. I’m a famous singer, so pretty much everywhere I go I’m noticed.

I hit the ground with a thud. I had a few supplies. I had my cell phone, some sun screen, and a map of the area. The problem was that I had no compass. The good thing was I had cell service. I called my brothers.

“Hey,” Joe said, “Where are you man?”

“I’m in the middle of the desert!” I explained.

“Well you better get home quick!” Kevin added.

“My balloons busted!!”

“WHAT?!?!?” yelled Joe and Kevin in unison.

“Ya! I have a map though.” I explained.

“Then what’s the prob?” Kevin asked.

“I have no compass!” I complained.

“We’ll come get you,” Joe offered. “You at the usual place?”

“Ya,” I replied.

Kevin asked, “Do you want anyone else to come?”

“Ya,” I said. “Call Julia and her two friends.”

“Ok,” Joe replied. “We’re on our way!”

“Bye!” we all said together.

Ok, I thought. I’m lost in the middle of the desert, all by myself. I have a map, but no compass. I also have my cell phone. If I just call anyone then this could cause an international incident. I did remember to bring food and water. That’s all in the balloon. I can probably last two to three days out here on that. It was getting late. I should probably go to bed. They’ll find me in the morning.

The next morning I had breakfast and checked my blood sugar. I had remembered to pack some extra Omni-pods just in case. My blood sugar was fine. To stay shaded I draped the balloon over some nearby trees. For the next few hours I read, walked around a bit, and called my brothers to check in with them. They had Julia, Kayla, and Samantha, so they were on their way. They said they would be a few more hours but the traffic was bad, so it might be a little while longer than expected.

I checked my blood sugar again and it was a little low so I had lunch. What I thought would last me two to three days should only last me until tonight. I decided to take a little nap.



*****


I woke up to a big bump. I thought I was in our car with my brothers, and then when I looked around I noticed that I wasn’t in the right car. Actually, I wasn’t in a car at all. I was in a van with four men, and my hands were tied behind my back.

“What?” I said quietly. But apparently not quiet enough. One of the guys whipped their head around so fast that his neck cracked. There was a slight twinge of pain in his face, but as fast as it was there, it was gone. Luckily I was quick enough and put my head down before he looked over.

I have a problem, I thought. I’m in the middle of the desert, and I have no clue where. Not to mention the kidnappers. ?

The silence was broken by the guy in the driver’s seat. He looked tall, and had thick brown hair and medium skin.

“What are we going to do with him when we get there?” he asked.

“We hold him for ransom, so we can get a lot of money from his family!” suggested another one of the guys. “What’s losing a few thousand dollars to them? They much rather have him.”

“No!” the big guy in the passenger seat said. “They’d put it in the news and then we would have thousands of screaming girls on our hands.” These guys aren’t very smart. No one would know where we were.

“Ya, there are only four of us and he has too many fans for us to handle!” said the guy in the front seat.

“Let’s worry about what we’ll do with him later!” the one guy with the hurt neck said. “Let’s just focus on getting him to the house without getting caught!”

“Ok,” said the big guy driving. “Let’s just get home!”



*****


Once we got to their house they woke me up. I can’t believe I fell asleep again!!!!! While I was asleep they put duct tape over my mouth.

They took me inside and left me in a small room with not much light, then they locked the door and left. I could easily break down the door because I looked really weak, but after that I would still have my hands tied up, and my mouth taped shut. I looked around for something to cut the ropes off my hands. The guys who took me aren’t very smart. They left a knife in the room. I easily got up and walked over to the knife. The hard part was picking it up. I had to sit back down again. I sat back down and grabbed the knife off the ground. Once I cut the ropes off my hands, I walked over to the door. I left the tape on my mouth so I could pretend I was still tied up if they came to check on me. I looked through a whole in the door and saw nobody so I took the tape off. I quietly opened the door and walked out.

That was easy, I thought. I guess the lock on the door doesn’t work.

Then I snapped back to reality. I needed to get away!! If I didn’t, I would get in big trouble. The only way to get away was by car. I looked around for the keys hoping the guys who took me weren’t here.
As I walked in what looked like the living room, I saw the guys. They were passed out on the couches. The worse part was that the biggest guy had the keys. I carefully walked over and took the keys out of his hands. I was shaking so much, and I didn’t want to wake him. As I was walking away, the guy stirred and looked around. He didn’t notice me at first but then he double took and jumped up once he noticed that I was there.

He yelled, “GUYS, WAKE UP!!!!!” but before all of them were awake and ready I was out the door.

I ran to the car fumbling with the keys. I finally found the right key and unlocked the door. By the time I was in the car, the guys were right outside. I jammed the keys in the ignition and turned on the car. As I sped away, I left the guys sputtering and coughing in the dust the car reared up.

I drove to the balloon using the GPS unit in the car, and the tracking system on the balloon. I worried about what would happen. I stole their van, and my parents were probably worried sick. I haven’t seen them for two days.

As I pulled up to the balloon I saw my brothers driving up to.

Thank goodness for that tracking unit in it, I thought. It saved my life.

Everyone jumped out of the car and ran over. I was swarmed with hugs and a whole lot of questions as we got into the car.

“I’m SO happy you guys found me!!” I said. “It was so freaky!!!”

“Ya,” Joe said. “You must have been pretty scared when you crashed.”

“I wasn’t talking about the crash,” I replied. “I was kidnapped!!!”

“WHAT?!?!?” everyone yelled in unison.

“Ya, it was so freaky!” I said.
“So… tell us everything!” Julia urged.

“He probably needs to rest,” Joe replied. “Let him sleep than he’ll choose what to tell us and when.”

“Ya,” I said sheepishly. “I am pretty tired.” I yawned. “I’ll tell you later…” and I was asleep.



*****


When I woke up I was at home. I was lying on the couch; I didn’t know if what happened really happened. It could have been a dream, but then I saw my wrists. What I saw were rope burns from when I was tied up.

I got up to find something to clean my burns. I got out a wash cloth and carefully cleaned them. I wrapped some cloth bandages around my wrists so they would be protected, and not get infected. I know I won’t be playing sports for a while. I can’t practice my flips, or do any exercises needing the use of my hands. I possibly might not even be able to play my instruments. ?
I noticed that everyone was gone. I took my blood sugar, and it was low. I got out a snack and sat down. As I was eating I noticed how hungry I was. I haven’t eaten for awhile. I looked around and wondered when everyone would get home. I waited a while and then I took my blood sugar again. It was fine now, but I replaced my Omni-Pod just in case.

Once everyone was back, I told them every thing. I told them about the crash, and the kidnapping. I even told them about my escape which includes me stealing their van. The police said it was ok. The reason they were gone was that they were at the police station. Apparently Joe and Kevin knew about the stolen car. They said they saw it and knew it wasn’t mine so it had to be the kidnappers’. Since the kidnappers were chasing me, I was aloud to take their car to get away. I couldn’t wait ‘til my mom and dad got home. I haven’t seen them since I left. That was three days ago.

Once they got home we all told them what happened. My mom was crying SO much because she was SUPER worried. She was happy that I was home though. I didn’t get in trouble because what happened wasn’t my fault.

My parents were so happy that we went out to dinner. Julia, Kayla, and Samantha came to. We had so much fun!!!

Once we were back from dinner, every one went home. I was sad that my friends had to leave but they were coming to my birthday party next month. I couldn’t wait!