It was the sudden sound of her doorbell, which she had charmed to make screeching sounds instead of the standard ‘ding’, that had suddenly woken Dia from what might have been the best dream she had ever had. Whoever was at her door had better have had a good excuse because she was now awake and annoyed.

Hurrying down the stairs, wand in hand, she turned the corner sharply in the living room and threw the door open. Her eyes went wide at the sight before her. On her front porch stood her mother with a little girl that didn’t look any older than 3…maybe 4. She tilted her head slightly at an angle and crinkled her eyebrows, clearly not knowing what to make of the scene before her.

Allison eased the little girl through the front door then began making her way back down the driveway. “Her name’s Mora, I’m supposed to be watching her, but I have plans and can’t possibly concern myself with her. That’s where you come in, I’ll be back by four, don’t make it starve.” She shouted over her shoulder.

Dia blinked twice as she watched her mother hop into her car and drive off. She referred to the child as ‘it’…she hopped into her car and left her with some little girl she called ‘it’! There was no point in acting surprised; this was typical of her mother.

Her eyes drifted down to the little girl who was now staring up at her with big green eyes. She felt herself cringe under her scrutiny. Children were never a good sign and that was exactly why she didn’t want any. All they did was cry and pull on your clothes with their snot covered hands—they peed themselves when they were scared and expected you to have them cleaned up when they were done throwing a tantrum and the worst thing about them was that having one made you a mother. That word was enough to send her into a cold sweat. Motherhood came with responsibilities and it meant you had to grow up so you could help the child do the same. Growing up meant having to take life seriously and nothing scared her more. Ugh. Why anyone wanted children was beyond her.

“Uh…hi…I’m Dia…” She didn’t know what to do and felt completely lost.

The little girl giggled as she began squirming and twisting her dress. “You look pretty.”

“Right…” Was that the appropriate response? Well it seemed to be because little Mora just started on another giggling spell. Were all children so strange? “So you sit there—just stay there now and I’m going to go to the next room.” She said, pointing to the couch. “When you think you’re hungry then you can come find me.” In the mean time, she would head into the kitchen and get herself a glass of milk. It always calmed her down and right now she really needed it.

After taking the first gulp, she noticed a little person scampering into the kitchen. Puzzled, she followed her with her eyes until she stopped directly in front of her with a wide smile. This confused Dia even more. She stared down at her, hoping she would feel awkward and say something but, as she soon realized, that didn’t really work on children. She took another gulp before looking back at her. Mora giggled then rested her hand on Dia’s mouth with wide, bright eyes staring up at her.

“You have a musnach.”

If there was one thing Dia was sure about, it was that ‘musnach’ was not a word…but it wouldn’t have made much sense correcting her, now would it? Without knowing why, she felt this sudden compulsion to offer her some so she rose and got her a glass of milk as well. She watched Mora take a sip then another before filling her mouth with the liquid. With full cheeks she turned to look at Dia.

“Hey…” Dia said with a reminiscent smile… “That’s kinda cute I guess…” She couldn’t exactly deny the fact that this little girl was adorable, now could she? She watched on curiously to see what else Mora would do and found her smile widening when the little girl turned and began walking the length of the kitchen with a little hop in her step. Though she couldn’t quite figure out how, Mora reminded her of herself. Even more so when she propped herself unto the counter so she could see the bird that had flown to the window.

“Look, it’s a bird!” She said, her green eyes were filled with excitement as she twisted her small frame so she was now facing Dia.

“Yeah it is…” She was beginning to think that she was coming down with some kind of illness. How was it that she was actually being enchanted by this little girl? Children were little devils; they did more harm than good. She wasn’t supposed to like them because they would only be a restriction to her if she were to have any of her own.

She continued watching as Mora busied herself with something that had fallen in her glass of milk. Unbelievable…even this was cute. But she knew the moment that truly left her defeated was when Mora walked back over to her, crawled into her lap and set her glass down next to hers. Just feeling the small figure resting against her gave her this strange feeling that she couldn’t describe. It was…nice…too nice and she couldn’t allow it to continue. Dia eased her off her lap then got up. The last thing she wanted was one of these that she was obligated to take care of. This little girl might have been cute, but she came with responsibilities that she just didn’t think she was ready for.

“It’s okay, I don’t bite, I promise…”

But that just melted her completely. She smiled down at her. Maybe one wouldn’t have been too much to handle…