s the powerful witch Zade looked down at her baby, she saw a vision. Instead of her baby, she suddenly saw the deep dark emptiness of space, and there, in the distance, speeding towards her, was the reaper. She knew what this meant: she would die in seven days.

Her first, and only, order of business was to protect her baby. So she
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
anesthetize her baby
and make a small incision in her belly,
inside which she placed a small magicked flash drive.
And then,
brewed her poisons
and sharpened her knives
and cast hundreds of spells
and then used them to
then Zade kissed her baby and died.

On that drive, she had written the story of her baby’s future. The stitches hid the drive away and the magic rendered it undecipherable, but if you could read it, it would say —

As Zade kissed her baby and died, the woman who would raise her baby was waking up a few blocks away. She had everything one could want:

a tree flown in from Japan,sand flown in from Australia,and she'd just flown in from Bali,
to her mansion,a second mansion,a vacation mansion,
all with a house keeper,a house cleaner,a pool cleaner,
and a husband who was nice enough,and it should have been enough,but she had had enough,

none of it made up for the fact that she did not have a baby.

In her mansion, there was a room she was not allowed to go into. Her husband had told her Inside this room is the secret of our wealth. It is for me to handle. You can use our money to enjoy all the world, but this room you must leave to me.

But she did not want to enjoy all the world. She wanted a baby. So one day, when her husband had left for a work trip, she took his spare keys and unlocked the mysterious room. She turned the door handle and pushed the door open.

The room should have been dark inside, but it was covered in a soft golden glow. The source of that glow stood on a wooden stool in the middle of the empty room: a jar of golden sand. She picked up a grain of the golden sand and placed it on her tongue. It was gritty and cool. It tasted like honey. She swallowed it.

She didn’t feel any different, but when she went outside, a soft little kitten came up to her and laid at her feet. No matter what she did, the kitten would not leave her alone. She had no idea where it came from. It had no tag. It responded to no name except baby. It regarded her as its mother.

She understood what had happened. The mysterious sand had given her a baby. Not the human baby she wanted, but a baby nonetheless. She loved it and took care of it. When her husband returned from his work trip, he looked haggard. Bad luck with the deal he muttered. Will it be okay? she asked him. He shook his head and said I’ll make it up on the next one. They sold their vacation mansion, but she didn’t care. She loved her kitten.

When her husband left on another work trip, she barely waited for his car to drive past the gates before she ran back to the dark, glowing room. This time, she swallowed a pinch of sand.

Again, she didn’t feel different, but when she went outside, a baby monkey swung to her. She was delighted. We live in a city, wherever did you come from? The baby monkey squeaked happily. It clung to her back and rubbed its face in her hair. It slept in her bed and held her hand. It regarded her as its mother.

When her husband returned from his work trip, he looked a decade older. The firm’s going under. We’ll have to tighten our belts until I figure something out. They sold all their cars and mansions and let go of all their housestaff, but she didn’t care. She loved her kitten and she loved her monkey.

Her husband was busier than ever with work, so busy that he would go days without talking to her. However, late one night, he looked at her, actually looked at her, and asked Where did the kitten and the monkey come from?

She responded nervously They came to me, I’m not sure where from. She stroked their fur, one baby in each arm. He looked at all of them curiously.

A few days later, he left on a work trip again. She knew she shouldn’t go back. She had two babies already. But that night, as she slept she dreamt of a little human baby lying in a dark room. The baby had a small, fresh scar on its belly. The baby was all alone. The baby looked curiously at her. The baby regarded her.

She couldn’t help herself. She went back to the room. But this time, the room did not glow. The stool was empty. The jar was gone. In its place was a security camera, flashing red and pointed right at her. Her heart leapt into her throat.


Oh no, we’re at 876 words already. How did that happen? This transmission will end soon, so I’ll have to tell you the rest of the story after you come to Earth. Or rather, my fellow Earthlings will. I’ve hidden pieces of the story with a thousand and one random creatures all over the planet. Be nice to us, and they’d love to tell you the rest. Safe travels.