Once the was, and once there was not, a Child. She was of an indeterminant age, her obvious malnutrition making her seem even younger than she was. Her hair was matted, she wore no shoes, grime covered her like a second skin. She would have appeared totally feral, except for the tattered remains of a coarse woven dress that fluttered in the cool morning breeze.

She appeared out of the morning mists, discovered drinking muddy water from a puddle at the base of the town well. The alarm was quickly raised and the gathering townsfolk finally cornered her near the house of the Widow. Her eyes darted to and fro, seeking enemies, predators. Huddled with her back against a garden wall, her arms held her knees to her chest until someone came near, and then they struck out to claw and batter. Her mouth let out screams and grunts and perhaps words, but not in any language the townsfolk knew.

How had she gotten into the Town, past the walls and guarded gate? In a time of War and Plague, no one entered the Town without being challenged. And so the leaders of the Town had to decide what to do.

"She is clearly a Spy," said the Captain. "She has been sent here to find a way in, and what our defenses are. She does not speak our tongue, for she is from far away."

"See the wasted frame and glazed eyes," directed the Doctor. "From here I can see that she carries the dread desease that has destroyed so many towns. She is the Plague."

"My children, you are wrong. Who could walk through our oaken gates and becloud the eyes of our guards?" questioned the Priest. "Only a Witch, taking on the guise of a child to evoke our pity."

And so, each in his turn, the leaders told what he saw in the Child, but even though the details differed, each saw an Enemy. And so they decided that the Child must die.

But then the Widow spoke, "My husband died in your command, Captain, in a land he did not know. My first child died when you bled him, Doctor, saying that it would cure his malady. My second child died from your exorcism, Priest, when you said that he was possessed. Each of you here owe me a debt of one kind or another. And now I will collect."

Leaving the knot of townspeople, the Widow approached the Child. With a scream and a claw, the Child gave her warning. Kneeling in front of the Child, the Widow said, "She is Hope. She is a Gift. She is Love. She is a Second Chance. She is my daughter." The Widow gently lifted the unprotesting Child into her arms, and carried her into her house.