Baby In A Soft Cloth

The baby wrapped in a soft cloth falls with a thud on the floor. I expect the room to reverberate with loud cries, but there is a surprising silence. Is she fine? I hear a rustle of leaves and the inauspicious cawing of an invisible crow. An owl hoots in the distance. The window appears to open on its own, and lightning struck …. the tree outside. The baby and I appeared to be safe so far.

This is my first night in the palace. I need to set the equipment at strategic points, to sense the presence of energy in any form. It is not easy being a paranormal investigator. I hope the pointers don’t come back to the baby. This bundle of human life is an unexpected presence in the haunted place. Who is she? Is she a lost princess from yore awaiting her glory to return? Is she an unwanted child abandoned by a callous parent? Or is she an illusion? I decide to come back to her later, after completing the task at hand.

I wake up with the first glow of sunlight on my face. But I was not supposed to sleep. How could I? I turn to look at the baby, but there is nobody in the room. Who took her? Did she develop the power to walk overnight? The palace looks new in daylight. The chandeliers are modern in design, and the walls freshly painted. A clock on the wall ….

Well, it looks different. The screen says I am in 2095. They don’t have calendars any more. I desperately look for a mirror, as a woman approaches me. She has the same gleaming eyes as the baby wrapped in a soft cloth.

“Where am I? In which era?”

“Well, you get to decide that here,” the woman smiles, “Do you want to be a baby again?”