They said they’d found her in ratty clothes, covered in grime and dried blood on the side of a deserted road near the woods. No older than one years old she was brought to our local clinic where there was a large sigh of relief from the staff when they cleaned her up and saw that none of it was hers. My wife Mona was on duty that day as a nurse and made sure to check in on her everyday. That’s how she ended up falling in love with her. She had heterochromia, one eye blue and the other amber.
The weird thing is that as vibrant as her eyes were she showed no signs that she could actually see and for all intents and purposes was blind. Her nose laid flat against her face and according to X-rays her neck hadn’t developed correctly and it caused her head to basically sit slightly below her shoulders as if she were in a constant shrug. Fortunately, she seemed to be able to hear and smell just fine and her eyes could pinpoint voices and sounds disturbingly well.
Me and my wife had been unsuccessful in having a child of our own for quite some time and since my wife had fallen in love taking care of this little girl it was no question that we would foster her for the time being. Adoption was a long process as some of you may know but with the circumstances they had no problem letting us keep her if only temporarily. We decided to name her Phoebe and just felt lucky to have her.
Phoebe had a charming way about her in spite of her jarring appearance. She would look you in the eye and it was like you were hypnotized and had no choice but to love her. Honestly, those eyes are probably what made us overlook the odd qualities she did have. For one she had an insatiable appetite but refused to eat anything green or hell even anything with sugar which I though my would be a sure fire hit. All she ever wanted was beef, chicken, or pork; only meat. Her teeth looked to have come in recently and they were jagged and misshapen, though given her condition dental work was just another thing we would plan for.
We felt sorry for her because the other kids wouldn’t play with her and other parents weren’t too keen on setting up play dates when their own children wouldn’t stop crying around her. They could barely bring themselves to look her in the eye but she would reach for them, mouth agape, trying to garner any look of recognition she was there. We were proud of our little angel, she was resilient and still wobbled around on those cute legs of hers as we watched her chase after the squirrels and birds.
She was surprisingly quick for a toddler her age so we kept an eye on her when we were out but were more relaxed when she was in our own backyard. A few weeks had gone by and I drank my coffee staring out at the back patio, eerily more quiet than usual. The absence of the normal chitter chatter of birds and critters was odd but I didn’t dwell on it.
Phoebe was being fussier than usual and slapped away the bacon my wife had made for her and threw a tantrum reaching for my wife to hold her whenever she put her back down. My wife said she may have to just sit with her for awhile until she calmed down but still had to get to the grocery store. I offered to go instead and for her to just relax with Phoebe. It only took me about an hour or so to finish my trip and I had picked up some extra steaks for dinner. When I opened the door and made it into the living room I saw my wife from behind rocking in our large green velvet chair, her head resting on her shoulders and I assumed she had fallen asleep with Phoebe.
I quietly put the groceries away and went over to try and relieve my wife of childcare duties. When I came around the chair my throat constricted as if I were being choked. My wife’s eyes were empty and lifeless, her hair and body caked in blood and viscera. Her arms fell open at her sides between the arm rests. The rocking, was from Phoebe, deep within my wife’s open chest eating away like someone had shoved her face into a human birthday cake. My throat gave way to a strained whisper “M-Mona?”
Phoebe pushed against my wife’s shoulders to raise herself and turned her body around to face me. Her eyes darted around the room a couple times before they centered on me. She held up her hands as if asking to be picked up and in a tiny voice said “More DaDa”.
I realized why someone had left her on the road but what scared me more was wondering just whose blood it was they found on her. Yet, with everything in front of me I looked in those eyes and couldn’t bring myself to hurt her. I could only bring my fists to my temple over and over in anger and frustration. I got myself together enough to drag her to the car and strap her to her car seat. I hope that if I go a little further into the woods and away from the road, no one will see or hear her this time.
If anyone is reading this and you come across an adorable angel with blue and amber eyes on your morning drive, hike, nature walk, whatever. Please for the love of God, ignore her, look straight ahead, and leave her where you found her.