The Changeling

 
There was a chill in the air that autumn night. Julie sat on her front porch, enjoying the changing colors of the leaves and the crisp breeze that swept past her.It was her time to be alone after a busy day. She tucked her older boys into bed, John and Riley. John was six years old and Riley had just turned four a month earlier. Then, there was baby Sandra. The infant princess of the family.
As far as Julie knew, Sandra was safe in her crib with the mobile twirling above her. Julie had the baby monitor close by her but she didn’t hear a peep. If Julie had known that something with a malefic intent
was lurking, she would not have left her baby’s side for a moment.

Nada was an elf. An Ethereal being, living on a slightly higher dimension than the human world. No one could deny that she was beautiful. Her dark features were indeed striking. But that was only outer
beauty.

Months earlier to this night in the fall, Nada visited a psychic elf.Unbelieveably; there were Elves that did psychic readings as their life’s work. While all elves possess some psychic ability, some had it more finely tuned than others.
During Her visit with the Psychic, Nada only wanted to know about herself. Her money, her career and her love interests. But during her reading, the madam only wanted to talk about Nada’s baby.
“Quite extraordinary…” she remarked.
“Thank you but…”
“Beautiful, splendid, and will grow to surpass our whole community with her talents.”
That was all Nada needed to hear. She needed this baby as far away from her as possible.

The leaves crunched under Nada’s feet. She planned this night very carefully in her head. She had been watching the human woman for weeks. This lady had the most mundane of routines.

7:30 AM Drive children to school
10:00 AM Water the garden with the baby right beside her in some sort of carrier seat.
12:00 PM clean the house... Manually
2:00 PM Pick children up from school
6:00 PM Cook dinner
9:00 PM Put children to bed
9:15 PM Sit on front porch drinking some human elixir
What this poor woman didn’t know is that her nightly time sitting on the porch gave just the right window of time for Nada to fulfill her plan. She wanted that baby for her own. At least a human child she figured wouldn’t be any trouble.
As silently as she could, she scaled the wall to the baby’s bedroom window. Her own baby in a baby carrier made out of tree vines, attached to her back. She was doing a good thing, she told herself. What an amazing experience for this human child to grow up among the elves. As for her own daughter, she felt she was giving a gift to the human world.

With a nudge of her hand,the window popped open. Powder overwhelmed her strong sense of smell.
She almost lost her grip and decided to hold her breath for the moment. With a graceful leap, Nada was inside the nursery. Her eyes were drawn to a tiny music box with the baby’s name engraved on it.
“Sandra” Nada whispered to herself. She knew enough of human culture to know it was a sweet and innocent sounding name. Pulling the baby carrier around to face her, she gave one last look at the child
she was giving up. She was doing this because of her vanity and selfishness but deep down, she knew it was wrong.
Just a sprinkle of magic over her baby’s face and the human parents would be none the wiser. Nada could see the necessary changes she needed to make. She needed to turn her baby’s hair a light shade of strawberry and darken her baby’s skin just a few shades. And she almost forgot to round off the tips
of her baby’s ears.

She placed her next to the other in the crib. They were identical.

Nada snatched up the other baby, disappearing out the window. And just like that, the change was complete.

Sandra knew she was different. That much was certain. The kids at school would never let her forget it.

“Big ears”, a gangly blonde called after her.

Apparently, Nada hadn’t done as good of a job as she thought rounding off her ears. Either that, or Sandra’s true spirit wanted to shine through so badly that she was imperious to her birth mother’s magic.

“Moon head!” snorted another girl.

Along with her ears to make her stand out, a moon shaped mark had grown on her forehead.
Sandra was trying her best to ignore them. It was becoming increasingly difficult. This was the second time they had followed her home this week. She was beginning to feel as though she was still in kindergarten, rather than a senior in high school.
The sunlight felt nice on Sandra’s face. She had been sure to apply her SPF50 to her delicate skin before walking home, as per usual.
She heard their footsteps creeping up on her. Suddenly, the blond girl grabbed her.

“What are you doing?” Sandra’s voice was full of panic.