Prologue
The golden haired child was a marvel indeed. She was sitting on her bedroom floor babbling primarily to herself, playing with a baby doll. Narrowed owl eyes watched her from an open window sill taking in the scene. Drawn unexpectedly toward the infant girl the owl cocked his feathered head to one side, and with a ruffle of his magnificent plumage took off from his perch on the sill.
All at once the bird was caught in a pillar of smoke and with a bright flash of golden light the bird was gone. In the owl's place stood a human man, wearing a most peculiar expression. His wildly uneven toe-head was cocked to one side as the owl's had been a moment before. A small, almost indiscernible smile was on his thinly seductive lips.
The child was startled for a moment. She froze, unblinking and gazed awe-struck up at the stranger's face. The stranger held out an open hand as his lips spread into a delighted smile. "Hello there, sweet heart." He had spoken so softly it was barely audible. He grasped her tiny hand in his and kissed it ever so gently.
He gazed into the startled aqua blue eyes of the child. She was lovely. A perfect china doll. Her shining golden locks hung in tangled ringlets halfway down her back. Her sweet mouth pouted in her perfect, white, porcelain face in an undecided expression. In a tiny voice she asked, "Would you like to see my dolly?" She had decided to like the kind stranger. She held out her doll to him in a gesture of friendship…
On the other side of the child's bedroom door her mother listened to her little girl as she played. The mother had been tidying up a bit before she prepared to take her daughter for an afternoon walk. When they returned from their walk it would be time for Daddy to come home from work. Then the little family of three would sit down to a summer dinner of grilled corn on the cob, steaks, and watermelon.
Suddenly a prickling sensation of unease swept over the child's mother. Where there had been a child's babbling and laughter a moment before, now there was silence coming from her daughter's bedroom. The mother stopped dusting and listened with baited breath for a moment. Relief swept over her as she heard the tiny voice of her baby say, "Wanna see my dolly?" Her relief was shattered as the question was followed immediately by, "Otay mister. I be good girl."
In an instant the mother burst open the painted bedroom door to find the room empty of anyone save her child and herself. A faint smell of roses and sweet smelling smoke hung in the air. The curtains were sucked out of the open window as if someone had just left. They sparkled faintly with iridescent glitter.
Puzzling over this strange appearance of the usually clean window sill the mother thought, "But that's impossible!" The room was on the second story of the large three story house. One would have to be mad to have climbed the thorny rose vine that crept up the side of the white frame house. Climbing back down would have been even more impossible.
Dismissing the idea that anyone other than an angel could have been in the room with her baby the child's mother smiled to herself and turned away from the open window. The bright eyed little girl observed all this but continued on with her childish imaginings.
***Author's Note: PLEASE PLEASE read and review. Let me know what you think of my work. The more positive response I receive from readers the faster I will post new materials. Also, I intend to add a few steamy romance scenes so I've decided to keep ratings at T.