Portland, Maine

'Alright little ones,' Maria said as she entered the dining room filled with hungry orphans, her arms laden with food. They all looked up and smiled at her when she did so. Even the infants in their high-chairs gave a toothy grin with what little teeth they actually had. She smiled fondly at them.

'Yay! I love chicken dinner!' One of the small girls, exclaimed. At five years of age Lucy was rather large for her age. She was a very hungry little girl and, no matter how Maria fed her, the girl could never eat enough.

Maria carried on, back and forth from the kitchen, bringing more food for the children, all fifteen of them, infants excluded. The latter of which she had carefully mashed their chicken dinners for.

After picking the youngest of the infants up, out of their bouncer, she joined the table and fed the small child a bottle. The infant never took her eyes from Maria, had them glued to her face, as though she was very curious. Maria smiled dotingly before returning her attention to the other children.

'Did we all have a good day?' She asked of them and they nodded and smiled happily. They had all been out in the sun, the boys playing soccer and the girls playing jump rope. Maria always liked that the children were very energetic and was rather thankful that they would rather play outside in the garden, than in their rooms, which was weird. But it gave her more time with the infants, who were stressful enough. The three older infants were teething very badly and didn't sleep or eat very well. But Maria did what she could for them.

'Yes, thank you Maria,' many children answered her as they finished their healthy meal. The children in her care deserved a healthy diet, if not a kind and loving family of their own.

Maria had owned the orphanage of the last three years, after her mother and father had died. She had thought about hiring staff to help her with the children, but she had found from a young age that she was very talented at multi-tasking. So, instead of spending her money on staff she spent it trying to keep them as happy and healthy as possible.

'In a few days children, couples will come to look at you for adoption,' Maria told them and they looked between them, some excited and some looking quite sad. And she knew the sadness was not because they didn't think they'd get adopted. They were all very adoptable, very loving, well behaved children. No, she knew they were sad because, if they were adopted, they would leave her behind. They would miss her. 'Come now children, don't you want a family of your own? A mother and father to love you, maybe a brother or sister?'

'I have my sister Maria, and you can be my mummy,' Lucy said and Maria sighed as she gazed down at the three month old child in her arms. Lucy and Lana had been abandoned at the orphanage two months ago, their parents nowhere to be seen. Maria could not understand it, who could abandon such beautiful daughters? It made Maria so... so angry!

'Lucy I cannot be your mother, I look after you for now, but I can't always look after you. You must move on, to something better, you know that,' Maria told her and looked around the table. 'Come on now, time to wash up and get into bed.' She finished and looked down to see Lana had finished her bottle of milk.

She took the babies, one by one into the nursery and entered the library where all the children were excited for a bedtime story. She still had baby Lana in her arms, Lucy wanting to show her the pictures in the book. They had such a lovely relationship that Maria was reminded of the one she'd had herself, many years ago.

Shaking her head she sat in a soft chair and accepted the fairy tail: Little Red Riding Hood from Lucy.

'Alright little ones,' Maria said as she cuddled Lana close. 'Once upon a time in the forest there lived a small girl with her family. She was called Little Red Riding Hood, and she was off to her grandma's house. But her mother warned her about the big bad Wolf...' Maria continued on until the children were so tired they all fell asleep right there on the library floor. Even Lucy was fast asleep.

So Maria took the sleeping infant in her arms to the nursery and laid her down to sleep.

'Oh you are so adorable Lana. You are sure to get adopted,' Maria told the infant sadly. Though she'd only been their guardian for three years and Lana's for mere months she had grown very attached to all the children, especially the infants. How she wished she had enough love for all of them.

Maria left the nursery to attend to her own sleep but on the way she heard it.

'Ahhhhh, monster!' It was a blood curdling scream, echoing from the library.

'There's no such thing as monsters little ones. Go to your rooms and sleep well,' she told them.