unforeseen [h.p.]

PROLOGUE

Heavy rain fell down from the dark clouds above in numerous sheets. The orphans at Vaughn's Orphanage lay silently awake in their warm beds, the cascading rain and booming thunder preventing them from a peaceful sleep.

Ms. Vaughn sat busy in her office, sorting out paperwork and signing forms of every sort. She was the owner of the orphanage, and a very diligent and uniform woman. She's managed to keep her orphanage in order for over twenty years. Vaughn's was named the most prestigious orphanage in all of Yorkshire, and Ms. Vaughn intended to keep it that way.

Ms. Joy, the orphanage maid, was downstairs sweeping the hardwood floors of dirt and crumbs, like she did every evening after the children had been sent to bed. She was a round and busty woman, with rosy cheeks and a kind heart. Many of the orphans loved her.

Just as she was finishing up her nightly chore, there was a heavy knocking on the front door. Ms. Joy propped her broom up against the wall before scurrying over to the door and looking through the peek hole. She saw no one there.

"Silly children," she muttered to herself. She unlatched and opened the door just a tad to make sure there was actually nobody there.

She gasped in surprise at the bundle of blankets that lay at her feet, a small child wrapped up securely in it's warmth. Ms. Joy carefully picked up the sleeping baby, who couldn't be more than a few years old.

"Hello?" She called out into the stormy night. There was no reply. She looked around once more before shutting the front door.

Who would leave a poor child on a doorstep when it's cold and raining outside? She brought the baby upstairs and into the orphanage nursery. Laying the child down in an empty crib, Ms. Joy noticed a scrap of paper stuffed in the front of the child's blankets. She took the note and left the small nursery, shutting the door softly behind her.

Hesitantly, she unfolded the damp note. Scribbled in messy handwriting read four words:

Her name is Alexandra

(a.n.)

:)