But… but… but then…” the child said shakily before trembling and holding her arms around herself. The sisters watched the girl as she whimpered and shut her eyes tightly.

“What happened?” Luna asked. The child shook her head then looked to Luna with teary eyes.

“But then monsters came and ate them!” she cried out before clinging to Luna and crying, with Luna looking at her with surprise. She looked to Falla who had a cautious expression on her face.

“Ate them? Monsters… ate them?” Falla questioned. The child nodded while crying still, keeping her face hidden in Luna’s bosom.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry,” Luna said gently as she held the girl. The child trembled in her arms as she tried to control her breathing.

“They were so nice, I thought they were friendly, how could they do such a thing?” she whimpered.

“They? Who are they? You mean the monsters?” Falla asked. The child nodded and looked towards the sound of Falla’s voice.

“We didn’t know they were monsters, they seemed like lost travelers, they were so nice and friendly when we picked them up. They said they needed a ride, and my foster dad agreed to give them a lift. They even offered an apple pie as thanks, it was so yummy,” she explained shakily.

“What kind of monsters were they, what did they look like?” Luna asked.

“She’s blind, Luna, how would she know what they looked like?” Falla asked flatly.

“Oh, right, sorry,” Luna said nervously. The child shook her head and looked down with watery eyes.

“There was two of them, they were girls, they sounded older than me, but younger than my foster mother. They were very polite, always talking and laughing with my family while they rode with us, telling us about their travels. They… they did talk strangely though,” she explained with a worried expression.

“Strange? How so?” Luna asked.

“They kept talking… at the same time. It was like they were both speaking together, like they were the same person, it was kind of weird,” the child answered. Falla looked around carefully then back to the young girl.

“So… is it just you out here now?” she asked. The child nodded and looked down with a whimper.

“I woke up from my nap, and I heard my mom screaming. The two monsters, they were eating her, I could hear them chewing into her, they were laughing and eating her alive!” the girl cried out. She started breathing quickly as the two sisters watched her with worried eyes.

“I cried out for help, but the monsters only laughed and said that I was next as their dessert! I heard my mom crying out to run for my life. I tried to get out quickly, but I tripped and rolled over… what was left of my dad, those monsters just laughed at me while my mom screamed in pain! I fell out of the carriage and then just ran, I ran and I ran far away into the woods. I kept running and running, and running, and I kept running until… until…” she explained while trying to control her breathing. Luna looked over towards where the girl fell into the river earlier with remorse.

“Until you couldn’t run anymore,” she said softly, turning back to the little girl as the child nodded and closed her eyes.

“They ate my family, they ate my family, they ate my family…” the girl whimpered while holding onto Luna. The butterfly monster held her gently and looked to Falla with a saddened expression.

“We can’t leave her like this, she’s all alone,” she pleaded.

“What are we supposed to do, adopt her? Luna, look at us, she doesn’t belong here with us, we’re not exactly the right babysitters for her,” Falla argued while gesturing to her wings.

“But look at her, she’s frightened to death and all alone, we can’t just abandon her,” Luna said looking to the young child.

“Luna, put her down, we have to go,” Falla urged.

“No, we have to do something for her,” Luna pleaded while holding the child closer.

“You saved her from drowning, you’ve done more than enough,” Falla argued.

“Stop being so cruel, we can’t leave her out here like this and you know it,” Luna shot back with a flustered expression.

“We can’t be seen with a human child and you know it!” Falla shouted out. She then jumped with a small gasp and looked to the young girl as did Luna. The blind girl looked towards the sound of Falla’s voice then to where she thought Luna was.

“Human child?” she asked quietly.

“Oh crap,” Falla said worriedly.

“Um…” Luna said nervously. Falla glanced to her then to the child.

“Luna, let her go, we need to leave, now,” she said quickly.

“What do you mean ‘human child’?” the young girl asked softly.

“Um… well…” Luna stuttered, fearful of how the girl would take the truth.

“Let’s go, Luna, right now,” Falla repeated urgently.

The young girl slowly lifted her hands up to Luna’s cheeks, the butterfly girl showing a nervous expression.

“I… we… well… um…” Luna stuttered. Slowly the young girl moved her hands up along Luna’s head before Luna grabbed and held them in place.

“Please don’t be scared, I’m not going to hurt you,” Luna pleaded softly. The child showed a nervous expression as Luna gently let her hands go, the young girl then slowly moving her hands up to the top of Luna’s head, where they came in contact with her antennae. The child gasped as she felt the insect appendages on the monster’s head and trembled in fear.

“You… you’re a monster!” the girl said with surprise.

“Please, I promise I’m not going to hurt you, don’t scream or cry, please don’t cry! I just wanted to help you; I didn’t want you to get hurt or to drown! I just wanted to help! Please don’t cry, don’t cry, little girl! Just… just please don’t start crying!” Luna cried out before she started sobbing uncontrollably. The child showed a worried expression then slowly moved her hands back down to Luna’s face, touching the cheeks and mouth to get a picture of the sorrowful expression on the butterfly monster’s face. She could hear Luna crying, and could feel the facial movements showing the monster’s remorseful frown.

“I just wanted to help you; I didn’t want you to get hurt or to drown. I’m sorry, please don’t scream at me! I’m not a bad monster, I’m not!” Luna wept with tears forming in her eyes.

“Are you crying?” the child asked softly.