1

The sun peeked around the mountains as Silas climbed the pristine temple steps. Today was the anniversary of the Day it All Changed, and that meant he had twice the amount of work as usual. He began to clean, polishing each statue that stood against the walls, sweeping the leaves from the floors, and scrubbing the dust from the windows. The temple would be crowded today, as people came to worship for the anniversary. He would probably have to stay all day, keeping the temple clean and making sure the visitors didn’t break anything.

He was almost done cleaning when he found them. He was about to go out into the gardens, where he would’ve been occupied for hours; a visitor may have found them first then. If one of the babies hadn’t let out the tiniest whimper, or if Silas hadn’t heard it, then things would have been very different.

But Silas did hear it. And Silas looked.

There, in the corner, by the smallest statue and the smallest shrine, sat a wicker basket, with two babies inside. Silas’s heart seemed to stop. His feet were heavy as he crept closer and looked at their faces. As the crying baby saw him, it fussed more. Silas gently reached into the basket and picked it up. It calmed a little, grasping onto his shirt with its tiny hands. The other baby merely stared at him, its big brown eyes seeming to drink him in with endless curiosity.

The sun crested above the window. Silas gazed out into the valley, at the village in the distance, then over to the temple garden.

He knew what he had to do.