Glitch #377

She did not recognize the woman who had come to her, clearly in labor. Well, barely a woman. She was still round in the face and had an innocence about her despite the glinting green eyes and glow of desperation.  She rested her on a stool by the fire while she went to fetch some water and fresh towels, and then put a kettle on for tea.  

When she returned to the room scarcely ten minutes later, there was no woman. Just a twisted pile of bone and flesh, unrecognizable as human but for the mat of long red curls entangled in the mound. Huddled in the corner was a small boy, covered in blood and mucus, shivering and naked. 

The midwife screamed.