There was a blood moon that night.

That's what his mother told him as they sat down for dinner.

Little Alex was about to ask her what that meant when his father rushed in through the front door and into the kitchen where they sat.

"Eva!" his father called out to his mother. He panted and shouted, "Come quick... by the river..."

"What is it?" his mother asked, astonished, as she hurriedly gathered her coat.

"Just come, quick!"

"Al, honey, stay here and eat your food. We will be back quick, okay?" his mother spoke, as Alex began to get up from his chair.

Alex nodded, though disappointed that he couldn't go with them.

Alex got out of his chair and moved over to the kitchen window across from him, as soon as his parents departed. He drew a nearby stool, stood over it and looked outside the window.
The wide river flowed at the bottom of the cliffs, just across their house. Its brimming sound echoed through the night. The only other sounds were the distant voices of town residents and the hooting of owls.

He saw his parents running towards the riverbank. It was mostly dark outside, except for the faint reddish glow of the moon, reflected by the river.

Red? Alex looked up to see the full moon hovering above the cliff and gasped. The moon was indeed red like the color of blood. To a three-year-old child, this was almost magical.

He stared at it in fascination. His mind bubbled with questions. How can it possibly change its color?

A noise interrupted his thoughts. His attention was drawn to the dark woods encircling the cliffs.
There was a loud howling noise that penetrated the night and left a ringing in his ear, followed by the rustle of leaves and twigs cracking.

Alex squinted his eyes, desperately hoping to see the animal, but the jungle was too dense and dark. He had heard numerous stories from his mother about the creatures in the woods, though she had assured him they weren't real, only myths told to keep people away. The forest still fascinated him. The cliffs that joined the large mountains, with peaks that disappeared into the clouds.

The faint scent of magic that drifted from them.

The howling stopped, and then there was silence again, save for the serene murmur of the river.

Disappointed, Alex brought his attention back to the moon. The moon's red color faded gradually, revealing its regular white hue.

The moon reverted to its natural color in a matter of minutes.

The number of questions in Alex's mind had doubled. He wondered what was taking his parents so long. He could hear them talking, but they were too far away for him to decipher their words.

After a long time, in which Alex finished with his dinner and was playing with the wooden animals that his father made for him, his parents finally came back.

Upon seeing them Alex started, "Dada, did you see the..." His words vanished as he saw the little bundle in his mother's arms, wrapped up in a soft and thick blue cloth.

His parents exchanged a look. His mother took a deep breath and knelt slowly in front of him and shifted the cloth to reveal the face of a little baby girl. He gasped.

"Alex," his mother said, "we brought you a sister!"

"A sister?" Alex asked, thoroughly perplexed. "How mam?"

Alex's father knelt beside his mother and said, "She was given to us as a gift from our Goddess."

Alex only felt more confused at those words. He looked at the tiny baby who was sleeping peacefully. He raised his hand and gently touched her cheeks, pink and soft. Her eyes opened wide and he drew his hand back, flinching.
She had the loveliest eyes he had ever seen, icy blue with flecks of silver. Like frost forming over the river during winters.

A gift from our Goddess, he thought, that she had to be.