
Part 1
In the quiet of a hospital’s maternity wing, a night‑shift nurse named Lorry steps into the “basket room,” where rows of newborn cribs sit under dim night‑lights. The usual chorus of tiny cries is absent, replaced by an unsettling stillness that makes her hair stand on end. When she lifts a soft bundle, the baby’s eyes stare back with an ancient, almost knowing gaze that freezes her breath. The moment is both tender and chilling.
Suddenly, a thin, disembodied voice whispers from the shadows, claiming to be something beyond any medical textbook—a body‑less entity that has watched the newborns for reasons unknown. Lorry’s training tells her to stay calm, yet the strange conversation rattles her confidence and hints at a hidden world lurking behind the hospital’s sterile walls. As she clings to the infant, the nurse is forced to confront a reality that defies logic, setting the stage for a suspenseful battle between ordinary duty and an unseen menace.
Language
en
Duration
~16 minutes (15K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2009-09-19
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects

Fantasy adventures, alternate worlds, and a Wild West touched by the strange all meet in these imaginative stories. Drawn from a love of books and visual creativity, the work blends big ideas with an affectionate feel for character and setting.
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