Glinda liked many things: perfectly sewn dresses, shining glitter, polished shoes, light, comfort, and above all her partner. Glinda also disliked many things: tasteless clothes, ugly sport shoes, and anything dark and uncomfortable. So when her partner came up with the incredibly outlandish idea to go hiking in the mountains, she said yes, picturing a romantic stroll on a picturesque cobblestone path lined by a shining river and flower beds. She regretted immediately her decision when they arrived at the starting point.

Now here they both were, after being soaked by unexpected rain, in a tent that was too small, with canned food that tasted worse than awful: plain. The air smelled of damp earth and pine needles, while the mud-caked tent floor crinkled uncomfortably beneath her. There were bugs and critters everywhere and her nice white shoes were covered in mud that would surely never come out. It had been a bad night, following a bad day. Was it worth it? Well maybe a little, because she had never seen her partner smile as widely as when they had finally reached the top of the mountain and saw the sun set over the lakes under the rainbow.

Okay maybe Glinda would actually very much like to go back home under her blankets with a hot chocolate, and she would make it known rather loudly. The rough fabric of her borrowed hiking clothes scratched against her skin as she shifted on the uncomfortable stump.

As she was pondering whether she should complain about the pebble being too pebbly or mud being too muddy she heard something in the bushes—a faint, high-pitched sound that cut through the rustling leaves and distant bird calls. Her partner had been gone for a few minutes to fetch wood and had left her alone in the tent. The sun was low but there was still some sunlight falling through the canopy, casting dappled shadows across the forest floor. The idea of investigating any sound in the woods alone was anything but enticing.

As she got up from the stump she was seated on (which had covered the backside of her new hiking skirt with sticky resin) she decided she had to investigate even if it was terrifying. The forest floor crunched beneath her feet as she took a step then another, following the cries that grew clearer with each step. When she pushed aside a fern frond, she discovered a woven basket hidden in the underbrush.

She opened the basket with shaking hands and let out a shocked gasp. Inside, swaddled in a thin blanket, lay a tiny baby with flushed cheeks and closed eyes, its tiny fists clenched as it continued to cry. "A baby..." she whispered, the words barely audible above the infant's whimpers.