She sighed. Julie was such a sweet girl, but she'd gotten most of her looks from her father's side of the family. Black hair was alright for humans, but on harpies it only really worked if the plumage was also black, and Julie's was simple, undifferentiated white. She just looked so plain. Even her egg had been an ordinary, unremarkable white. Mrs. Madison didn't want to value appearance too much, but sometimes nice people did get ignored because of plain looks, and she'd hate to see that happen to her daughter.
She wasn't a proud woman, but she knew that her own coloration was quite striking; she'd been blessed in that department. If only Julie could look more like her...or better yet, her sister Ellen, who in her prime had had a very shapely, sculpted figure as well as the firey red hair and brilliant rainbow plumage they both shared. Even now, coming up on fifty, she still looked terrific. It could happen, theoretically; it wasn't unheard of for harpies to change coloration, and even humans experienced changes in hair color. But the odds weren't too great, especially at this late age. Still, if only...
"I wish Julie would grow up to look like Ellen," she mused to herself. "I think she'd appreciate that." She absent-mindedly closed her claw as she said this, then looked down in surprise when she felt something in her grasp. Oh right, it ws that stone. She wondered what it was doing in Julie's room. It didn't look all that special, and she wanted to throw it away. Still, suppose it was Julie's? Mrs. Madison stood there for a moment, pondering what to do with this odd little rock.
