His childhood had been one filled with pure bliss up until his preteen years. If asked now what had changed, he would have to say that it had been that one day that Suzy had gathered her courage to come up to his door. At that time he had only been nine and she the mere little age of six. It had been a beautiful summer day when he had answered a very patient and steady ringing of his front door to find a very dirty-faced and grungy-looking little girl. He was a lot more richly dressed than her as he had been sporting his designer clothes and shoes. They stood there staring at each other for about a minute before he even tried a blow at making any coherent words come out of his mouth.

"Yes? Are you lost or need something?" in his mind he whacked himself as recognized her as his enigmatic neighbor. She shied away from him momentarily as she held on to an arm as if it were injured and merely whispered some things to her self as if she were trying to gather what to tell him.

"I was just wondering . . . if maybe you weren't too embarrassed . . . that you could come out to play with . . . me?" she had a sweet and gentle voice that for some reason reminded him of a frightened doe with the ability to speak. It was actually pretty easy to picture it in his creative young mind as he smiled broadly and warmly at her. She stepped back suddenly as if scared as she relaxed and smiled at him with a small light shining in her eyes like a little kid who had just been given a secret to guard.

“You know what, why not come in? My mom was just about to . . .” he broke out giggling as a tall and primp woman with a small smile of mischief tickled him and pulled him close to hold his squirming body as she continued the tickle war against her young son but all but soon stopped as she took in the small girl at the door for the first time. She tilted her head as she smiled widely at her and stood up straight as she straightened herself. She then extended her hand out with friendliness aimed straight at the now nervous girl.

“How are you? My name is Destino; this here is my dear boy Eduardo. Care to come in and join us?” the little girl seemed wary as if frightened that at some point she might be attacked by some unknown enemy. She looked as if she had never been shown any real kindness and she looked pretty much ready to shoot down the offer when Destino reached out and pulled her in gently to carry her in her arms as she smiled at her and hugged warmly. Suzy stiffened at first but then began to relax and hesitantly wrap her small arms around the kind woman.

“Well aren’t you the sweetest thing that has ever crossed my doorway other than my own flesh and blood?” the girl shook her head in a silent ’no’, as Destino stared at her in complete shock. She lifted the girl up in her arms to face her as she said ‘yes’ to her and then closed the door as she sat the dear girl at the table with all the ingredients she had taken out to make some cookies.

“I would hate to be in any way some sort of disturbance to you so maybe I should just get on going to my own house. Besides, I don’t really think that I deserve to witness your creations; you’re too good of a person as it is. If you will excuse me now,” Destino stopped her from getting her off the seat that the young girl was getting out of and placed her closer to her own son and knelt before her as she spoke in a calming and soft voice that soothed the young girl’s frazzled mind.

“My dear please at least give me chance. Please tell me your name. I really just would like you to be friends with my son. He gets so lonely and I bet you do too at times, am I right?” the girl nodded as she relaxed in the chair and actually in her eyes you could see a dramatic change that proved to Destino that the young girl understood and trusted her greatly. She smiled as she waited for the girl’s name.

“My name is Suzy Diego. My full name is Suzanne but everyone just calls me Suzy. I’m about six winters old,” she smiled as it was some great secret which it must have been since she doubted many would believe her by her voice alone. It was very mature for her age and she already had quite an arsenal of a vocabulary already. Destino was greatly impressed and showed it by ruffling up the girl's hair and cuddling her even though she still stiffened when hugged. Destino pulled back and soon they were all imersed in baking some cookies with great delight from both children as they were allowed to take charge of great responsibilities.

Destino was patient in explaining everything to both children in a way that they could understand and even answered all the questions that Suzy posed about the idea of baking and everything considering baking. With all the questions, soon time flew by until they were done and they went at them like rabid creatures. Suzy was polite in her manners and only got three ona napkin and ate them slowly as she savored the flavor and the company of the two new people she had gotten to know.

"So, Suzy, how come we have never have had the pleasure of seeing you here? Where are your parents?" Suzy swallowed the cookie and the lump that had formed in her throat as she considered the question. In the end she decided to tell as much of the truth as she had been told was safe.

"Well my parents went on a trip with my two other sisters as I was left with my babysitter, Charlie. He hardly lets me out because I never do my chores right but today he said it was okay by him. So I decided to try and find someone who could be my friend. I don't want to be alone anymore," Destino felt the prickle of tears behind her eye sockets but she rapidly blinked them away as she became angered at the behavior her parent had shown in regard to her safety in leaving her with a teenage boy for a babysitter.

"Well don't worry honey, I'm sure Eduardo would just love to be your little friend, wouldn't you Eduardo?" the boy smiled warmly as he looked at both girls. In his mind he was already starting to like Suzy and did the boldest thing he had ever done in his young life. He walked straight up to Suzy and put his arm around her and held her tight as he nodded his head.

"Yup, from now on mom, this is my girlfriend for all time," Suzy blushed at all the positive attention she was getting and held back the tears she felt at the back of her eyes as she wanted to cry from joy. Yet, at the very same moment, her collar went off. She cried as she pulled at it and the pitch only grew higher causing her much more pain. Eduardo and his mother looked closely at her neck for the first time to see the collar and instantly fell worried and scared.

" I have to get home as soon as possible, please excuse me," at that very instant the pitch got even higher and brought Suzy to her knees in pain as she tried to block out her ears. Destino rushed to her side and picked her up and held her close as she rushed out the door and ran to the neighbors. She banged on the door as the little girl began to cry even though the sound was going down. The tears welled up and cascaded down her cheeks like rivers running freely.

"Yeah, what do you want?" a teenager answered the door as he leaned against the side of the door with a bored glance at the now writhing girl. He smirked as he turned a distasteful eye to the woman and her son. He seemed disgusted and ready to fight them for no apparent reason.