He knew from a young age that he was different from other children—he didn't have a mommy or daddy in his life. He had sealed himself off in his own independent world, coming to understand the harshness of reality and losing the innocence of childhood prematurely—or perhaps, he never had it to begin with.
Until the year he turned fifteen, when he met her, just five years old.
He still remembered the way she looked on her first day in the small town, wearing a pretty princess dress, holding a lollipop in one hand, her glossy black eyes scanning everything around her with curiosity.
She came from a single-parent family, living a less than affluent life with her frail, sickly mother.
But he had never seen a hint of despair in her eyes; every day all he saw was her playful smiles.
The fatherless girl was not lacking in confidence; she quickly befriended the other kids in town and even dominated their little circles.
