It was Albert Roth's sixth birthday and his parents were not paying attention to him. They were, instead, at the hospital, caring for their newborn son Zeke. The doctors said that it was too soon to take him home, so instead, they were staying there.
Albert, however, didn't want to stay there. He felt lonely there, within those white hallways which always smelled of antiseptic. He asked his parents if he could go home and they said yes. They hired a babysitter to watch him and then went back to worrying about little Zeke.
But even though he had his toys and his games and the television to watch shows and movies, Albert was still lonely. His babysitter didn't want to play games with him. He missed his parents.
Then he saw a boy out on the street. A boy and a girl. They were waving at him.
Albert looked to his babysitter, about to ask if he could go outside and play, when he noticed that she was asleep. He didn't want to wake her. In fact, he knew what she would say - after all, it's okay for a boy to play outside.
So Albert zipped up his jacket to protect against the cold and walked outside. He waved to the other kids and went over to ask their names.
He didn't notice their black eyes or cold smiles until it was too late.
