“They will find out about you.. about us.. if you continue this friendship.”, his father warned.

Josh flicked through the letters in his hand, each floating to the ground by his leather-bound feet. He felt the memories dancing closer to his grizzled face as he came to one with flowers on it. Susie was two days from turning 10.

Josh,

I have been looking forward to this my whole life! No more homework, no more reading, none of that. Just think – I can spend more time with you and I will be able to talk from experience. Your stories of the woods and animals will be things I will have seen and felt too. How can you keep me from that?

Susie

He had felt her anger and frustration. He was 13 then and knew what it was like to want something he couldn’t have. He wanted to be part of her world but seeing the metal ‘bots’ patrolling the streets always brought him back to his senses. They were sentries to ‘protect’ the people, but he had seen the way they administered ‘justice’.