Your heart leaps for the stars! It’s been so long, you’d nearly forgotten how good it feels to close in on a little piece of prey. His hand feels tiny and brittle in yours, and it takes restraint to not crush it like it was made of eggshell. You can already imagine how cute he’s gonna look when he realizes what he’s walked into!

As you walk, your fingers trace over his hands, lighting up his naive heart with syrupy puppylove. All to keep him calm, and make sure this doesn’t get messier than it has to be. Still, you can’t keep your rising excitement out of your voice. “Really though, kid…Didn’t your mommy ever tell you about talking to strangers?”

He tilts his head, almost confused at the question. “Well, yea, but I mean…” He chirps, “That’s only for the bad ones!”

You smile to yourself as you come up on your house, a perfectly unsuspecting little home amidst dozens in the suburban landscape. “Well…What if I’m a bad person? What would you do then?”