The overwhelming scent of freshly baked cookies lured the children out to the balcony. They had been stuck inside all day, but the nanny was busy in the kitchen and the smell coming from there couldn’t be further from the one wafting inside.

Thomas was a few weeks from turning eight and determined to inform everyone he met. In most situations he would tell them how old he was before he stated his name. Rebecca Sturges, seven and a half, was sent across the hall to socialize. After being shown all of his toys, his daddy’s study and his mother’s collection of hat pins, the two children retired to the living room to stare blankly at the walls around them.

Minutes turned into hours, and with a glance at the oak clock in the hall, Missus Rumpert traded her needlepoint for an apron and waddled into the kitchen. The children gawked limply at one another, trying to speak with nothing but their eyes. Unbeknownst to either of them, the exact same thought coursed through their heads at the exact same moment: this is how animals must talk.

The smell of cookies broke their trance. It seemed to permeate through the balcony doors, thumbing its ethereal nose at those who kept it out. Almost in unison, the children’s eyes widened, their nostrils flared, and they tip-toed to the doors to see the source of the pleasant disturbance. With one last peek over his shoulder, Thomas turned the handle and crept onto the balcony. Ever the little gentleman, he held the door for Rebecca and shut it softly behind him.

Sticking his face through the twisted wrought iron bars, Thomas tried to determine the location of the delicious scent. His eyes darted from the vendors with their pushcarts to the stores neatly packed against one another on the opposite side of the street. None were the culprit. He deduced the source must be on their side of the street, and climbed onto the white metal chair to get a better look. Craning his neck around the corner, he continued to climb onto the glass top table, and then over the railing.

“What are you doing?!” chimed Rebecca, the first thing she’d said since introducing herself that morning.