She is seven years old when it happens.

She is sitting in her room, pretending to do her homework when really, she's doodling in her notebook. Big looping letters, surrounded by flowers and hearts. Her name.

Quinn.

It's a mundane day, a little overcast and she's had a cold, which means extra hot chocolate and extra hugs from Daddy. She's humming softly to herself, just a wordless tune of contentment and a little boredom. And then she hears it.

Hi.

She looks around. There's nothing in her room, there's no one in her room. She's never had an imaginary friend but maybe she could have dreamed it, except it was loud and as real as her daddy's voice booming from the next room as he talks to one of his clients. She waits a few seconds before going back to her "homework."

Hello! Are you there? Will you… talk to me?

Quinn screams.

Her mother scoops Quinn up in her arms and hugs her trembling body close, while Daddy looks ready to murder whoever is invading his daughter's room. With frightened tones Quinn whispers that she heard a voice, it was a monster, someone is there, and suddenly Mommy is smiling and tearing up, and Daddy is saying "That's my girl!" with that voice he uses whenever he's really proud of something.

Mommy sits Quinn on her lap and cuddles her, telling her that now that she's a Big Girl it's time she learned a Secret. Quinn loves secrets, and so she listens with wide eyes as Mommy tells her that every little girl and boy has another little girl and boy out there that is theirs, just for them, and when the time is right, they start talking to each other. Even if they haven't met. They can talk to each other with their minds, and see each other, if they're really lucky. They're bonded, Daddy says, just like Mommy and Daddy are, and it's because someday they're going to love each other very much. It's true love, Mommy says, and she and Daddy share a smile.

Mommy asks Quinn what the boy said.

"She asked if I'd talk to her."

Mommy and Daddy share a look.

Quinn sits back in her room, full of this new secret about what her life will be like when she's a big girl, and suddenly, it's as if there's someone there, right on the edge of her mind. Almost as if there's someone sitting, just outside her room. But it isn't scary, more intriguing and… comforting.

Mommy said that if Quinn was lucky, she'd be able to see. She concentrates, squeezing her eyes shut and thinking hard. At first she sees nothing. But then… there's a room. And it's pink, not like the mild green of Quinn's room. It's pink and sparkly and oh, there's a girl, sitting on her bed just like Quinn. She's coloring in a book, her tongue poked out from between her lips as she focuses, and she's… she's singing. Quinn listens, and she decides she likes it. She likes the girl's voice and the way it seems to fill Quinn until there's nothing else… but then the girl lifts her head and she looks at Quinn, she knows she's there

And she smiles, all brown hair with bangs falling into her brown eyes and there's a dimple in her cheek.

Hello, she says, and she sounds breathless and shy. I'm sorry I scared you.

Hi, Quinn says back. I think I'm supposed to love you.