An Eleven year old Francesco pulled his two little sisters Lucia and Giovanna up the stairwell of the building, away from their apartment where Vincenza and Maria were arguing. Damiana followed him and he didn't try to stop her. They lived on the top floor of the apartment building. It had the cheapest rent and was all they could afford. The stairwell continued though and ended in a trapdoor that could be opened upward onto the roof. The roof was slanted as all roofs were, but it had a very gentle slant, so much that it was easy enough to climb on, provided they listened to what Maria had told them and stayed away from the edge.

The four of them climbed out onto the rooftop. Francesco sat down and Lucia and Giovanna sat down on either side of him. Damiana sat down as well and none of them said anything until Lucia broke the silence by saying, "Why do you always come up here?"

Francesco thought about it for a minute before replying, "I like being able to see the big picture, to see that God created a whole world."

Giovanna frowned, "What do you mean?"

Francesco, "Sometimes, it feels like there's nothing in life but our little apartment, because we never go out. But God created this whole earth," he gestured at the city that spread out before them, "and someday, I could leave here and go anywhere I wanted to."

Lucia nodded, "Like to Rome."

Giovanna added, "Maybe someday you could even work for the Pope."

Francesco chuckled, "Maybe."

Giovanna frowned and said, "but you can see all this from the window. Why come up here?"

Francesco sighed, "I guess I just like how quit it is up here."

Damiana nodded in agreement, "No voices."

Lucia squeezed his hand and asked, "How come Maria never comes up here?"

Francesco bit his lip, "It makes her too sad to remember."

Lucia frowned, "Remember what?"

Francesco sighed, "Before my father died and Mama had to back to work, Maria used to come up here all the time. She was the one who showed it to me. But since she was the oldest, she took on a lot of responsibility. She doesn't like to remember what it was like to be so carefree because then she feels guilty."

He looked at the two confused faces and sighed, " Besides, she does come out her, at night sometimes, to look at the stars." Lucia and Giovanna seemed at least partly satisfied with his answer and lapsed into silence. Damiana was silent as well, and Francesco could tell she was deep in thought.

Just then the trap door opened up again and Vincenza poked her head out, saying, "It's time for dinner."

Francesco carefully lowered Giovanna and Lucia down to Vincenza then pulled Damiana down with him, back to the tiny apartment, where it was easy to forget that God created a whole world. At least Vincenza and Maria had stopped arguing. It was disconcerting. Maria so rarely argued with anyone. It was always him and Vincenza that argued and fought. They always made up though. They had to. How else were they going to live with each other in the tiny apartment?