That gets a real smile out of Sonia, even a little laugh. "Impossible? Really? You must be biased."

But she sits up a little straighter, tilts her head at him with a slightly knowing smile. "Oh, it sounds like she was a fairly normal little girl to me. You wouldn't believe the in-and-out feuds I had with my friends when I was little, each one a flash in the pan. Quick to offend, but just as quick to forget, because in the end, no one really wanted to be without her friends." She looks skyward in contemplation, her own smile going wry. "In retrospect, perhaps there wouldn't have been quite so many feuds if hadn't developed such a taste for outrageous lies so early on. No one in my family will claim responsibility for that one -- imagine that."