Once upon a time, an overworked waitress by the name of Rita lived with her two children and husband in a rundown building in the Bronx. The little boy’s name was Carlos, and the little girl’s name was Lola. Rita’s husband, Diego, was the children’s step-father. Their real father died in an accident years before.

Despite working more than 70 hours a week to put food on the table, it went to waste with Diego. He constantly wasted away Rita’s hard-earned money with new crazy ideas that always fell through. Because there was no money, Carlos and Lola regularly went to school dirty and hungry.

Rita often spent her nights worrying how to repay the debts Diego racked up.

“I’m a terrible mother! I work all the time and I still can’t take care of my children!” Rita cried. Diego, who despised Lola and Carlos, came up with an evil plan to get rid of them.

“Why don’t we drop them off at my cousin Sarah’s house in Orange? She loves children.”

Diego knew Sarah hated children and took pleasure in making their lives miserable.

“How can I just leave my children? I’m all they have left!” Rita cried. “If you don’t drop them off at Sarah's house, we’ll lose everything!” Diego responded. With tears in her eyes, Rita agreed and began to prepare to move the children.

Outside their door, Carlos stood listening to the horrid conversation.

“Oh no! I have to tell Lola immediately!” Waking up his sleeping sister, he told Lola about their mother and step-father’s plans.

“We have to come up with a plan, Carlos! I refuse to live with some stranger!” Lola cried. So, the two of them came up with a plan. They used the bit of money they had earned from selling newspapers to buy bus tickets to get back home.

The next morning, their mother came and rode the train with them to Orange. Tearfully, she left them with the promise of coming back when she had enough money to take care of them. Then she kissed them on their heads. As soon as Rita rounded the corner, Sarah began barking orders at them to clean the house from top to bottom. Refusing to take orders from this mean stranger, the children packed their things once again and ran to the nearest bus station. 

You can imagine Diego's surprise to see Carlos and Lola sitting on the porch the next day.

“How are you guys here? Your mother left you with Sarah!” He exclaimed. Diego rushed upstairs to tell Rita that the children were back and that she must take them back to Orange at once. Hearing this, the children began to panic and hatch up yet another plan.

As Carlos and Lola were brainstorming a plan, they ran out of time and Rita took them back to Orange. As Rita dropped them off, she promised that Sarah will be a better caregiver.

“I’ll come back when I have money saved up.” Rita said. So, Carlos and Lola went to Sarah’s house. 

Upon their return, Sarah welcomed the children with a warm smile and freshly baked brownies. To Carlos and Lola's surprise, Sarah was acting oddly nice.

“Make yourselves at home,” Sarah said gently. “There are two empty rooms with a couch, a bed, and an entertainment center. You two decide who will get which room,“ she said.

Carlos and Lola picked a room and the rooms were beautiful. “Maybe this is not so bad," Lola told Carlos. As the days went by, everything seemed fine. Sarah was treating them fairly and giving them a life they could not have with their mom.

A year went by and the children were still happy. But one day, Sarah woke up and did not seem like her usual self. 

"Why is your room a mess?” Sarah yelled.

“Sorry, we will clean it right now.” Carlos and Lola said.

“Sarah seems to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed, but she does have a point.”

“Our room is a mess." So, they cleaned up their room and decided to go outside and play, for it was a beautiful, sunny day. 

“Get in this house and clean the kitchen!” Sarah screamed again. By this point, both Carlos and Lola were confused by their aunt’s behavior. Sure, their room had been dirty before, but Sarah had gotten more and more unkind throughout the day. She began demanding that they clean things they had never touched. As the day dragged on, each chore got harder and harder.

After cleaning the kitchen, she ordered them to collect firewood. Then they had to clean the attic as she barked order after order at them. Carlos and Lola also had to wash an endless pile of dishes. By the time they were done, the sun was setting and they were both very hungry.

Carlos and Lola were so afraid of their aunt becoming angry again, that they did not think of asking for food. Instead, they searched through the cabinets to prepare a small meal for themselves. Just when Lola was putting away the grape jelly and Carlos was finishing washing the butter knife they had used, their aunt came storming into the kitchen.

“What are you two little brats doing in here?” she hollered frantically.

“We were just—” the siblings began to say before Sarah cut them off by picking both of them up by the back of their belts.

“I have had just about enough of you two,” Sarah seethed, carrying them roughly to a room that they had never been in before. The walls were bare, the air was damp, and there was no lighting except for the little candle set in the center of a black, cracked, wooden table in the corner. The large room also had an oven the size of a bus, burning with fuel, a large cage at the other end of the room, and a tall, dark wardrobe that was sealed tightly shut.