In the year 2000, in the town of Mayo, located at the edge of the Stewart River in Alaska, there was a small village. It was so small that it only had a single bank, a single school, and a single market. For this reason, everyone in the village knew one another well; it was as though they were all one big family. Every afternoon, mothers would take their children to the park, where they would watch from the benches as the kids ran around the fountain and played. Every couple of years, the circus would come by, and once every year, they would hold a festival in the town square. Because of the frequency of these occasions, it seemed as though they were historical events within the village. But an even more historical event was about to take place. On the other side of town, a woman named Franchesca was in labor. Everyone was worried for the well-being of the child because, just a few hours back, Franchesca had taken a bad fall into a ditch. Although she had miraculously survived, they were concerned that the baby might not have.