Book excerpt: "Our foundations are set in place during childhood. Hard times make for hard foundations. Sturdy, solid. The edifice erected thereafter, its style, its shape¿its flow and direction are entirely up to the builder." Come and see the boy Amariah, born into his low existence. See his curiosity, his struggle to understand. Come and see the boy Amariah! See joy and laughter clutched dearly to his breast, glowing fireflies in a dark forest. Come...see the boy Amariah. See each agony experienced anew, each lash of the whip bright, bloody, and fresh. Come, see the boy Amariah. See and wonder what might become of such a wretch?