After a hard life of constant disappointment, Perro Viejo, an old slave on a Cuban sugar plantation, has given up, until an encounter with a fellow slave and an escape to freedom make him open his heart to the world once again.

It was only 30 years ago that the city now known as Aliso Viejo was a 6,600-acre working ranch, with cattle, goats, and sheep and a variety of crops. Located three miles from the Pacific Ocean on the east slope of the San Joaquin Hills, this land had changed little since it was granted to Don Juan Avila in 1821 after Mexico declared its independence from Spain. But in the 1970s, the burgeoning growth of Orange County spread south throughout Saddleback Valley and created Aliso Viejo, Orange County's 34th city, incorporated on July 1, 2001. Near beaches, parks, and employment, Aliso Viejo is home to about 48,000 residents who like to say their hometown is close to it all.