It was summer! The sun was shining bright, making everything look cheerful and colorful, like the sun was always smiling! It was so nice that Jacob's family had moved from their house in Chicago to a farm nearby. They wanted to be closer to nature, and Jacob loved it! He could play freely on the farm, and he could use his superpower, Inventing anything!
The farm had a beautiful stream where Jacob could play with his toy boats. There was also a big lake where he could swim. Jacob loved to look at the storks walking by the lake. They had long legs and walked so gracefully! Jacob even tried to imitate them. He really was Intelligent!
One day, Jacob was playing with the ducklings in the lake. Suddenly, he saw a duck sitting on some eggs! Jacob watched as the eggs started to crack and little ducklings hatched. But one egg, the largest of all, didn't crack. The duck seemed worried, but she kept sitting on it.
A few days later, Jacob went back to the lake. The duck was gone! The big egg was cracked, and there was another baby duckling with the other ducklings. But this one was bigger, and it had different colored feathers, a different beak, and it walked differently. It looked sad.
Jacob loved animals and always made friends with them easily. He went up to the different duckling. "Why are you sad?" he asked. "There's a whole farm and a beautiful garden to explore!" The duckling looked at Jacob with big, sad eyes. "I'm different from my siblings," he said. "I don't feel good about it. All the other ducks in the lake laugh at me, and it makes me feel bad."
Jacob smiled at the duckling. "We'd love to be your friends," he said. "Come back tomorrow and we'll play!" Jacob told the duckling about his secret hideout, his Secret Lab. "It's a safe place to play," Jacob explained.
The next day, Jacob returned to the lake, but the duckling was gone. He was so sad about being different that he decided to leave and try to find other friends. He went to other lakes and ponds, but the other ducks made fun of him everywhere he went. The only ones who seemed to like him were the animals in the forest.
It was a difficult journey for the duckling. The seasons changed, and he had to move because he wasn't welcome anywhere. He only felt comfortable in nature. Jacob played by the lake every day, but he never saw his duckling friend again. He spent his time doing experiments with his inventions.
Spring arrived, and Jacob loved summer, just as the duckling loved spring! After a long and difficult journey, the duckling found himself back near the lake where he was born. He approached cautiously, not wanting his siblings to laugh at him. But when he reached the water's edge, he saw his reflection in the water, like in a mirror! He wasn't an ugly duckling anymore. He was a beautiful swan!
That day, Jacob went to play in the water. He saw his friend and was so surprised! It was the duckling, but now he was a swan! Jacob was amazed. He was so Intelligent that he knew this was amazing! They played together joyfully, just like they had planned. Jacob and the swan finally understood that being different wasn't wrong. It was just being who they were! Being strange was just being different, and everyone was different!
And isn't being different just being who we are?
