It was summer! The sun was bright and warm, like a big smile in the sky! Abigail loved summer! Everything seemed cheerful and colorful, like the sun was always happy! Abigail had moved from their house in Washington to a nearby farm. Her family wanted to be closer to nature. Abigail loved the move! The farm was so big and had so much space to play! It was the perfect place to use her superpower, swimming like a mermaid.
There was a beautiful stream on the farm, so peaceful and quiet. Abigail liked to swim there, but she also loved swimming in the lake! There were lots of animals on the farm. Abigail loved the storks with their long legs. They walked so gracefully! Abigail even tried to copy their walk, she was such an explorer!
One day, while playing with the ducklings in the lake, Abigail saw a duck sitting on a nest of eggs! It was so magical! Abigail watched as the eggs started to crack and little ducklings hatched! But one egg, the biggest of all, didn't hatch. The duck seemed worried but kept sitting on it.
Days later, Abigail went back to the lake. The duck was gone! The big egg had cracked, and there was another baby duckling among the others. But this duckling was bigger, with different colored feathers, a different beak, and a different way of walking. He looked sad.
Abigail loved animals and always wanted to make friends with them. She went to talk to the strange duckling. "Why are you sad?" she asked. "There's a whole farm and a beautiful garden to explore!" The duckling said he was sad because he was different from his siblings. "They laugh at me, and I don't feel good about it."
"No, you're not strange!" Abigail said. "We'll love to play with you! Come back tomorrow, we'll play together!" Abigail told the duckling about her secret hiding place, the Deep Ocean. "It's a great place to play, and no one will laugh at you there!"
The next day, Abigail went back to the lake. But the duckling was gone! He was so sad that he decided to leave and find other friends. He went all over, but the other ducks made fun of him.
It was a hard journey for the duckling. The seasons changed, and he always had to move because he wasn't welcome anywhere. He only felt happy when he was alone in nature.
Abigail played by the lake every day, but she never saw her duckling friend again. She liked to play with her mermaid tail and imagine herself swimming in the Deep Ocean.
Spring arrived, and the duckling loved spring just as Abigail loved summer! After a long and difficult journey, the duckling found himself near the lake where he was born. He approached cautiously, afraid his siblings would 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's why everyone thought he was so strange!
That day, Abigail went to play in the water. She recognized her friend! What a happy reunion! Abigail was amazed at how beautiful her friend was. He was a swan, and she was an explorer! They played joyfully together.
Abigail and the swan understood that being strange wasn't bad. It just meant being who you are! Being strange is being different, and everyone is different! And isn't being different just being who we are?
