It was summer! The sun was shining bright and the flowers were blooming in all sorts of colors! Sofia loved summer. It felt like everyone was smiling, even the sun! Sofia had just moved with her family from their house in San Jose to a farm nearby. Her family wanted to be closer to nature, and Sofia loved it! She could play freely there, especially with her superpower - finding hidden treasures!
The farm was full of exciting things! There was a peaceful stream and a lake where Sofia could swim. She loved seeing all the animals, but her favorites were the storks. They had such long legs, and they walked so gracefully! Sofia tried to copy their walk, even though she didn’t have long legs like them!
One day, while playing with some ducklings in the lake, Sofia saw a duck sitting on a nest of eggs. It was magical! The eggs started to crack, and baby ducklings popped out! It was so exciting! But one egg, the biggest one, didn’t crack. The mama duck seemed worried, but she kept sitting on the egg.
Days later, Sofia returned to the lake. The mama duck was gone! The big egg had cracked, and there was another duckling with the others. But this duckling was different! It was bigger than the others, had different colored feathers, a different beak, and it didn't walk like the other ducklings. It looked really sad!
Sofia loved animals and always made friends easily. She walked over to the different duckling. "Why are you sad? The farm is so beautiful! There’s a whole garden to explore!" she said.
The duckling looked at her with sad eyes. "I’m different from my brothers and sisters. The other ducks laugh at me, and it makes me feel bad."
"Don’t worry!" said Sofia. "We'll be your friends. Come play with us tomorrow!" Sofia told the duckling about her secret hideout, Treasure Island. "It’s a great place to play and no one will laugh at you there!"
The next day, Sofia returned to the lake, but the duckling was gone! He was so sad about being different that he decided to leave and find other friends. But it didn't work out. Everywhere he went, the other ducks made fun of him.
It was a hard journey for the duckling. The seasons changed, and he had to keep moving because he never felt welcome. He only felt comfortable in nature.
Sofia went to the lake every day to play, but she never saw her duckling friend. She loved playing pretend pirates with her friends, searching for hidden treasure.
Spring arrived, and the duckling loved spring just as Sofia loved summer! After a long, hard journey, he found himself back near the lake where he was born. He was scared to go near his siblings because he didn't want them 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's why everyone thought he was so strange!
That day, Sofia went to play in the lake and saw her friend. What a special reunion! Sofia was amazed, especially with her adventurous personality! She loved the swan. They played joyfully together.
Sofia and the swan understood that being different wasn’t bad. It was just being who they are. Being strange is being different, and everyone is different!
And isn’t being different just being who we are?
