Foxie and the Sandcastle

Foxie, sitting in the backseat of her mom’s car, was very excited about going to the park for the afternoon. Foxie’s mom and her usually went to the park every other Sunday afternoon so Foxie could swing on swings, slide down slides, and dig in the sandbox - all while her mom could catch up on the local news and gossip from the other parents at the park. 

When Foxie arrived at the park, she noticed another little girl, who happened to be a brown bear, playing in the sandbox all by herself. Of course, Foxie felt bad for that girl, so she ran straight to her and began to dig nearby. When the other girl noticed Foxie, she waved at her and Foxie then waved back.

“I’m Foxie, what’s your name?” Foxie asked. 

“Amaya.” The other girl responded, but with no elaboration. 

Foxie noticed that Amaya said her name in a way that wasn’t the way she would say it; Amaya had an accent. But Foxie didn’t think much of this, as she had plenty of friends who all spoke differently. So, she continued trying to befriend the bear girl.

“That’s a pretty name, Amaya! How old are you?” Foxie asked inquisitively. 

Amaya stared blankly at Foxie and shrugged her shoulders. Both girls looked towards where their moms were then back to each other. Foxie, as persistent as she was, still wanted to be nice to Amaya. So, she handed her a sandbox toy and grabbed another one for herself.

“We can build a sandcastle together if you want,” Foxie suggested. 

Amaya did not respond. Foxie assumed that her new friend must be shy; so, Foxie began to build a sandcastle on her own. After a few minutes, Amaya joined in the building of the sandcastle. This confused Foxie, because Amaya looked old enough to be able to talk. After a few minutes, Foxie and Amaya had silently built the best sandcastle that she had ever seen in this sandbox. 

“This sandcastle looks great! We should get our moms to take pictures of it!” Foxie squealed as she began to stand up. 

Amaya said, “no,” to Foxie and handed her another sandcastle building toy. Foxie was confused; did Amaya not want pictures of the sandcastle? Foxie decided to respect the wishes of her new friend and took the toy she was handing her and began to make more parts for the sandcastle. 

Foxie and Amaya’s sandcastle began to get even better and bigger than before. Foxie began to communicate with Amaya in more nonverbal ways and she was able to get the sandcastle to perfection right as Amaya’s mom walked up. But then, Amaya’s mom began talking to Amaya in a different language and Amaya was speaking back to her in that language. That’s when Foxie realized that Amaya doesn’t speak the same verbal language that she speaks and that’s why she wasn’t really responding to her. Foxie felt embarrassed for not having realized this sooner, but she was excited to know that she was able to play with and communicate with Amaya without speaking. 

Amaya stood up and waved to Foxie as she took her mom’s hand and said, “bye.” 

Foxie waved and said, “bye,” back to her with a big smile. Foxie watched Amaya walk to her mom’s car with her mom and then Foxie ran to her mom to tell her about her new friend. She also made sure her mom took multiple photos of the sandcastle they had built. 

On the car ride home, Foxie and her mom discussed ways to communicate with other people who maybe speak a different language, can’t hear very well, or just don’t like to talk. Foxie learned about nonverbal communication which is when you ‘talk’ to someone without actually using your mouth. She learned that sometimes you can gesture to things, use hand signals, and even body movements. 

Foxie couldn’t wait to learn more about her new friend, Amaya, next time she goes to the park. Foxie also couldn’t wait to build an even cooler and more awesome sandcastle next time she goes to the park. Foxie’s mom said she was proud of her for doing her best with talking to Amaya and with the sandcastle and that made Foxie feel confident and proud of herself, as well.