Once there was a boy who lived by the sea and loved to build sandcastles on the calm seashore during peaceful days. A lot of people from all walks of life passed by the seashore. They became familiar seeing the boy playing around by the shore and happily building his sandcastles. He loved to construct different designs and sizes of sandcastles. There were some gothic in forms with tallest points struggling to reach the clouds with towering heights filled with many square holes depicting itself as windows where air can flow through it. Others were sprawled with merely two to three layers of piles with curved design on the rooftop befitting the rich kings and queens in ancient era.
He would sometimes ask some passers by to join him in making his sandcastles so he would get new ideas to add up to his designs. Some joined him but others did not. It wasn’t because they didn’t like him or sandcastles but because they were too busy making out with their daily schedules and didn’t have ample time to give for building sandcastles.
Many passers-by of his age whom he invited joined him and enjoyed making sandcastles with him. They enjoyed packing layer upon layer of sand. They would sometimes play with the sand, scooping the ground using their hands and hurling up to each other until they were filled with the tiny grits all around their face and body. Sometimes they would lie still and wallow under a blanket made of sand. There were those times when the sun was setting and some had to leave as they headed for home or for some important tasks waiting for them along the way. Some returned the following day but others didn’t. Nevertheless, with each passer by who had joined him, he learned new things about life and kept them in mind.
The boy enjoyed his everyday life and his playing with the sand, with his loving Father looking at him, intently watching him from the yacht as He pulled fishes from the net or prepared foods for them to eat in a day.
The boy got used to be with many passers by he would see regularly everyday. There were some whom he would barely recall faces, some he used to see but never got to invite as he was very busy too with his new playmates and sandcastles.
One sunny day, the boy noticed this new but not too unfamiliar face of a young lady, who passed by along the way. He would sometimes see her staring at the castles he made by the seashore. He didn’t know that the lady admired his brilliance and creativity in making sandcastles. She has never seen as awesome masterpiece as those sandcastles before. She somehow knew that it was the boy who made them all, as she would sometimes passed by and see him calculating how he could design or balance the crafts at a certain degree. She thought he was a nice boy but strange as it may seem, she didn’t get to stop or take sometime to come close at his masterpiece when he was around to inquire about it. The young lady must have a strange fear that kept her off the boy.
One day as he looked around examining his crafts, he noticed her in passing looking at his sandcastles. He started to notice her and wonder how fun it might be to know and teach her how to build a beautiful sandcastle. He would see her passing by regularly in a week but never got to talk with her. One day before he slept, he decided to talk to his Dad about the young lady. His Dad thought about what his son told him. The boy didn’t know that his Dad knew the young lady very well.
Once, at daybreak, he woke up early and went to the shore as he used to do. He started to gather pile of sands preparing to make a new sandcastle with a different design. He looked around the shore that morning and from a distance, he saw his Dad coming with a pleasant surprise. He saw the young lady walking and talking with his Dad coming up to him. He didn’t know what they were talking about while they were walking to him. He then recalled that his Dad remembered it when he talked about her that night before bedtime.
The young lady slowly came close to him and with bashful eyes, she started to sit opposite to him. She began to touch the sand he piled up, and was amazed by the quality found in each sand to be used in building a new sandcastle. There were pebbles to make a strong foundation, a fine one, and some rough, too in building up the walls and putting up holes in it. He started to introduce to her how the sandcastle is being founded to make it stronger and she was attentively listening. She was astounded in the beauty of making wonderful sandcastles masterpiece. She admired the boy even more and thought that the boy must be a genius.
The boy didn’t care what the young lady thought about him, he was just enjoying everyday what he was doing while playing the sand at the seashore. He got used to it as part of his daily tasks and enjoyment. He taught her a lot about what he knew. She also tried to impart some suggestions of what she thought could be best to make their sandcastle a more beautiful and admirable one.
There were days when it was windy and they would simply enjoy playing around with the sand, running and laughing together then sat down by the shore and continue making out the sandcastle. There were also days of squabbles over petty little things but didn’t matter to them at all. They enjoyed playing around with each other. And his Dad was watching them in the offings, smiling at them.
His Dad was pleased to see them enjoying as they were building a pile of sand day by day and working hard to make it a beautiful one as among the rest and yet different in style.
One day, as they used to, they went to the seashore. The boy was sitting very quietly while piling up the sand and trying to build up another layer. The young lady wondered what the boy was thinking, why he seemed quiet very much unlike the other days that have passed. The boy seemed not to be in a good mood to do the masterpiece that day. She thought he must not have been feeling well or something might be bothering him. But she kept quiet and sat there still, and thought it might be best to simply be there and wait till the boy was ready to speak about it, of what could have made him feel so bad that day.
She wanted to inquire what could be wrong but wondered if it was right to ask the young boy, since she doesn’t know him very well yet. She sat there with him in complete silence and looked away at the sea for sometimes, then looking back at the boy in his eyes and trying to figure out what could be wrong. In the midst of silence, in a sudden pace, the boy rose from his sitting and kicked a portion of the sandcastle they’ve made. The girl was speechless yet still sitting there and looking at her newfound friend. She didn’t know what to feel about what he did. She was left wondering what was going on with him. He wanted to help the boy but preferred to sit still and wait till he utters a word.
