"Its getting really hot. Should we go to the pool now?" I asked her as she splashed in the creek.
"I think that would be lovely," she replied.
I thought to myself again, for the thousandth time today, this can't be how a normal 3 year-old talks. She doesn't even come up to my waist and she speaks better than my 14 year-old brother.
It was a hot July day, but there was a nice breeze going. There weren't many people in the park but the pool was packed and we could here the people from where we were in the park. I could see some of my friends from the bridge Paige and I were crossing. They were under the tree inside the pool's fence. It was getting really hot and it was time to go. I needed to be in the pool asap.
As we began to make out way through the remaining part of the park, she stopped walking and I didn't notice right away. I extended my hand hoping that her little one would find it. I felt nothing. I turned to see her and what I saw surprised me. She was about 30 yards away by a bench under the willow tree next to the creek.
"Paige!" I yelled. "What are you doing?"
"There's a caterpillar here! We are having a conversation!"
I just stood there for awhile and decided to join her. I walked over to the bench and sat down near the caterpillar.
"What's his name?" I asked.
"HER name is Rose. She doesn't like when people think she is a boy," Paige replied earnestly.
"Oh, my apologies Rose," I said. "How are you on this beautiful summer day?"
Paige put her ear to the caterpillar and smiled.
"She's quite well now that we're here to be her friends. She said she doesn't have many people to talk to," Paige explained. "She also said she wants to come home with me."
We didn't get to the pool that day. Instead, Paige and I spent two hours on the bench, under the willow tree, talking to Rose.
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