Theme: Cooperation x Competition

The sand castle

The sisters Gaia and Serena lived in a city on the coast and whenever they could they went to the beach with their parents.

They loved swimming then sitting on the sand to make castles. Each one of them made her own, in her own way.

Gaia made its windows and doors thoroughly. She put ice cream sticks on the edges as if they were the knockers.

Serena was busy at the top of the castle. She molded the sand with her hands or bowls so each tower had a different shape.

The castles made were beautiful. But unfortunately, they did not always return from the beach satisfied. That's because when one ended and saw the other sister's castle, she thought the other's was more beautiful. They kept comparing the castles and asking their parents to choose the best.

Their parents always said that the two were very beautiful and that each had a different style. They also explained that this comparison is very common among siblings but it should be avoided because it doesn’t help at all.

One day on the beach seeing that the situation occurred frequently, the father called them both and said:

- Daughters, do you remember the tennis game dad was watching on TV yesterday? Well, tennis is a really cool game with surprising moves and lots of excitement especially when the game is well balanced. But it's a competition game. It means one plays against the other. When a player wins and is happy on the other side of the net it is the other player who has lost.

The father continued:

- But there is a game which is also played with rackets and balls which is not based on competition but on cooperation. I brought you today to play here on the beach.

The father then removed the fresco ball material from his backpack and taught the girls how to play it:

- Get away from each other. Now Serena must hit the ball with the racket and send it to Gaia. Gaia has to rebound back and you have to keep bouncing back and forth without letting the ball fall to the ground.

At first they found it difficult but soon they had fun. They counted how many battles they could do without letting the ball fall. They needed to control the strength of the rackets and the direction of the ball so that the sister could also fold back easily.

When they didn’t go well and the ball fell to the ground the two tried harder. When they were able to hit several battles in a row they celebrated.

After playing a lot they decided to rest. They sat on the sand to make their castles, as usual. The father then proposed that the girls build the castle together this time and so they did.

They built a huge castle with many windows and well-built towers.

They worked together for a long time. More beautiful the castle was more they carried away and worked on the details. They dug a well around it and a bridge. At the end, they still picked up shells to decorate the walls.

The result was so good that it caught the attention of those who passed by. Some children came just to see the big castle.

The girls thanked satisfied with compliments.

The sisters asked before leaving:

"Dad, can you take a picture of us?"

The father took several pictures of the castle and its smiling builders.

After all, they needed to record that special day and the joy of Gaia and Serena when they managed to change the competition for cooperation.

Translation:
Larissa Martine - larissa_am@hotmail.com

marcelapradacontato@gmail.com