Walking down the beach, I noticed two kids trying to make a sandcastle. “In my childhood I would have made 20 of these in a day, and these young kids can’t even get through one,” I grunted. “Everybody thinks they are better than the others but what makes you think you are?”, said the girl among the two, her hands smeared with sand. Her curious eyes gazing into mine, I instantly knew she had more questions for me.

 

“How about you tell me how our failure to make one sandcastle is better than the many mistakes you grown up keep making all the time. Give me a day, and I’ll have a list to prove my point.” she said in a firm voice. In all honesty, I did not know how to respond. I wondered how could a girl so small, not a day older than 10, understand human nature. That humans are crooked, when they do not have talent they yearn for power to get respect from others, they thrive in corrupt practices, they need to be suppressed to make them spring up, they need validation when they look in the mirror every day. Taken aback by the unexpected response, I decided to keep mum and simply observe the two kids make a sandcastle. The castle kept crumbling down and the children did not give up.

 

They kept collecting the shimmering golden grains of sand, sparkling in the light of the setting sun in their small colourful buckets. One strong wave and the castle would be washed away, the ball of youngsters playing volleyball nearby could land right on it, or someone may just inadvertently step on it! And yet, the kids gathered sand and kept trying to build a good one. There were many people strolling on the beach, hawkers selling goodies and a lot of activity all around. But for those few minutes, there was stillness between me and the little girl. At that moment, I wanted to ask the people around me, Are we giving these children the perfect world? How can we make ourselves worthy of their respect? The sound of the enormous waves was now louder than before. It was time to see off the Sun, the sea looking petrifying as the night fell. It almost makes me feel the coldness of a coffin. “We should go back,” said the girl. Don’t worry. I’ll make a list of things gone wrong with you.I can start with your old-fashioned taste in clothes.” I smiled and, for the first time after so long, I exhaled.