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Once upon a time there was a young boy who loved sailboats. He would sit at the harbor for hours just watching the boats bob in the water, or sail out on amazing adventures, or return to the dock and to home. So one Christmas, under the tree, wrapped in beautiful golden paper, the boy found a sailboat model kit. He was so excited that he left the other presents unwrapped and began right away to build his model sailboat. It took him 4 months of painstaking gluing, tying, painting, waiting, but by late April the boat was ready. He painted his name on the side and walked carefully down to the creek behind his house for the boat’s maiden voyage. Barely able to contain his excitement, the boy gently set the boat in the water, and whooped with joy when the boat slowly began to sail its way down the creek.
But with the melting snow of spring, the creek was a bit larger, and a bit rougher, and a bit faster than the boy had remembered from the fall. Soon, the little boat began to pick up speed as it drifted to the middle of the creek, and soon the creek had grown into a small river. As his fear rose higher and higher, the boat began to outpace him and soon it was all he could do to keep up with his precious treasure. And eventually, the boy couldn’t run anymore. With tears in his eyes, he watched as the boat sailed down the river and out of sight. For a month the boy searched for his boat, but by late May, he realized that the boat was gone. Sadly the boy finished his school year and summer came without its usual joy, for his boat was gone and the boy was heartbroken.
In the middle of June, the boy was kicking a pebble down the main street of his town when he came upon the window of the resale shop. Looking up for just a moment, the boy was shocked to see a sailboat in the window of the shop. But more than just a sailboat, it was his very own sailboat. With renewed joy he ran into the shop and explained to the shopowner that the boat in the window was his, even showing that his name was on the hull. “I’m sorry, son, but I can’t just give you the boat because you say it’s yours,” the owner replied. “If you want it, you’ll have to pay for it like everyone else.” When the boy found out it was worth $100, he resolved to do whatever it took to buy that boat back. So the boy hired himself out for every odd job he could find. He walked dogs, mowed lawns, delivered papers, cleaned windows… and by the end of August, the boy had earned the $100. Returning to the store, he proudly put the money on the counter and tenderly took the little boat in his hands and walked home. As he walked along, he talked to his beloved little boat. “Well, little boat, we are together again. First I made you, and then I bought you. Now you are twice mine.”
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