On that Sunday afternoon, my friend and I sat on the beach chairs and watched our girls playing in the waves. Suddenly, the girls all ran away. About fifty metres from us, the girls stood next to a middle-aged man and watched him fishing. He smiled at them. They ran back to us all except my three-year-old daughter, Anna.
"Anna! Come here! Play with your friends!" I shouted, realising that my speeches about not talking to strangers weren't working. These days, many parents were told terrible stories about children being taken away by strangers. Good mums should teach their daughters that the world is a dangerous place. So I felt a little better when Anna finally ran towards me. Then she took up a shovel(铲子) and looked me in the eye, "I want to be with that man." She ran back, sat down next to him and started digging.
I watched my daughters, every few seconds looking quickly at my five-year-old daughter to make sure she hadn't been swept out to the sea, then back to Anna to make sure she was safe. A few seconds later, Anna ran back to us, waving something shiny. It was a toy fish—yellow and rubber. This must be what he was using for fishing. And he'd given it to Anna. The three other girls saw it and they all wanted it." My friend gave me that fish!" Anna shouted loudly. The girls ran after each other with a yellow rubber fish flying through the air.
Suddenly, the man walked towards us with three more rubber fishes. He handed them to each of the girls. "Thank you," they said quickly.
"Thank you," I said, realising there are lessons for mothers to learn that only three-year-olds could teach them.
