Benny's Birdhouse

Small Benny couldn’t press the two wooden blocks together. His hands were too small and too weak to build the birdhouse for his dad. He tried and tried but he couldn’t force the blocks together. His face turned red like a tomato in an attempt to use all his might. The wooden blocks popped out and stripped down the middle.

Out of complete frustration, Benny screamed and cried, punching the ground beside him in his bedroom. Hot tear streaks ran down his face as he fumed. He just couldn’t do it. No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t build this birdhouse. He wanted to so bad to surprise his dad for his birthday, but Benny simply couldn’t do it. And it frustrated him so much.

Benny looked at the work he had done and saw that it was terrible. He was embarrassed the birdhouse looked as poorly as it did. So Benny tucked his legs close to himself and sobbed. He was going to hand his dad a lousy, terrible gift for his birthday and it was all his fault.

There was a knock on Benny’s bedroom door. “Benny?” It was his dad. “May I come in?”

Benny knew his dad must have heard him crying. There was no use in turning him away; he knew his dad cared too much to let it go. So Benny permitted him to enter. Benny’s dad opened the door and saw his small son sitting on his bedroom floor crying over a broken birdhouse. And upon seeing his dad, Benny cried harder.

His dad knelt down and hugged Benny. “What’s wrong?”

Benny explained the gift and the disaster it was. Most importantly that it was a surprise, and now it was ruined.

Benny’s father looked at the pieces and held them in his hands. “It’s not ruined.”

Benny was very confused. He asked what he meant.

“We can start over. We’ll do it together.”

And so Benny’s dad took him to the store to buy a new birdhouse set, where they returned to Benny’s bedroom and sat on the floor building the birdhouse. When they had finished, Benny held up a perfectly made birdhouse. They admired it, noticing how flush the frame was and how sturdy it was.

Benny’s dad smiled proudly. “This is a wonderful birthday present, Benny. Thank you.”

Benny looked at the work he had done and saw that it was good. He was proud the birdhouse looked as wonderful as it did. So Benny held his gift out to his dad to take. Benny wished his dad a happy birthday.