The Giant Wants to Play (Soft g)

This is Sen, and he is a normal boy. Well, normal for a giant! Sen and his family live in a big cave underground, and they do not come out often. But today, Sen wants to explore and see the world. He wants to meet new people, too!

When Sen climbs out of the cave, he sees something. A group of human children are watching him! 'Hey, hello there!' Sen says. But his giant voice is loud and scary to them. They run off, back to their house.

Sen follows them, and is sorry for scaring them. He did not know his voice was so loud. 'I just want to play,' he says, as gently as he can. He sees that the children have bikes, and he has never seen one before! 'What is that?' he asks, eyes wide.

The kids are frightened by this giant who has come from the cave. 'Is it a monster?' says Kem, the oldest. Suddenly, the giant lifts a huge hand and tries to touch one of their bikes! Sen's hand is so strong that as soon as he touches it, the bike breaks. 'Oh no! It wants to eat us! Run!' Kem shouts.

Kem and the others run back to the house as fast as they can. Kem takes his broken bike with him. 'Wait! Don't go, I just want to play!' shouts Sen. But his voice is so gigantic it shakes the roof. It just makes the children even more scared of him.

Sen does not know what to do or say. He just wanted to play with these children, but they ran away from him. And, he broke one of their bikes! Is he such a big monster? Sen starts to cry, and his tears fall like big raindrops.

The children are hiding inside the house. They start to hear a noise, like falling water. 'Is it raining?' Kem's sister Lan says. 'I wonder if the monster has gone away,' says Kem. He goes and has a look, hoping no more bikes are broken.

Kem sees that Sen is in the woods near the house. He looks so sad, and he is crying. 'He is not a monster,' Kem says. 'I think he is a boy, just like me. A giant boy!' Kem does not care about the bikes anymore.

Kem leaves the house and goes near to where Sen is crying. With every sob, the trees shake and another wave of huge tears hit the ground. 'He is really upset,' says Kem. 'I think he just wanted to make friends with us.'

Kem calls out to the giant boy, as friendly as he can. 'Hey there, I'm Kem! What's your name?' he asks. Sen stops crying, and lifts his large head. 'I am Sen,' he says, looking at Kem sadly. 'I apologize for breaking your bike,' says Sen.

'Don't worry about it!' says Kem. 'Would you like to play with me and my friends?' This is exactly what Sen wanted to hear! He wants to jump for joy, but he does not want to scare Kem. 'I would love to,' Sen whispers, as carefully as a giant can.

Sen and the human children play all day in the woods. Then, Sen takes them back to the giant cave. 'Wow, there is so much food here!' Kem says. 'Have as much as you like,' says Sen. 'You are my friends now, and I am so glad I found you!'