There is something very special about the inquisitive child. Sometimes, that energy grows up to be too much for parents and for family members as well as friends and teachers. At some point someone may tell that child to stop asking questions, or to stop talking, to just be quiet. The younger a child hears this come from an adult or one of their peers the more likely it is that the child will go from constantly asking questions to silently turning inward to themselves. In this story we meet Nathan, who talks about how he is the question asker in his family until his parents tell him to stop asking so many questions. His twin sister Natalie, always supported his questions and allowed him to shine as she stayed in the background. But when she saw The Nutcracker ballet onstage, she came into her own as a dancer and her brother loved watching his sister. But as he became an introvert because of the attention that he wasn't getting he didn't realize that at some point his sister was doing the same.

Something tragic inside of Natalie had changed and Nathan will never forgive himself for not seeing it. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our own lives that we don't realize that people who have been the closest to us have changed, have become silent, or have disappeared from our lives altogether. It is when Nathan and his parents sit in the car waiting for Natalie to join them on a family trip that they all begin to look at each other and realize how long it's been since they've actually seen Natalie. A heartbreaking story that comes back to the reality that when adults speak children will listen. Be careful what you say to a child because they don't have the ability to decipher it as anything other than exactly what you've said. Be quiet. You talk too much. Look on the internet.

Listen instead of speaking? sadly one day this child's voice may be silenced forever.