In the middle of a lake somewhere in the mountains, surrounded by ten thousand trees in ten thousand different shades of green, there once floated a small house, and in this house, there once lived a young boy who would spend his days with his head out his tiny window, watching the families who came from far away to enjoy the lake. This young boy would never leave his house, would never swim to shore, and would never play with any of the families, even families that brought puppies and sandwiches and water balloons.

The young boy enjoyed sitting in his small house in the middle of the lake, and it made him smile to watch all those families spend their days on the shore outside his house. Through that tiny window of his, he watched the families play until the sun dropped below the trees, when they would pack up their puppies and sandwiches and water balloons and leave the boy alone again.

Of course, none of the families knew they were leaving him. They only knew they were leaving a beautiful lake, surrounded by ten thousand trees in ten thousand shades of green. They rarely gave any thought to the peculiar house floating in the middle of the lake. They certainly never thought a young boy would be living there, watching them as they left for the night. And nobody ever noticed, but as the last family went on down the road, the young boy would reach his hand out the tiny window and wave good-bye, knowing he would see them again soon.

This had been going on for as long as the young boy could remember. In the mornings, he would wake to the sound of the first family arriving at the lake, and he would fall asleep just after the last family left for the night. Watching the families running and splashing and swimming brought him so much joy, he could never imagine spending his days any other way.

One day, a young girl about the same age as the young boy became very curious about the peculiar house that floated in the middle of the lake. For years her family had played at this lake, and every time they came she would sit and stare at the house, almost as if she could see a face staring back at her from its tiny window. Finally, she became so curious that she decided to swim out to the middle of the lake and see what she could find. When she reached middle of the lake and swam up to the front of the small house, she was not surprised to see the smiling face of a young boy watching her though the tiny window. She floated there a while, just smiling back, wondering how he got there, and why he never swam out to join the families playing in the lake.

After a few minutes of smiling without words, the girl finally introduced herself, and the boy did the same. When she asked him why he spent his days staring at the families from the tiny window in his small house, he thought for a minute without saying anything. When he was sure there were no words to explain how he felt, he invited the girl into his house, asking her to look out the tiny window. When she did, the young girl immediately knew how the boy felt.

Through the tiny window, along the shore of the lake, she saw a hundred families, running, splashing and swimming with each other. Families with children of all ages, some with puppies, others with water balloons, and best of all, every single face she saw was smiling. And right in the middle of it all, she could see her own family, sitting on a bright blue blanket, enjoying their favorite sandwiches. After watching for a while, she left the young boy's small house--since it really was only big enough for one person--and jumped back in the water. After saying good-bye and promising to come back often, the young girl swam back to her family.

The girl never tried to convince the boy to come out of the house. Most people probably would have, but this young girl understood that the boy was happy watching the families from a distance. This was the young boy's family. It wasn't what most young boys think of when they think of family, but when she thought about it for a minute, she had to appreciate this family of his. After all, she was part of it.

Just like every other day, the sun soon began dropping below the trees. And just like every other day, the families began to leave the lake one by one. But this time, a certain family stayed just a little longer than the rest. For only a few minutes, the family sat facing the boy's small floating house, then slowly packed up and began heading home.

And this time, as the boy reached his arm through his tiny window and waved good-bye, the family waved back.