And there it is: the small, wooden house. Their new home.

It’s surrounded by a lot of gliricidia trees and tall elephant grass. A couple of great kiskadees are flying around while the house wrens and pale-breasted thrushes twitter in the big trees. A woodpecker searches for worms and insects in the trunk of the mango tree. And a couple of chickens are watching the newly-arrived creatures in the car on their ground.

“So, this is it. Our new home,” says the keen dad. “Are you guys excited?”

“Yay!” says Mom. “This is going to be so much fun.”

She opens the front door and steps out of the car. Dad opens the back door for the toddler and gets him out of his car seat.

“Mommy!” The little boy runs to his mom with his teddy bear in his arms. They both take a walk in the big, untended yard.

But there is another child in the back seat of the car. The teenage daughter.

She does not open her door. She doesn’t even want to come out of the car. With folded arms, a sour face, and an unwilling heart she looks out of the window.

Will you look at that little brat? she thinks to herself while she watches her little brother run around with his teddy bear.

Knock, knock, knock. She hears tapping on her window. Her dad is standing there. He motions for her to lower the window.

“You know, it would be much more fun if you would step out of the car and join us,” he says.

“No, I'm staying here,” she says, feeling annoyed.

“So, you're going to stay here day and night? 'Til tomorrow morning?” Dad asks. “Are you sure you want to do that?”

“Yes, I’ll stay in the car forever,” she says.

“Okay, suit yourself. With all sorts of noises outside at night? Maybe a jaguar or an anteater will come to visit you,” he teases her.

“You're lying, Dad!" she says. "That's not funny.”

“Well, those animals are here, you know, in the woods across from us. Some neighbours have had visits from them at night, so yeah….” Dad scratches his head and says, “Listen, kiddo, I know you wanted to stay in the city close to your friends. But please try to give this place a chance? You might love it.”

“I could have stayed with Aunt Vera. At least she's closer to the city. But no, you and Mom had to bring me,” she grumbles. “You know it would’ve been so much better if you only brought Mason with you. Look how happy he is. Would’ve been a great pleasure.”

Dad ignores her angry outburst. Instead, he opens the door.

He takes her hand in his hands, looks her in the eyes, and says lovingly, “You complain too much, sweetie. Yes, your friends are not around the block anymore. Yes, that means no more sleepovers and parties. At least, not as many, and not with your city friends. But you know what, Belle, you can make new friends here. Besides that, look at all the nature around us. You can take pictures with that new camera of yours.”

“I don’t know, Dad,” she says quietly, knowing that her father is right. “I just miss my friends.”

“I know," he says. "I understand. Come on, let's go inside.”

Standing in the kitchen, Belle tries not to have another outburst, but her thoughts and feelings are overwhelming. Although Mom and Dad had already told her the house was old and needed some renovation and cleaning, she did not expect this.

There is a musty smell hanging over the whole house. Some of the beams of the walls are loose. The old paint is peeling off the walls. Dust is everywhere. Spider webs are in most of the corners.

It is a total mess. And it is a small house.

Belle feels uncomfortable at the sight of all of this. And she will have to spend a lot more time than she wants with her little brother in this little space. That makes her even more nervous.

She does not try to hide her unhappiness. “How are we all going to fit into this cramped, ugly, old house?” she growls loudly enough for her parents to hear. But she does not wait for an answer from them.

Dad built this house years ago, before he got married to Mom. After their marriage, they lived here for a while. Then circumstances made them move to the city. Now they’ve returned, and this time it seems like they’re going to stay.

Belle isn’t too excited about spending the rest of her life in this remote place. Not only is it far away from the life she’s used to, but she had to leave her best friends behind. The house isn't even located on the asphalted main road. It’s on a very long dirt road, where there aren’t a lot of people.

She lets out a deep sigh and looks around.

There are pieces of wood on the floor. Old bags and a big, blue barrel take up a lot of space. Always the curious one, Belle wonders what’s inside the barrel. She starts walking toward it.

Suddenly, she stops. There's a noise coming from behind the barrel.

Slowly, she keeps walking toward it. She jumps! Wait! What is that black thing running away from the barrel to the old bags?

She quickly picks up a long piece of wood lying on the ground near her. Carefully, she pushes the old bags aside with the wood.

“Mew... mew... mew.” It’s a cat! And it is scared.

Belle throws the wood down and drops to her knees. “Awww, poor kitty! How did you get in the house, little one?”

She tries to call the scared kitten, but it's terrified. With its little black ears pulled back and its black tail between its white back legs, the kitten tries to hide between the old bags.

Belle stretches her hand out to pick up the kitten. Mason runs to her, pushes her hand back, and picks up the little cat.

“It's my cat,” says the little boy, while he strokes the crying cat on its head and back. “Look, Mommy, my cat!”

He walks away with the kitten in his arms.

Belle is stunned for a moment. Did the little brat just come and take the kitten she saw first? When it dawns on her what just happened, she is furious. Angrily, she walks up to her little brother. He is still cuddling the kitten in his arms.

“Thank you, this is my cat,” says Belle, grabbing the kitten away from him.

“Give it back! It's mine! Give it back!” Mason yells, trying to take back the cat. But his sister holds the cat high over his head.

“No, Dumbo," Belle says. "I saw it first.”

“I’m not Dumbo. Give me back my cat!” Mason cries.

“Dumbo, dumbo, dumbo. No, you can’t have the kitty!” Belle says.

She pushes him aside a little bit too hard. He falls on some pieces of wood and hits his head on the barrel.

Then Mason stands up, kicks her in the leg, and runs to his mom. “Mommy,” he cries. “Belle pushed me!”

“And you kicked me, you big baby,” she calls after him. “It's my cat!”

“That was not nice of you, Belle,” says her dad seriously. “You didn’t have to push him.”

“But I saw the cat first,” she complains.

“But does that mean you had to push him? Or call him names?” Dad asks.

“But he kicked me!" Belle says. "Did you also see that?”

“Yes I did, but you are older and you know how to behave better than that. Go tell your brother you're sorry!” Dad says.

“But Dad...” she sputters.

“Go tell your brother you're sorry and give him the kitten,” Dad says.

Belle storms out of the house and stomps to the backyard.

She finds her little brother sobbing in their mother's arms. When she looks at him, she sees a blue bump on his forehead. Was it from when she pushed him and he hit his head on the barrel?

Still angry, she grumbles a "Sorry" and puts the cat in his arms.

Immediately, the sobbing stops. He smirks in triumph! Wait, was he fake crying?

Oh, that little punk!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Belle waves a thin stick in the air.

She is furious at Mason. The little brat has Mom and Dad wrapped around his finger. He is never wrong in their eyes. They never yell at him, even when he is disobedient. But because she is older, they always scold her for her bad behavior.

This is so unfair.

Whoosh! With one last wave she throws the stick into the elephant grass. A couple of startled lizards run away through the grass.

Plock! She kicks a pebble. It hits the trunk of the big gliricidia tree in the middle of the front yard. It is then that she notices the swing on the tree. Sighing, she sits down on the dirty swing. Sometimes she wishes she was the only child.

As she slowly begins to swing, she watches two tiny, brown songbirds bouncing about with their short tails held up in the air. Sometimes they stop to sing a very bubbly song in the branches right above her head.

By chance, she knows these are house wrens. Back in the city she loved watching documentaries about all sorts of birds, but especially the Surinamese birds. The house wren is one of her favourites.

Screech, screech, screech! She hears another sound. It sounds like the begging call from another bird.

Belle decides to find out where it’s coming from and what bird makes that sound. When the two wrens notice that she’s walking toward the old, dead tree trunk, they start singing more loudly.

She notices it. She stops and watches them. Their behaviour is a little bit off.

Screech, screech, screech! There is that sound again.

She follows it. It leads her to a hole in a dead gliricidia trunk in front of her. She looks in the hole, but it’s too dark to see anything. Though the sounds stop, she is sure they were coming from the hole. The two wrens in the tree are watching carefully, still twittering away.

“Maybe there’s a nest inside that hole. With eggs!" Belle says out loud. "And you two don’t want me to take a look, right?” She nods to the wrens.

Belle takes out her phone and shines its flashlight inside the hole. Two big eyes are looking at her.

“A baby bird,” she says. "It’s a baby bird!”

Again, she notices the two fierce wrens in the tree. They hop from branch to branch and chatter very loudly to get her attention away from their nest in the hole.

“Hey, baby chick, are those two your momma and dadda?” she asks, smiling. She shines the light in the hole again. “Aww, you’re such a sweet bird.”

She takes a picture with the phone.

While she stands there and saves the picture on her phone, she suddenly hears footsteps behind her. It’s Mason!

“Belle? Belle,” Mason calls her. "Belle, are you angry?”

Mason is standing behind her with the kitten in his arms.

She looks at her three-year-old baby brother. She had always wanted a sibling. And when he was born, at first she was very happy. She played with him and loved being with him. But as he grew up, mom and dad always favoured him. That’s when she started to feel annoyed.

Now, her anger starts to build up again. She decides to walk away instead of being around him. But then Mason takes her hand.

“I’m s-s-sorry for taking your cat,” says Mason. "Here she is.” He wipes his snotty nose and holds the kitten out to her.

Although Mason is just three years old, he always says he's sorry when he knows he’s done something wrong. He will try to make it right. And for that reason, she can’t stay angry at him for long.

Deep down in her heart, she really loves him, even if she does get angry at him sometimes. She notices the big, blue bump on his forehead and his red eyes.

“I’m sorry, too,” says Belle. She touches his bump. "Does it hurt?”

Mason nods.

“You know what? Let’s take care of this cat together! What do you think, Mason?” she asks.

His eyes brighten up. "Yes!” He hugs her. "I love you, Belle.”

“Hey, you want to see something cool?” Belle asks.

Mason nods. She puts down the cat. She hears the bubbling songs from the house wrens in the tree, but she doesn’t pay too much attention. She picks Mason up and brings him to the hole in the dead tree.

“What is it?” the boy asks curiously.

“Look inside.” Belle shines in the hole with her phone light. "It’s a baby bird.”

“Can I touch it?” Mason asks. He tries to put his fingers in the hole.

“No, you can’t. What if your finger gets stuck in the hole? Then Mom and Dad will scold me for that. So no, you can’t. Besides that, do you see those two birds there?” She points at the wrens. "Those are the parents of this chick, and I don’t think they would like it if you try to touch their kid. So let’s not do that.”

“Mew, mew, mew.” The kitten rubs its little body against Belle’s leg.

“Hey, little one, you also want attention, don’t you?” Belle asks while she puts Mason down.

She picks up the kitten, but holds her back as quickly as possible when she smells her.

“Oh, eww, you need a bath! You stink!” She turns her nose away.

"I want to bathe her,” Mason volunteers. He pets the kitten on its head.

Belle gives him the kitten.

“We need to give her a name,” she says.

“Princess!” Mason says while he walks toward the house with the kitten in his hands.

“Princess Stinky,” Belle laughs.

She decides to join her brother.

As she begins walking away, she sees the two birds flying to their nest. One of the birds goes into the hole, probably to see if their chick is still alive. The other bird twitters loudly, hopping around on the dead tree.

Belle smiles. She looks around.

There’s a lot of green around her. Far away, she hears the howling from howler monkeys. Butterflies and dragonflies are flying around. She picks a pretty yellow grass flower. It’s a dandelion. She smiles again while enjoying its beauty.

Maybe living here will be better than she expected. Maybe she should give this place a chance. A chance to be her new home.