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Once upon a time, there was a shy little boy who never had any friends. In his neighborhood, the other children didn't like him because he was so quiet and he wore wide-rimmed glasses. At school, bigger kids had always made fun of him, and so the rest of his classmates avoided him so they won't get involved.

His name was Naris and he was only six years old. In his young age, he had already read hundreds of books by different authors since he had a lot of time to spare. He also excelled in school and in music -- a fact that had given the other kids more reasons to despise him.

One Saturday, Naris and his family went out on a trip. They camped by the river and spent the whole day fishing, swimming and just having fun. At night, they all slept inside their cozy tent, oblivious to everything around them.

It was a few hours past midnight when Naris had woken up from a dream. He found it hard to go back to sleep, so he decided to go outside for a short walk. He wandered along the old trees and into the darkness, not knowing where to go. But he had this odd feeling that he needed to go somewhere. So he just followed his instincts and continued to venture into the unfamiliar path.

"Psssssst! Help! Help us!," a tiny voice whispered.

Naris stopped on his tracks and tried to find out where the voice had come from.

"We're here behind the tree to your left."

He quickly turned and saw five children of his age tied behind the old tree. At first, they looked normal, but on a closer look, Naris had noticed that they all had pointy ears, and their eyes were the color of the sunset. Naris started to free the strange children, as they explained how they got there and who had captured them.

"They were children, as tall as you. They said we looked different, that's why they tied us up in this poor tree. We've been here for days. Thank you for finding us," one of them said.

"You're welcome," Naris replied, "Where do you live anyway? I can take you all there to make sure you get home safely."

"That's so nice of you. But don't worry, we just live here in Galaghar. You can always find us here whenever you wish to visit."

Naris thought about this and realized something. "Visit? Do you mean we can play together?"

"Of course! You are our friend now," one of the children said in amusement.

The little boy felt a drop of tear fall on his cheek. "T-thank you. I never had any friends before." The children asked him why, and so he started to tell them everything -- how other children had treated him and how he always felt like an outcast.

"But that's not right!," the smallest of them exclaimed, "You deserve to have friends, it's just that, they probably don't deserve you."

"I agree," said another one, "She's correct. Just because they don't like you doesn't mean you are not good enough. You are awesome, always remember that."

They talked until the sun came up, and Naris knew he had to go. The strange children told him to visit them anytime and he happily agreed. He was so glad to have come to the woods.

Since then, Naris didn't let other kids affect him in any way. Many years later, he had gained a lot of friends who accepted him for who he was. He still visited his tiny friends in Galaghar, from whom he first learned the meaning of true friendship.