[Setting: Weekday morning.  FATHER, in a suit and tie, sits with his elementary school age daughter at a kitchen table.  DAUGHTER eats a bowl of cereal.]

FATHER
Are you feeling lonely?  Because I’ve been watching you lately...carrying on conversations by yourself, doing things alone, every afternoon shut up in your room.  Finding things to do by yourself can be difficult.  Going to the movies with your dad may be fun, honey, if you don’t have anyone else to go with.  Janie, kids are supposed to be playing with other kids.  Look, Mom and I love you very much.  Nobody loves to play with you more than us, only...perhaps you need a friend.  Quite a nice idea, right?  Solitude gets old after a while.  They're quite good company.  Usually, virtually all the kids in your class are friends with other kids.  Want to know what I think?  Xenophobes are people who fear and stay away from foreigners.  Your isolation reminds me of this.  Zero interaction you have with other children, almost as if you feared them too.  Be creative, caring, dependable, excited if you want to make friends.  Friends respond to kindness.  Go play with them on the playground, help them out with their work.  I know it's a little scary.  Just be yourself.  Kind, loving, making jokes.  Niceness will get you far.  Other people love to have friends who are respectful of them.  Playing exciting games is fun.  Quiet play can also be nice.  Remember that if you start to feel scared, simply imagine you're talking to me.  Talk as if you are already friends and the rest will fall into place.  Understand?  Very good.  What will you do with your friends?  Xerox coloring book pages to color together.  You can do art or play a game or I'll take you places.  Zoo?  Alright.  Bring a friend along and I'm happy to take you to the zoo.  Can you bring two friends?  Definitely!  Eventually, finding friends will seem easy.  Go on now, hurry up.  It's time to go to school.  Just be yourself, kiddo.

[End.]