The Twenty Virtues Book 1- The Twenty Generals

34-The Toy

A child was running alone through the alleys of an old city. His name was Vagner, around 8 years old, dressed in rags and as dirty as if he had just come out of a chimney. The boy was very thin, not looking very healthy, but the most remarkable thing was that, despite being so wretched, the boy still smiled and his eyes still sparkled, as if he saw a treasure no one else could see, as if his physical state did not represent him at all, and all that energy and positivity stemmed from one thing: Kindness.

Vagner was made up of an infinite cycle of kindness; being kind made him feel good, and as long as he felt good, he would remain kind. The child had parents before, but he ran away from them—one drank and beat him while the other ignored him—and seeing that he could gain nothing from staying in that house, he began to venture out into the world.

In the first few days, he felt lonely, wondering if he should go back home, but then he remembered that he would only bother his parents even more and decided to continue on his path. One day, the boy saw a doll amidst the trash. He had never seen a toy like that before; it was so dirty, so lonely. Vagner immediately began to associate what he saw with what he lived through, so he knocked on the door of the house to which the trash belonged.

"What the hell is it now? HEY, GO SEE WHO IT IS." A few seconds after the shout, a young girl opened the door. She seemed to be the same age as Vagner, and even though she looked better off than he did, her expression was worse.

"Who are you? What do you want?" the girl asked in a tearful tone. Vagner immediately connected with her and understood what was happening. He smiled, surprising her. He wasn't going to take up much of her time; he knew it was dangerous for her.

"Excuse me, may I take that doll over there for myself?" he asked, pointing to the trash. The girl, puzzled, just stared at him in disbelief.

"The doll? Sure, I can't keep it anyway... I picked it up a few weeks ago... it was floating in a river nearby, but my dad says I can't have time to play, I have to work to help him get the drink he needs."

"THAT'S GREAT!" In his pure innocence, the boy shouted the first thing that came to his mind, scaring the girl even more. Little Vagner, you don't know the context, you don't know what each life is like, please keep your mouth shut. "I mean, my dad only paid attention to me when he was angry; he never asked for my help, so for your dad to leave you the job of working, it must mean that he prioritizes you a lot."

"He... prioritizes me?" No, no, no, Vagner, stay quiet, don't put fertilizer in the wrong soil. The girl blushed with joy, and her eyes welled up with gratitude. "You're right; I never thought of it that way. My dad must love me a lot to give me such an important responsibility."

"Yes, so work hard for him, okay?"

"Okay. I will."

Don't talk about what you don't know, don't impose your view of life on others. But... who am I kidding? He's a child; it's not his fault, he doesn't know anything even if he believes he understands... So he took the doll and continued with his day.

The boy wandered through the darkness of the night, singing softly with the doll in his arms, low enough not to disturb those who were sleeping, but loud enough to help him relax to the sound of his voice. There was a cold, empty wind trying to kill the boy, wanting to tell him that there was no meaning to the life he lived, but the boy's answer to the wind was always the same: If you decide to attack only me and not the doll or anyone else, then I don't care. Besides, my friend would be alone, and I can't leave him alone.

As he walked through the streets, singing, he got distracted. At one point, his stomach seemed to like the music and decided to try to sing along. Vagner walked aimlessly through the nonexistent streets of the city, where it seemed time did not move, and the souls there were lost. Then a shadow flew past him—it was a giant dog that seemed to be running at full speed from something. Curious, the boy looked in the direction from which it came and saw two street boys, a bit older than him, chasing the animal with what looked like pieces of wood.