Janjão was a
kind-hearted
boy, but a bit
disobedient.
His mom kept
giving him,
counsels,
saying:
–Janjão, don’t
do this, you may
get in trouble!
–Janjão, get off
of there, you
might fall and
get hurt!
–Janjão,
attention with
this knife, my
son.
It’s very
sharp!
Janjão kept
doing what he
was doing,
pretending to be
hard of
hearing.
One day, Janjão
and Pedrinho,
his best friend,
were bored. They
had played
hide-and-seek,
marbles,
catch-handle,
etc., and they
didn’t know what
to do anymore.
Janjão had a
bright idea:
– Got it! Let’s
make a balloon!
– A balloon?
–Pedrinho asked,
surprised. –
Isn’t that
dangerous?
– Yep, a
balloon. And
it’s not
dangerous, you
fool. Go and buy
paper and glue.
— Me? Why me? It
was your idea! –
Pedrinho
replied.
— Ok. I’m going,
then.
They worked all
afternoon long
in a small room
at the back of
Pedrinho’s
house. They knew
his mom would be
busy working and
would never
notice.
After getting it
ready, they
anxiously waited
for the night to
come. After all,
to be fun,
balloons need to
fly at night.
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They lighted the
balloon and were
expecting it to
go up.
They kept
blowing the
balloon...
blowing...
blowing until it
started to go up
slowly.
The boys got
carried away. In
a little while,
the beautiful
coloured balloon
was going up...
up... up to the
sky, higher and
higher. Soon, it
was only a
luminous point
as if it were a
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star. Then,
it was
hidden
behind some
tall trees
and the boys
could keep
track of it
no more. |
From the
coloured balloon
only the
memories
remained. They
still talked a
bit more about
it, excited, the
beautiful
balloon!
Janjão,
remembering it
was already late
and his parents
could be
worried, said
good-bye and
went home.
He lived in a
ranch and needed
to walk a little
through the
field to get
home. In the
horizon, saw an
immense clarity
in the sky. As
he kept walking
he realized the
fire came from
his house.
As he got near,
he saw his house
on fire, all his
furniture, and
people running
towards the
house with
buckets of
water, trying to
beat the fire.
His dad,
worried, walking
back and forth,
and his mom and
sister crying.
He asked,
upset:
– What happened,
daddy?
– Oh! My son!
Thanks God
you’re all
right. We were
worried about
you. We even
thought you
could be in
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there with
the fire.
Some flew
balloons
and, when we
realized it,
fire was
everywhere
already, as
you can see.
Some friends
helped and
we managed
to save some
things,
thanks God. |
The boy, sorry,
realizing the
action he had
just made,
started
sobbing:
– Forgive me
dad. That’s my
entire fault. I
was the one
flying the
balloon, but I
could never
imagine it would
be so
dangerous.
His dad sighed,
understanding of
his son’s grief,
while telling
him, bluntly:
– You see, my
son? To be
disobedient, all
the harm you
just did? Thanks
God, we only had
material losses,
and even though
we are poor, we
will make do
with what we
have and make up
for this
setback. But,
what if someone
got hurt?
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Janjão wept like
a baby.
– Forgive me,
daddy.
Now I understand
the harm I did
and, when mom
says it’s
dangerous, it’s
because she
knows what might
happen.
His father
hugged him and
from this day on
Janjão became a
different boy,
more
responsible, and
even started
working to help
his dad make up
for the damages
he unexpectedly
had done.
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