The Little Paper Man

 The Little Paper Man

    Once upon a spring morning there was a little girl playing in her bedroom. She played with a train, a ball and a jigsaw puzzle. But she soon became fed up with them. So she then began to play with a newspaper. First, she made a paper hat and placed it on her head. A little while later, she made a paper boat and placed it in the fish tank. However, the girl soon grew tired of playing with the hat and the boat, and decided to make a little paper man out of the newspaper. She spent all morning playing with her new friend.

    In the afternoon the girl went down to the park to play with her friends. The little paper man went along with her and enjoyed the children´s games. The children were very happy with their strange, new friend. Finally, they all sat down to relax. The little paper man felt very happy and wanted the children to feel just as happy too. So they started to tell each other stories… but these stories were tales of war, catastrophe and misery.

    On hearing these stories told by the little paper man the children began to feel very sad. Some of them even started to cry! Realizing this, the little paper man thought the stories he knew weren´t nice because they made the children cry. So he got up and set off walking down the street on his own. He got very sad because he didn’t know how to cheer the children up or make them laugh. Then, he came across a washing machine. The little paper man jumped with joy and decided to get in. Inside the washing machine, all the sad stories that were written on his paper washed off.

    When he got out, nobody could have recognized him. He was as white as snow, and ironed and starched like a child ready for their first holy communion. He skipped along merrily towards the park. When he got there the children happily made a circle around him. The little paper man couldn´t stop a satisfactory smile coming over his face. However, when he went to speak, nothing came out his mouth. Once again, he felt empty and lost inside. He was so sad that he left the children for a second time.

   He gloomily dragged his feet down every street in the city… and left to the countryside. Suddenly, he felt an overwhelming feel of joy coming from within and his little paper heart started to do flips in his chest. The little paper man smiled, thinking about the bird in his pocket. He started to soak up all the colours he could see around him in the countryside. Red, yellow and pink from the flowers; a warm shade of green from the grass, and blue from the water, sky and air. He was now covered in new and beautiful words. With these  great new words, the little paper man returned to the park with his friends.

    While they relaxed, played games and laughed, he began to talk to them. He spoke to them about all the people who did things for others; for life to be better, fairer, freer and more beautiful. These fresh, new words fell like rain not only on the park, but on the eyes of the children too. The little paper man´s voice was so smooth as he talked to the children about flowers. And of the birds in the air… and the fish in the river and the sea. The faces of both the children and the little paper man filled with smiles. Holding hands they all sang and danced together.

    From that day forward, the little paper man rained down colour and joy over all the cities in the world.