Once upon a time, the sky and the earth rebelled against man who was mistreating them. There was a deluge and everything was flooded and submerged by water. Only one boy survived because he had sought refuge on the highest mountain.

When the fury of the sky calmed down and the level of the water began to fall, the young man carefully went down to the wood. Not having eaten for several days, he was starving and looked for food, but nothing was to be found. Everything looked irremediably extinct. He went in search of another living soul: but there was nobody left. There was no trace of life in that forest. He thought that he would never survive either.

But he did not give up hope, because he felt his heart beating together with that of the earth as he had started to walk on it again.

          One morning, the young man left his place of refuge to go and explore the surrounding area. What a surprise he had when, on his return, he found the table laid with all sorts of food: game, fruit, vegetables and cool drinks.

Without knowing who to thank, he ate until he was full and slept deeply through the night. As the gift was repeated in the same way on the following days, the young man wondered who on earth could be taking care of him. Perhaps there was someone else in the forest? The only thing that he had noticed where the footprints of a parrot: very faint and evanescent traces that were difficult to interpret.

He decided to hide near his refuge to see what happened and find an answer at last to all his questions. At about noon, he say a scarlet parrot come down from the trees. In its feet, it was carrying fruit, vegetables and all sorts of food.

As its little feet touched the damp earth, the parrot was transformed into a beautiful girl and she laid the table and as she did this, she sang with a heavenly voice. And the whole forest sang along with her.

At this moment, the young man came out of his hiding place. Advancing slowly, he approached his shelter and when he got there asked the girl who she was.

“I am a spirit of the wood,” she said. “I want to help you because I know that your heart is beating along with that of the earth with every step you take.

          The two only had to exchange glances and a few words: they fell in love. The girl stayed there forever with the young man. The peoples that still live in the forest today are their direct descendants. When they find a parrot’s feather, they pick it up and put it into their hair. Since those distant times – many, many centuries ago – their heartbeats and the heartbeat  of Mother Earth have been following  the same rhythm.

Colorin colorado, the story is over,

calabaza calabaza, it’s time to go home.

(this story is published in P. Valente, Colorin colorado, published by San Paolo, Milan 2008)