The Boy Who Sold
Magical Hearts
by Mary Claire B.
Garcia
Once upon a
time, when the world was still full of magic,
there lived a little boy who sold magical hearts
in the marketplace.
“Magical
hearts, magical hearts! Replace your heart with a
better one!” The little boy called out from
his stall.
A big man
approached his stall. “Have you got a heart
that won’t get angry easily anymore?”
the man asked with a commanding voice.
The little boy
nodded excitedly and began to search through his
piles of small boxes on the ground. “You’re
lucky I still haven’t sold it to anyone else,
sir! I’ve only got one stock of that type of
heart. It’s quite hard to get one like that,”
he said and smiled when he found the box he was
looking for.
He handed the
box to the man. “Warm it up a little before
replacing your old heart. We don’t want you
getting a cold one, eh? Have a good day, sir!”
The boy said cheerfully.
The man looked
bewildered. “You’ve forgotten to ask me
the payment, little boy. How much is it? My wife
and kids would be delighted with this new heart
so I’ll pay for it even if the price is high,”
the man said.
The little boy
shook his head. “Hearts should not be sold
with a price. Coming here with your good
intentions is payment enough for me,” he
smiled.
The man
thanked him and went back home happily. A little
while later, a beautiful woman came to the little
boy’s stall.
“I’d
like an extra heart please,” the woman
simply said.
The little boy
frowned. “I don’t understand. Just an
extra? You don’t have a type of heart in
mind?” he asked.
“No type.
I just need an extra. You see, I’m in love
with two men and it’s difficult for me
because I only have one heart,” the woman
explained.
“I’m
sorry but I won’t be able to help you. The
human body can only house one heart and if you
tried to have two, I’m sure both won’t
be able to breathe. Please come again when you
just want to change the one you have right now,”
the little boy said.
The woman went
away looking troubled. The little boy’s next
customer was a young lad asking for his broken
heart to be fixed.
“I don’t
fix hearts, sir. If you don’t want to change
it, you can just let it heal in time,” the
little boy said.
The young lad
nodded glumly and asked, “Where do you even
get the hearts you sell?”
“That’s
a trade secret,” the little boy replied with
a grin.
When it was
time to close up, the little boy chuckled to
himself, remembering the young lad’s
question. I wonder what his reaction would be if
I told him that I was just giving away cow’s
hearts. Only the person themselves can change
their hearts – not little old me, he thought
in amusement. Maybe I’ll take up archery in
the future. It will be easier to just shoot them
to make them fall in love than give them advices
about the heart every day. The little boy with
the name of Cupid went home thinking about the
fickle hearts of humanity.
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