One day, without quite knowing why, everything suddenly happened: the pink words disappeared from the planet. What are pink words? They are delicate words, like “thank you”, “please”, “if you don’t mind”, “it’s so important to me”. Words so sweet that they are like honey in the heart. Was it the work of the Gray Wizard, who only liked salty, spicy, and bitter things? No… it was the men who, for reasons unknown, preferred spicy, bitter, and salty words.
At that time, there were pink word shops on Earth, selling “I love you”, “I think of you”, “thank you very much”, … The gray word sellers mainly sold “don’t bother me”, “shut up”, …
At first, many more pink words were bought than gray words. The pink word sellers were doing good business, and a sweet perfume enveloped the Earth. The gray word sellers spent their days waiting, as they only had customers once or twice a year. However, one day, men strangely began to buy gray words. There was a job crisis, a strike of hearts. Employers bought many “go preach in another parish”, “you’re well arranged”, “thank you for your service but you’re fired”.
There was war between families, divorces, couples who no longer understood each other, jealousy between siblings, fights… Many “I no longer like you”, “it’s all over” were being bought. In the pink word shops, many “thank you”, “please”, “I like you” remained unsold.
– To hell with sweet words – the men said. – They are expensive and bring no benefit.
The pink word sellers closed one after another. “Out of business”, “Closed due to the owner’s death”, “Total liquidation”, “15 pink words for the price of 1”. But, even at modest prices, they attracted no one.
The gray word shops, on the other hand, thrived. Because, and this is well known, ugly words are contagious. Even in schools, gray words prospered, “if during recess you remember to say a gray word, you will receive ten in return! Specialized shops opened for ugly words, coarse laughter, horrible insults. And the gray sellers worked day and night to discover rare gems, the most horrible and malicious words!
Fearing they would run out of supplies, as often happens in wartime, people began to preserve gray words. They froze a bunch of them and piled them in kitchen cabinets, under beds, wardrobes,… And at the slightest friction, at the smallest joke, at the most insignificant argument, they would go to the stock and grab “shut up”, “you’re a drag”, “idiot”, … and so on!
Birthdays took place amidst the worst insults. They would sing “unhappy birthday” and unleash a bomb of ugly words in the middle of the party. Among adults, to celebrate the turn of the year, they ate raisins and drank black grape juice, amidst words like:
– I wish you a terrible year and, above all, very little luck!
Before classes, children would rush to the gray shops and fill their pockets with ugly words for recess. Before vacations, adults also went to the shops to fill their suitcases with gray words, with stupid jokes, which they would throw out the window into the streets during traffic jams.
On the face of the Earth, the atmosphere was glacial. The sun, which is afraid of rudeness, refused to shine. It remembered other times when it was welcomed with open arms:
– What a beautiful day! How wonderful! Thank you, Sun…. My God how I love the Sun…
Instead, now one could hear:
– What horrible heat Kêkalôr!
Then the clouds invaded the sky, and the Earth plunged into a glacial period. Everyone was cold.
The Earth was so sad, without flowers or pink words! However, a boy did not want to get used to gray words. Perhaps because, in his pocket, there remained a half-frozen pink word. “I,” said Pedro, “do not want a world where no one sings anymore, where no one says good morning or thank you, where it is always so ugly. I will see if I can find the Sun.
The boy walked for a long time, climbed icy hills, small and large mountains, extinct volcanoes. Finally, after months and months of arduous walking, he arrived exhausted at the house of the clouds.
– Knock, knock – he knocked – I come in search of the Sun.
– Oh, oh! – exclaimed the chief cloud, who had taken possession of the gray sky. – Look at this… a ridiculous little brat comes in search of the Sun! The Sun does not appear to anyone! Since the gray words took power, we, the gray clouds, are the bosses.
Having said this, it turned its back and closed the door in the boy’s face. The boy sat down confused. How to respond? He didn’t have a single gray word in his pocket. So, he began to cry. The cloud looked at him in surprise: it had not seen anyone cry for a long time! In that glacial universe, all eyes were frozen, all hearts were cold.
– Stop that immediately! – groaned the cloud. – Or I will make it rain.
Finally moved, it decided to help him.
– Look, that yellow ball down there is the Sun.
Pedro opened his eyes and indeed saw a billiard ball lost in the vastness of blue: it was the Sun, which was disappearing due to mistreatment. Already at the limit of his strength, the boy walked towards the small yellow ball.
– Good morning! said the boy. – I came to get you. Everything has turned gray on Earth. We are cold, we feel bad. We never laugh, we never say delicate words. You need to come back.
And the sun and the boy both began to sigh, thinking of that “pink time”.
– You need to come back – insisted Pedro.
– I will, as an experiment – grumbled the Sun. – But first throw these pink words to Earth. That way my return will be more pleasant.
The Sun gave the boy a set of pink words: “please”, “thank you very much”, “I like you”, “love of my life”, “if you don’t mind”, etc.
The boy stuffed the words into his pockets, his mouth, his cap, his socks, everywhere he could carry. He returned to Earth and randomly distributed the words. Suddenly, in traffic jams, people began to unfold the pink little papers: “what beautiful weather, don’t you think?”, “you can go ahead, I’m not in a hurry”….
During recess, they began to hear sympathetic laughter again and words like “you are my best friend”, “of course you can play”…. At home, children returned to using pink words: “thank you, mom”, “please”, “sorry”, “I didn’t mean to”… On birthdays, they sang joyfully and at year-end parties, they wished each other health and happiness.
The Sun shone again and lay down every night on its pink cloud. And, I swear, the pink word sellers began to make a fortune! Specialized shops opened for smiles, for sighs of satisfaction, for delicacy, for courtesy, for civility…. It was like honey in the heart.
As for the gray words, they decided, in the face of such happiness, to hide. And when any of them remembered to poke their nose in, I assure you they didn’t stay for long.