A Casa da Madrinha presents a children's and young adult story that revolves around a boy from the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro and a 'different' peacock. At the end, we are left with a very important lesson: the power that every child, or human being, possesses within themselves, but which in our troubled and media-invaded days is relegated to oblivion – the power of playing with imagination, with fantasy.
Alexandre, the protagonist of the story, finds himself in a small town in the interior. He carries with him an ice cream box containing household items: fork, spoon, and knife, 'and there was also a pencil stub, a history book, a mug, and a pot.' Under a mango tree, the boy builds up the suspense to present his great act:
'- Attention, attention! Have you ever seen a peacock? I bet you haven't. Especially a peacock like mine: he talks, he dances, he knows how to make music, he's brilliant!'
Everyone looks around, searching for the peacock, and sees nothing. Alexandre takes advantage of their curiosity to ask for donations.
He receives as payment for the show: bananas, candies, flowers... but no money, not a single coin.
As the show progresses, Vera approaches the people, curious to know how the boy will present everything Alexandre announces. With tricks no one suspects, the peacock satisfies the audience's expectations, to the point where at the end, the animal recites the Farewell Verse in the Dru language, the language spoken by the peacock. This is what his loyal peacock friend asks for.
Excited, the spectators throw money on the ground.
After this final dance, the Peacock faints from exhaustion. The crowd begins to leave, while Alexandre unpacks the donations and eats them. Vera hasn't left; she stayed because she wanted to know the mysteries of the Peacock's magic. She wanted to know what lay beyond the fence she could see. Vera couldn't answer because she only knew up to the fence.
Alexandre was amazed by Vera's lack of curiosity, as she had never gone beyond the fence, because everyone said they shouldn't cross it. Then, the girl questions Alexandre about his origins, learning that he had moved to the city of Christ the Redeemer.
Through correspondence with her cousin, she learns that in that city, children don't know animals like rabbits, agoutis, armadillos, and chickens, 'only roasted on the table, ready to eat.'
Vera says she lives at the back of a flower plantation, on the bank of a river, which he will later show her all the beauties of the place. Vera 'glanced at Alexandre out of the corner of her eye. He was more tanned than her, taller, spoke more charmingly, had old clothes, and was barefoot.'
Alexandre informs the girl that he found the Peacock on the way to his godmother's house. Vera becomes sad at the prospect of no longer seeing or talking to Alexandre, as she had already grown very fond of him. They start talking about the boy's life when he lived in Rio de Janeiro. He tells her about his life as a street vendor at traffic lights and beaches in the capital. He tells her about the difficulties, which were not just his, as there were many other children in the same situation.
Alexandre begins to tell about his journey since he said goodbye to his family, saying he was going to visit his godmother. Tired of walking so much, he 'hitched a ride on a truck.' After the farm, the truck turned back, and I had to walk again. He says he stopped in the middle of the woods and sat on a stump. Then a fog appeared that prevented him from seeing anything. Here, the fog is seen as a character, in the narrator's speech. In this, he bumped into the Peacock and apologized. They started talking. As the peacock was a bit forgetful, it only repeated Alexandre's words, a situation that led him to conclude that the peacock was a very strange animal.
Suddenly, the fog begins to disappear, and the boy, who despite his fear was very curious, notices the Peacock's unique beauty. For the rest of the day, the Peacock followed Alexandre, but they didn't talk. Before continuing his journey, the boy went back to get his ice cream box with his belongings. At some point during the trip, Alexandre was surprised when the Peacock called him and started talking about his life. Suddenly, the Peacock had a glitch and couldn't talk properly anymore, just repeating, again, Alexandre's speech. The boy saw that, 'without any further ado, the Peacock had stopped thinking normally, talking normally, moving...' The boy started telling Vera that the Peacock only thought a few drops of thought per day, as a consequence of the delay its five owners caused in the animal's thinking, intending for it to think only what each of them wanted it to think. Before, the Peacock was normal and spoke normally, but human greed grew, and they wanted to make money with the little animal.
Alexandre tells Vera that 'before he became successful, he [the Peacock] had no owner at all. But as soon as everyone wanted to see the Peacock's beauty, five owners appeared: one said that the Peacock was born in his garden, so it was his. The neighbor said he was the one who fed the Peacock, so the Peacock was his; a woman said she was the one who gave the Peacock to the garden owner, so she was the first owner: another said: 'Story! The Peacock's mother was mine; if I owned the mother, I own the children too,' and then the fifth owner decided: 'The Peacock has nothing to say yes or no to this business of us charging an entrance fee; we are the owners, we decide, period!' And the other four also said: 'period.' The Peacock didn't agree and thought about taking a ship trip. The owners tied him by the paw, but he broke free. They tied him by the neck. He broke free. They tied him by the feathers. He broke free. Finally, they decided to end the Peacock's habit of breaking free. They took him to 'a school built on purpose to slow down the students' thinking.'
'The school they took the Peacock to was called the Osarta School of Thought. They devised the school's name so as not to attract too much attention. The school offered three courses: The Chat Course, The Line Course, and The Filter Course. In the Chat Course, they talked a lot, but the Peacock couldn't express opinions. If he did, they would put him in detention. This first course instilled fear of everything in the student, because the more terrified the student became, the more their thinking slowed down. To avoid hearing anything, the Peacock decided to stuff his ears with wax, so he wouldn't be afraid of everything they said. Seeing that the first course had been of no use, they took the Peacock to the Line Course. This course was for sewing the Peacock's thoughts to what its owners wanted. A fight ensued between them until they decided what disappeared and what didn't disappear in the sewing of thoughts. Even when choosing the color of the thread for the operation, the five owners argued. They couldn't perform the operation because the Peacock always managed to break the thread. They gave up and sent the animal to the third course: The Filter Course. In this course, they would put a filter on the Peacock's head and filter its thoughts. The operation was a success. They tightly closed the filter's little tap so only a little would pass at a time. The Peacock began to do what its owners commanded. One day, when the little tap failed and the Peacock's thoughts flowed normally, he met a sailor: João da Mil e Uma Namoradas (John of a Thousand and One Girlfriends), who loved to give gifts to girls in every port the ship docked. The sailor took the Peacock on board and gifted his girlfriends the Peacock's beautiful feathers.
In this part of the story, Vera's mother calls the girl for dinner. Vera's family has a clock obsession. All their actions are marked by hours: time to eat, wake up, play, study, watch television...
The next day, Alexandre meets Vera's father, who was a flower farmer. The girl brought food for him and the Peacock. Vera was intrigued by the previous day's show. Alexandre revealed the mystery to her. Vera's parents didn't like this friendship between the two very much, as Alexandre was a boy adrift in the world, with no future prospects. The boy explains to Vera that he has a family and a home, so he is not adrift in the world. He is with the Peacock, going to his godmother's house, the one whose house Augusto, his brother, had told him wonderful stories about. Despite being very poor, Augusto and Alexandre loved each other very much and were good friends. One day, Augusto said at home that it was time for Alexandre to go to school, but family poverty forced him to work to help with expenses. It was agreed that he would study during the week and work on weekends.
Alexandre's teacher had a briefcase full of surprises. From this briefcase, she would take out the most unusual things. They were colorful packages. Each color represented a different lesson. Blue, day to invent games; red, day to travel through portraits; green, day to tell stories, and so many other packages, of many colors. On a green package day, Alexandre told his classmates about his life, his work. The parents didn't like this teacher very much. They pilfered her briefcase, and she could no longer teach. The situation in Alexandre's house worsened so much that he had to give up school. Augusto found a job and traveled to work in São Paulo. But on the last night he spent with his brother, he sparked his curiosity about his godmother's house. He told wonderful stories.
When Alexandre reached the point where he was discussing the day he decided to travel to his godmother's house, Vera looked at the clock and saw it was time to go.
When they met again, they resumed their conversation from the sailor João das Mil e Uma Namoradas. He told about the Peacock's journey and how it lost its feathers after some time, as the sailor had endless girlfriends.
The veterinarian took good care of the Peacock until he was beautiful and wonderful again. He was taken to a zoo and lived a very good life until Joca, the zoo keeper, decided to steal him to present him as the main act in the samba school he was part of. Time passed, Joca grew old and no longer drummed well. The samba school people said his time was up. That's when the zoo keeper had the idea of taking the Peacock to the samba school in exchange for his continued participation in the drumming. One day, Mr. Joca went deaf and could no longer drum in the samba school. He was fired. That day, his conscience weighed on him, and he decided to return the Peacock to the zoo. However, upon reading a chic advertisement, Mr. Joca opted to sell the Peacock to a wealthy family who wanted to decorate their garden with rare birds.
There the Peacock went to live in those beautiful gardens, accompanied by two big dogs. After a few days and nights of solitude in that house, the Peacock met the Cover Cat, a stray cat who hid behind a cover larger than her body. The Peacock was amazed by the feline. They said strays had fleas; they dirtied everything; they said stray-ness was contagious: it was enough to chat a lot with a stray for one to become stray-like too. And so, the Cover Cat was chased away from everywhere. That's why she hid in a raincoat, pulled up the collar, pulled up the hood, and was always looking for a place to hide even better than the raincoat.
One day, the house is sold and demolished. The Peacock was taken to the home of some family friends, but he escapes and goes after the Cover Cat. When Alexandre finds the Peacock, it is actually looking for the Cover Cat.
Vera's mother comes to call her, interrupting their conversation.
The next day, Vera was forced to tell Alexandre that he couldn't stay in her father's tool shed and that he needed to leave because her parents considered him a neglected boy. Alexandre tried to argue, but saw that it would be useless, as grown-ups didn't understand children's goals. Vera, secretly from her parents, allowed Alexandre to stay for a few more days. The next day, Vera came to talk to her friend, but he wasn't there; he had gone to the nearest town to put on a show to raise funds for his trip.
One day later, Vera gives Alexandre money that her parents sent for him to leave. Vera tried to make excuses to justify her parents' actions, but Alexandre didn't accept them because the girl's parents didn't like him. When Alexandre, finally resigned, decides to say goodbye to leave, instead of saying goodbye, he asks Vera if she wants to ride a horse. As there are no horses around, Alexandre teaches her how to call a horse, shouting all together: Alexandre, Vera, and the Peacock. The horse Ah appears, and the last adventures begin: crossing the fence, visiting the godmother's house, meeting Augusto again, the Cover Cat, and the teacher's briefcase.
After crossing the fence, the horse slowly disappeared, and the children became very scared. They overcame their fear by drawing in the dark, considering it a blackboard.
They drew a house, a tree, a sea wave, a flower, a river... Finally, they decided to draw the face of fear, almost dying of laughter at the funny physiognomy they gave it. Then Alexandre drew a door, with a doorknob, a lock, a key. They turned the key in the lock, opened the door, 'and the three of them came out of the dark.' They found Ah, the horse, again, and an illuminated road that led to the godmother's house, described by Augusto.
They entered the house, where they found the Cover Cat, with a message from the godmother saying she had to travel but that they could make themselves at home for as long as they wanted. The Peacock was very happy to find that cat he had already fallen in love with.
With Alexandre's help, the Cover Cat inserted a corkscrew into the Peacock's head and pulled out the filter that prevented the flow of its thoughts, telling him that someone, knowing that he would arrive at Alexandre's godmother's house at any moment, had left him a chest full of carnival costumes. At the gate, the Peacock realized it was his Joca, from the samba school band, who was the sender of that gift. They opened the chest, and the gate took on a carnival atmosphere. They played a lot until Vera looked out the window and saw the horse playing on the beach, by the sea. Everyone wanted to play in the water. Since that house and everything inside it was the result of a fantasy, they opened a closet that provided clothes, and from a drawer, they took out swimwear.
When they got tired, they returned home, ravenous. They opened the closet that provided food and feasted. The doorbell rings; upon answering, Alexandre has a pleasant surprise: Augusto had returned from São Paulo and had come to visit him at his godmother's house. At night, Augusto told him wonderful stories until they fell asleep. At the beginning of the next day, Vera woke up before the others and asked the house to lock itself, not letting anyone out, where Alexandre and his friends would always be happy, as they would lack neither clothes, nor food, nor games, which is all a child needs. But the window, which was always stuck, out of stubbornness, to be contrary, that morning, upon hearing Vera's requests, decided to open. The noise woke everyone up.
Vera tried to escape riding Ah, but he balked. Alexandre asked where she was going, and she said away, but Ah wouldn't move. Everyone wanted to ride a horse. They all mounted, and the horse galloped away, leaving behind the hill of flowers, the beach, the forest. Without crossing the dark, Vera realized they were on this side of the fence and that fear hadn't had time to scare them. Upon crossing the fence, they noticed that the dark was now on the other side. Ah began to disappear, Augusto didn't answer Alexandre's call, the Cat didn't answer the Peacock when he called her. In short, Alexandre concluded that the Cat and Augusto had returned with Ah to the godmother's house. If he went back to the godmother's house, he would find them again. Vera was intrigued because, even when calling, Ah wouldn't appear anymore. Alexandre told her he would walk back. At this point, Vera saw her parents arriving and rushed off, afraid she was very late, as on that wonderful trip she had lost track of time.
Vera couldn't sleep well that night. She had nightmares. Alexandre scratched at the window, and Vera noticed that the sun, at that hour of the morning, was already strong. Alexandre said he tried in every way, but couldn't reinvent Ah anymore, so he was leaving for his godmother's house. He promised to write when he arrived. Upon opening the ice cream box to get the pencil, he saw that the yellow flower that hid the key to his godmother's house was inside. He was very happy. Vera, however, thought: 'why is he thinking that the flower I put in the bag is the flower that decorated the blue door? This alamanda is much smaller...' She was startled when Alexandre put his hand inside the flower and took out the key to his godmother's house. He said to Vera: '- How cool! Now I'll travel with the house key in my pocket, I won't have any more problems. Remember what Augusto said? [...] He said that the day I put the house key in my pocket, fear wouldn't beat me anymore - He laughed - Can you imagine? Now I can travel my whole life. When fear strikes, I'll defeat it, and that's it. [...] They hugged. Tightly, quickly. Alexandre hung the suitcase on his shoulder and walked away, the Peacock walking alongside him. They kept disappearing and disappearing; and then they disappeared completely around a bend in the road.'
