The Godmother's House presents a children's and young adult story centered 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, holds within themselves, but which in our troubled, media-invaded days has been relegated to oblivion – the power to play 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 creates great suspense to present his big 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 the curiosity to ask for donations.
He receives bananas, candies, flowers as payment for the show... 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 that at the end, the animal recites the Farewell Verse in the Dru language, the language spoken by peacocks. This is what his faithful 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 unwraps 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 surprised by Vera's lack of curiosity, that 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 came to live in the city of Christ the Redeemer.
Through correspondence with her cousin, she learns that in that city, children don't know animals like rabbits, pacas, 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 she will later show him all the beauties of the place. Vera 'glanced sideways at Alexandre. He was more tanned than her, taller, spoke more charmingly, wore old clothes, and went barefoot'.
Alexandre informs the girl that he found the Peacock on the way to his godmother's house. Vera becomes sad, anticipating not seeing or talking to Alexandre anymore, as she had already grown very fond of him. They start talking about the boy's life while he lived in Rio de Janeiro. He tells her about his life as a street vendor, at traffic lights and on the capital's beaches. He tells her about the difficulties, which weren't 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 words. While in this fog, he bumped into the Peacock and apologized. They started talking. As the peacock was a bit forgetful, he only repeated Alexandre's words, a situation that led him to conclude that the peacock was a very strange animal.
Suddenly, the fog began to disappear, and the boy, who despite his fear was very curious, realized 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 one point during the journey, Alexandre was surprised because the Peacock called him and started talking about his life. Suddenly, the Peacock had a glitch and couldn't talk properly anymore, just repeating Alexandre's words again. The boy saw that, 'all of a sudden, 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, with the intention that it would only think what each one wanted it to think. Before, the Peacock was normal and spoke normally, but men's greed grew greater, and they wanted to make money with the little animal.
Alexandre tells Vera that 'before he became successful, he [the Peacock] had no owner. But as soon as everyone wanted to see the Peacock's beauty, five owners appeared: one said the Peacock was born in his garden, so it was his. The neighbor said he fed the Peacock, so the Peacock was his; a woman said she had given the Peacock to the garden owner, so she was the first owner: another said: 'Nonsense! 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 do with agreeing or not agreeing with us charging admission; 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 journey. The owners tied him by the paw, but he got loose. They tied him by the neck. He got loose. They tied him by the feathers. He got loose. Finally, they decided to end the Peacock's habit of getting loose. They took him to 'a school built specifically to slow down students' thinking'.
'The school they took the Peacock to was called the Osarta School of Thinking. 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 punished him. This first course instilled fear of everything in the student, because the more frightened the student became, the slower their thinking became. To avoid hearing anything, the Peacock decided to plug his ears with wax, so he wouldn't be afraid of everything they said. Seeing that the first course was of no help, they took the Peacock to the Line Course. This course was meant to sew 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. They even argued about the color of the thread for the operation. 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 tap so only a little would pass at a time. The Peacock began to do what its owners commanded. One day, when the tap failed and the Peacock's thought flowed normally, he met a sailor: João of the Thousand and One Girlfriends, who loved to give gifts to girls in every port the ship docked at. The sailor took the Peacock on board and gifted his girlfriends with the Peacock's beautiful feathers.
In this part of the story, Vera's mother calls the girl to 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 grower. 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 the friendship between the two very much, as Alexandre was a boy abandoned in the world, with no prospects for the future. The boy explains to Vera that he has a family and a home, so he is not abandoned in the world. He is with the Peacock, going to his godmother's house, the one whose house Augusto, his brother, had told him beautiful stories about. Although very poor, Augusto and Alexandre loved each other very much and were good friends. One day, Augusto told them 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 took out the most unusual things. They were colorful packages. Each color represented a different class. Blue, a day to invent games; red, a day to travel through portraits; green, a day to tell stories, and so on with 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 that teacher very much. They stole her briefcase, and she could no longer teach. The situation at Alexandre's house worsened so much that he had to drop out of school. Augusto found a job and traveled to work in São Paulo. But on the last night he spent with his brother, his curiosity was piqued about his godmother's house. He told beautiful stories.
When Alexandre reached the point where he was discussing the day he decided to travel to his godmother's house, Vera looked at her watch and saw that it was time to leave.
When they met again, they resumed their conversation from the sailor João of the Thousand and One Girlfriends. He told about the Peacock's journey and how it became featherless after some time of travel, as the sailor had endless girlfriends.
The veterinarian took good care of the Peacock, until he was again beautiful and wonderful. 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 drum section. Mr. Joca one day became deaf and could no longer drum in the samba school. He was dismissed. That day, his conscience weighed on him, and he decided to return the Peacock to the zoo. However, after reading a fancy advertisement, Mr. Joca opted to sell the Peacock to a rich family who wanted to decorate their garden with rare birds.
There, the Peacock came to live in those beautiful gardens, in the company of two large 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 cape larger than her body. The Peacock was amazed by the feline. They said stray cats had fleas; they dirtied everything; they said strayness was contagious: all you had to do was chat a lot with a stray to become a stray yourself. 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 kept looking for a place to hide even better than the cape.
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, he 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, as her parents considered him a neglected boy. Alexandre tried to argue, but saw that it would be useless, as adults 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.
A 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 go horseback riding. Since there are no horses around, Alexandre teaches her how to call a horse, by 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, reuniting with Augusto, the Cover Cat, and the teacher's briefcase.
After crossing the fence, the horse gradually 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 wave in the sea, 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, and an illuminated road that led to the godmother's house, as 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 they could stay as long as they wished. The Peacock was very happy to meet the Cat again, whom he was already 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 fluidity 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 that it was his Joca, from the samba school band, who had sent the 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 fantasy, they opened a wardrobe that provided clothes, and from a drawer, they took out swimwear.
When they got tired, they returned home, famished. They opened the wardrobe that provided food and feasted. The doorbell rings; upon answering, Alexandre has a pleasant surprise: Augusto had returned from São Paulo and came to visit him at his godmother's house. At night, Augusto told him beautiful 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 them 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 she was going away, but Ah wouldn't budge. Everyone wanted to ride the horse. They all mounted, and the horse galloped away, leaving behind the hill of flowers, the beach, the woods. 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 respond to the Peacock when he called her. Finally, Alexandre concluded that the Cat and Augusto had returned with Ah to the godmother's house. If he returned to the godmother's house, he would find them. Vera was puzzled because, even when calling, Ah would no longer appear. Alexandre told her he would walk back. At this moment, Vera saw her parents arriving and took off running, afraid she was very late, as she had lost track of time on that wonderful trip.
Vera couldn't sleep well that night. She had nightmares. Alexandre scratches at the window, and Vera observes that the sun, at that time of morning, is already strong. Alexandre says he tried in every way but couldn't reinvent Ah, 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 suitcase is the flower that decorated the blue door? This alamanda is much smaller...' She got scared when Alexandre put his hand inside the flower and pulled out the key to his godmother's house. He said to Vera: ' - How cool! Now I'm going to 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 beat it, and that's it. [...] They hugged. Tight, fast. Alexandre hung the bag on his shoulder and walked away, the Peacock paced with him. They kept disappearing and disappearing; and then they disappeared completely around a bend in the road.'
The Godmother's House presents a children's and young adult story centered 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, holds within themselves, but which in our troubled, media-invaded days has been relegated to oblivion – the power to play 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 creates great suspense to present his big 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 the curiosity to ask for donations.
He receives bananas, candies, flowers as payment for the show... 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 that at the end, the animal recites the Farewell Verse in the Dru language, the language spoken by peacocks. This is what his faithful 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 unwraps 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 surprised by Vera's lack of curiosity, that 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 came to live in the city of Christ the Redeemer.
Through correspondence with her cousin, she learns that in that city, children don't know animals like rabbits, pacas, 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 she will later show him all the beauties of the place. Vera 'glanced sideways at Alexandre. He was more tanned than her, taller, spoke more charmingly, wore old clothes, and went barefoot'.
Alexandre informs the girl that he found the Peacock on the way to his godmother's house. Vera becomes sad, anticipating not seeing or talking to Alexandre anymore, as she had already grown very fond of him. They start talking about the boy's life while he lived in Rio de Janeiro. He tells her about his life as a street vendor, at traffic lights and on the capital's beaches. He tells her about the difficulties, which weren't 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 words. While in this fog, he bumped into the Peacock and apologized. They started talking. As the peacock was a bit forgetful, he only repeated Alexandre's words, a situation that led him to conclude that the peacock was a very strange animal.
Suddenly, the fog began to disappear, and the boy, who despite his fear was very curious, realized 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 one point during the journey, Alexandre was surprised because the Peacock called him and started talking about his life. Suddenly, the Peacock had a glitch and couldn't talk properly anymore, just repeating Alexandre's words again. The boy saw that, 'all of a sudden, 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, with the intention that it would only think what each one wanted it to think. Before, the Peacock was normal and spoke normally, but men's greed grew greater, and they wanted to make money with the little animal.
Alexandre tells Vera that 'before he became successful, he [the Peacock] had no owner. But as soon as everyone wanted to see the Peacock's beauty, five owners appeared: one said the Peacock was born in his garden, so it was his. The neighbor said he fed the Peacock, so the Peacock was his; a woman said she had given the Peacock to the garden owner, so she was the first owner: another said: 'Nonsense! 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 do with agreeing or not agreeing with us charging admission; 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 journey. The owners tied him by the paw, but he got loose. They tied him by the neck. He got loose. They tied him by the feathers. He got loose. Finally, they decided to end the Peacock's habit of getting loose. They took him to 'a school built specifically to slow down students' thinking'.
'The school they took the Peacock to was called the Osarta School of Thinking. 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 punished him. This first course instilled fear of everything in the student, because the more frightened the student became, the slower their thinking became. To avoid hearing anything, the Peacock decided to plug his ears with wax, so he wouldn't be afraid of everything they said. Seeing that the first course was of no help, they took the Peacock to the Line Course. This course was meant to sew 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. They even argued about the color of the thread for the operation. 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 tap so only a little would pass at a time. The Peacock began to do what its owners commanded. One day, when the tap failed and the Peacock's thought flowed normally, he met a sailor: João of the Thousand and One Girlfriends, who loved to give gifts to girls in every port the ship docked at. The sailor took the Peacock on board and gifted his girlfriends with the Peacock's beautiful feathers.
In this part of the story, Vera's mother calls the girl to 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 grower. 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 the friendship between the two very much, as Alexandre was a boy abandoned in the world, with no prospects for the future. The boy explains to Vera that he has a family and a home, so he is not abandoned in the world. He is with the Peacock, going to his godmother's house, the one whose house Augusto, his brother, had told him beautiful stories about. Although very poor, Augusto and Alexandre loved each other very much and were good friends. One day, Augusto told them 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 took out the most unusual things. They were colorful packages. Each color represented a different class. Blue, a day to invent games; red, a day to travel through portraits; green, a day to tell stories, and so on with 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 that teacher very much. They stole her briefcase, and she could no longer teach. The situation at Alexandre's house worsened so much that he had to drop out of school. Augusto found a job and traveled to work in São Paulo. But on the last night he spent with his brother, his curiosity was piqued about his godmother's house. He told beautiful stories.
When Alexandre reached the point where he was discussing the day he decided to travel to his godmother's house, Vera looked at her watch and saw that it was time to leave.
When they met again, they resumed their conversation from the sailor João of the Thousand and One Girlfriends. He told about the Peacock's journey and how it became featherless after some time of travel, as the sailor had endless girlfriends.
The veterinarian took good care of the Peacock, until he was again beautiful and wonderful. 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 drum section. Mr. Joca one day became deaf and could no longer drum in the samba school. He was dismissed. That day, his conscience weighed on him, and he decided to return the Peacock to the zoo. However, after reading a fancy advertisement, Mr. Joca opted to sell the Peacock to a rich family who wanted to decorate their garden with rare birds.
There, the Peacock came to live in those beautiful gardens, in the company of two large 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 cape larger than her body. The Peacock was amazed by the feline. They said stray cats had fleas; they dirtied everything; they said strayness was contagious: all you had to do was chat a lot with a stray to become a stray yourself. 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 kept looking for a place to hide even better than the cape.
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, he 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, as her parents considered him a neglected boy. Alexandre tried to argue, but saw that it would be useless, as adults 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.
A 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 go horseback riding. Since there are no horses around, Alexandre teaches her how to call a horse, by 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, reuniting with Augusto, the Cover Cat, and the teacher's briefcase.
After crossing the fence, the horse gradually 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 wave in the sea, 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, and an illuminated road that led to the godmother's house, as 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 they could stay as long as they wished. The Peacock was very happy to meet the Cat again, whom he was already 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 fluidity 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 that it was his Joca, from the samba school band, who had sent the 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 fantasy, they opened a wardrobe that provided clothes, and from a drawer, they took out swimwear.
When they got tired, they returned home, famished. They opened the wardrobe that provided food and feasted. The doorbell rings; upon answering, Alexandre has a pleasant surprise: Augusto had returned from São Paulo and came to visit him at his godmother's house. At night, Augusto told him beautiful 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 them 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 she was going away, but Ah wouldn't budge. Everyone wanted to ride the horse. They all mounted, and the horse galloped away, leaving behind the hill of flowers, the beach, the woods. 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 respond to the Peacock when he called her. Finally, Alexandre concluded that the Cat and Augusto had returned with Ah to the godmother's house. If he returned to the godmother's house, he would find them. Vera was puzzled because, even when calling, Ah would no longer appear. Alexandre told her he would walk back. At this moment, Vera saw her parents arriving and took off running, afraid she was very late, as she had lost track of time on that wonderful trip.
Vera couldn't sleep well that night. She had nightmares. Alexandre scratches at the window, and Vera observes that the sun, at that time of morning, is already strong. Alexandre says he tried in every way but couldn't reinvent Ah, 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 suitcase is the flower that decorated the blue door? This alamanda is much smaller...' She got scared when Alexandre put his hand inside the flower and pulled out the key to his godmother's house. He said to Vera: ' - How cool! Now I'm going to 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 beat it, and that's it. [...] They hugged. Tight, fast. Alexandre hung the bag on his shoulder and walked away, the Peacock paced with him. They kept disappearing and disappearing; and then they disappeared completely around a bend in the road.'
