The Grumpy Old Man
Once upon a time, in the town of Moark, there lived an old man named Mr. Ray. Unlike his name, there was no ray of sunshine in his demeanor. He complained about the smallest things and blamed everyone around him, except himself, for all the bad things that happened in his life.
One day, as he was leaving his house for a walk in the park, he heard his neighbor, dear old Mrs. Kyle, yelling and shouting at her dog.
— Why won't you let me do my work? Let me clean the house!
Mr. Ray, hearing her, shouted back:
— Will you stop it, old woman? You're always yelling and shouting! I can't even sleep at night with all this constant racket!
Furious, Mr. Ray went for his walk in the park. When he arrived at the park, he went to his favorite bench and took out his newspaper. Grumbling and muttering, he opened the newspaper.
— Ah, finally I can sit in peace.
As he began to read the newspaper, he heard someone addressing him.
— Excuse me?
Putting the newspaper down, he saw a little boy standing in front of him. His name was Tim.
— Yes? — Excuse me, sir, would you be kind enough to buy some cookies from me?
Mr. Ray replied harshly:
— Listen here, boy! I'm already having a very bad day. Please, don't make it worse! — Sir, just one box. Please! — But I don't even want a cookie. Go away!
Little Tim ran off. Mr. Ray got up from the bench and walked towards the fountain.
— Why aren't there more people like me? Why does everyone have to be so... so annoying?
The Encounter with the Angel
Just then, from behind the fountain, a young man dressed in white appeared and walked towards Mr. Ray.
— Why can't I have a moment to myself? Why is this happening? — Calm down, Mr. Ray! I'm here to help you. — Who? Who are you? And how do you know my name? — I am the angel of awareness. You can call me Angy. — The angel of what? Are you from the neighborhood theater company? Get out of my sight!
The man truly was an angel. And to prove it, he snapped his fingers and out of nowhere appeared a pair of beautiful silver boots. Mr. Ray was astonished.
— How? Oh my! You really are an angel! — Indeed. And as I said, I'm here to help you. — And how exactly? — Take these boots. Whenever you are angry with someone and wished they had acted more wisely, wear them. The boots will take you exactly to that moment in that person's life and put you in their shoes. If you act more wisely, you will be rewarded with gold, silver, and diamonds. In other words, the boots will put you in someone else's shoes.
The idea of gold, silver, and diamonds tempted him, so he accepted on the spot.
— But remember! If at any moment you realize you have judged wrongly, the boots will bring you back to yourself. — Me, judge wrongly? Never! — Very well.
Saying that, the angel disappeared. Mr. Ray took the boots and went home.
The Empathy Lesson
The next day, when he woke up, he heard his neighbor, Mrs. Kyle, shouting.
— Why won't you let me do my work? Oh, for heaven's sake! Let me clean the house!
Hearing her shouting, Mr. Ray became very angry and remembered the pair of silver boots. He immediately put them on, and when he tied the last lace, he found himself in Mrs. Kyle's house.
— Wow! This thing really works!
Just then, the dog started playing with him.
— Get off me! Ugh!
Freeing himself from the dog, he went straight to the kitchen.
— Oh, I'm so hungry! Let's see what the old woman has here.
He found a can of beans.
— Oh, beans! How good! I'll cook them now.
In while pouring the beans into a bowl, he felt the dog pulling at his dress.
— What, what is it? Leave me alone!
But the dog wouldn't listen. It held onto the dress and suddenly, the entire bowl of beans slipped from the woman's hand and fell to the floor. This terribly annoyed him, and he shouted loudly:
— Why won't you let me cook? For heaven's sake! Let me cook something! I'm starving!
And right at that moment, Mr. Ray heard his own voice coming from the neighboring house.
— Will you stop it, old woman? You're always yelling and shouting! I can't even sleep with all this constant racket!
He opened his eyes wide, realizing the situation, and in an instant, Mr. Ray was back in his own home. A tear rolled down his cheek. He wiped it away immediately.
— No, no! I can't be wrong! That angel tricked me!
Saying that, he left the house, not realizing that he still had the silver boots on. After arriving at the park, he sat in his usual spot and opened his newspaper, when he heard little Tim's voice again.
— Excuse me, sir, please buy a box of cookies today! Please! — I don't want any!
In a fraction of a second, Mr. Ray became Tim.
— Wake up, Tim!
He opened his eyes and saw a woman who was very pale.
— Go and sell the cookies. I won't be able to go today either.
He didn't say anything. He just lay in bed and looked at her.
— Hurry up and please sell all the cookies, enough so we can pay the rent today. Otherwise, we won't have anywhere to stay.
Hearing this, tears began to flow, realizing he had been wrong again. In a second, he was back in the park, sitting on the bench. His face trembled as tears streamed down his cheeks. He looked up and saw little Tim walking away with his head down. He stood up and ran after him.
— Tim! Little one! Wait!
When Tim turned around, Mr. Ray went to him and, sitting beside him, hugged him.
— I'm so sorry, little one! — It's okay. Don't you like cookies? — Oh, nonsense! I love cookies! Give me everything you have and I'll pay you for all the cookies you can make all month! Here! Take all the money and bring me cookies tomorrow too!
Delighted, little Tim kissed him on the cheek and gave him all the cookies he had. That very day, Mr. Ray went to Mrs. Kyle's house and gave her all the cookies.
— Oh, but why did you do that? — Uh, well, let's just say I haven't been a very good neighbor, and this is my way of apologizing. — You're too kind, Ray! — Oh, this is just the beginning!
And so, Mr. Ray transformed from a very angry man into a very generous man. He never shouted at anyone again. He and Tim became the best of friends. As for the pair of boots, well, he kept them in his living room, to remind him that it's very important to be empathetic and that before judging others, we should always put ourselves in their shoes.
