PHILIP AND HIS GOOD DEEDS

There once lived in a faraway country a little boy called Philip. The latter was a bad boy as he was disobedient and disrespectful to his parents and siblings. Philip was also mean to his classmates and animals. He was so bad that his mother would pray daily that her little boy would change his ways and become a good little boy.

One day, while Philip was torturing a puppy with a lit candle, he suddenly saw an angel. Philip stood in awe before the saintly creature. The angel spoke kindly but firmly to him, “If you let go of your bad ways and accept to do a good deed each day, a person would be cured of an illness. If you keep doing a good deed for exactly ten years, something extraordinary will happen to you.”

Philip was so surprised that he could only nod at the angel. After the departure of the angel, Philip thought hard about how he could change his old ways. He was so used to doing bad things that he had no idea what he could do as a good deed. He wanted to do a good deed more out of curiosity than out of goodness. He really wanted to see if he had the power to heal people thanks to his good deeds.

The following day, Philip was walking home from school when he saw an old lady who was carrying a heavy bag with difficulty. He fought the urge of ridiculing the old woman and instead went quickly to her and volunteered to carry her heavy bag. The old lady was very grateful to him and thanked him warmly. That night, Philip’s baby sister who had been feverish for the last days, was cured of the fever. Philip was more excited at his new ‘power’ than seeing his baby sister cured. He decided that he would do another good deed the next day to see if his ‘power’ would last.

The following day, when Philip came in the kitchen, he noticed that his mother was having difficulty reaching a jar which was lying on the top shelf of the main cupboard. He would usually ignore her but he made up his mind to do his one good deed of the day. To his mother’s surprise, Philip, who was taller than his mother, smoothly reached out and got it for her. Later in the day, his father who was suffering from backache no more felt any pain.

Little by little, Philip believed what the angel had told him. He could indeed cure people’s diseases by his good deeds. He began to do more than one good deed per day and he soon realised that he actually enjoyed healing people. His family, neighbours, classmates, teachers and strangers were all healed of a disease thanks to Philip’s good deeds. People who knew him were surprised at the drastic change in him. Philip was no more the mean and cruel boy that they knew. Instead, he was now very gentle and kind, and would always go out of his way to help people. Only his parents knew what was the cause of all these healings. Philip’s mother was overjoyed as her prayers for her son have been finally answered through the apparition of an angel.

Philip was proud of his good deeds and of his changed ways. He now realized how he had been very mean and cruel and vowed that he would continue being good to others. Years went by and he was still healing others through his good deeds. Little by little, Philip became known as ‘The Healer’ as thousands of people were healed thanks to his daily good deeds. Philip became known in the country for his healing power and was considered a hero by everyone. The King had indeed heard of him and had even been cured by him. As a reward, the King invited him to the palace and he soon became a favorite there. By the end of ten years, Philip remembered what the angel had told him: that something extraordinary would happen to him.

The king was very old and knew that he would die soon. Since he did not have any children, he decided to give to his people a king with a heart of gold. So, on the eve of his death, the King called Philip and appointed him as the future King much to his amazement. He now understood what was the extraordinary thing that would happen to him.
The King died and the next day, Philip was crowned as the new King. The whole country celebrated this event with enthusiasm and excitement and was hailed as The Healer King. Philip’s family was very proud of him and went to live with him in the palace.

The Healer King was a good king to his people. He continued to heal people and to do good around him. Everyone looked up to him and revered him. The Healer King lived to a very old age and passed away peacefully, leaving sadness but also goodness in the hearts of his people.

THE END