What is depression?

The Magic Harmonica

Once upon a time in an enormous country there lived a small boy who liked to dream big.

One day, when he was nine years old, his father came home from work with a small parcel in his hand.

The little boy's eyes became large and round because he was extremely curious.

'This is for you, Daniel,' his dad said.

'What is it?' he asked.

'Open it and you'll find out.'

Daniel looked at the rectangular box for a while and then opened it as quickly as he could. Inside, there was a long silvery object. The boy touched it gingerly, as if he was afraid it might bite. Then he looked up at his dad.

'I still don't know what it is.'

'It's a harmonica. A magic harmonica.'

'But magic doesn't exist. Only when you're a really small kid, and I'm big now.'

'Oh, yes. It does exist. You just have to play your harmonica every day for fifteen days and then you'll see.'

Daniel had always trusted his father, but this time around he was skeptical. He asked David, his younger brother, what he thought, but he simply shrugged his shoulders. He also asked his mum, but she just smiled.

Day after day, when he had finished all his homework, Daniel sat on his bed and played the harmonica. Nobody had ever taught him how to do it and at first nothing much came out of the small instrument when he blew. Not even a sad, solitary note.

A week later, however, what he created started resembling real tunes. That made him happy and determined. He would learn to play that metal thing better than anybody in the whole wide world.

When the two weeks were over, his father walked into his room and sat next to him. Daniel stopped playing.

His dad smiled.

'Now you believe me?' he asked looking at his small son.

Daniel was bemused. He didn't know what his father meant.

'It's not a magic harmonica, Dad. Just a piece of metal with holes in it.'

'Yes, but when I got it for you, you blew and blew and nothing happened. After a while, you were able to make it speak, but now you can make it sing.'

'But that's because I've practised every day.'

'Exactly.'

'I think you're wrong, Dad. The harmonica isn't magic. I'm magic.'

His father looked at him and started laughing. He laughed so loud that Daniel's mother came into the little boy's room wondering if something was wrong. 

Her husband told her what had just happened and she smiled kindly as she always did.

'You're right, young man. Your father was trying to trick you, but you've seen through him.'

'And he's learned something important. Now he knows he must work hard if he wants his dreams to come true.'

Years and years passed. Daniel turned into a teenager and then into a man, but he never ever forgot the story of the magic harmonica.