The house with the green shutters
First part
Welcome reader friends,
today I propose a story that was inspired by Monica, a blogger friend; he had just finished reading a novel that spoke of strange "presences" and recalled some memories that were a bit lost in memory.
Have you ever found yourself in mysterious situations? Strange scents in the air, noises coming from the uninhabited upstairs, voices that are lost in the wind ... if this has happened to you then you are ready to read this story, otherwise forget it or the next time you pass in front of an uninhabited house you could speed up the step.
Now that you understand what it is, I recommend a passage for reading -Suspirium by Thom Yorke , I give you an appointment next Friday with the second part of the story.
Enjoy the reading
Aurora Redville
First part
The first time I passed this house I had a strange feeling, probably because it looked a bit neglected, the garden looked like a forest and was so dense that you could hardly see the facade.
But today I feel different, I am so curious that I open the wooden gate in the entrance and enter, it seems abandoned but the “For Sale” sign stuck to the wall stands out.
I make my way through the vegetation and I see them: the peeling shutters stand out, certainly they need a refresh, but they are made of wood and you can see the color of the past: a beautiful pastel green.
The house is really special with the classic exposed bricks; the color fades from red to brown with some liberty influence on the windows of the entrance door and then floral stuccoes to decorate the entire facade dividing the two floors.
I walk around the property, it looks ancient but over time they must have made several changes especially on the back where there is a beautiful glass and steel veranda. My cousin and I started looking for a house for a couple of months, we want to buy one that reflects certain characteristics that can allow us to live together but also be independent.
This is perfect halfway between our jobs, a very quiet area away from the chaotic center of London, close to a park, the underground line and various shops, plus it has two entrances and two floors. I pass it when I go to visit my friend Kate, who lives 200 meters from here, one more reason to buy it.
I make the decision on the spot: I sign the agency number and call to make an appointment for a visit, a very nice lady answers me, we agree on Saturday morning, I have a good feeling and I feel optimistic.
I call Ale to give him the news but he doesn't seem as enthusiastic as me: “surely there will be a lot of work to be done, the old houses are very expensive, but going to see it doesn't cost us anything”.
For three days I wait for Saturday, the appointment is at 10, we arrive ten minutes earlier because I am no longer in the skin and so Ale can look outside.
"The whole garden needs to be fixed at a minimum ... oh well let's see the inside looks nice."
In the garden there is also a magnificent horse chestnut right next to the entrance, it seems a good omen if it has survived the neglect in this house there is certainly a positive aura.
The agent arrives almost immediately, a big smile is put on her face and says “what a beautiful couple! If you are thinking of starting a family this is the ideal home, there are five bedrooms. "
"Actually we are cousins ..." I reply.
“As I said, the house is very large, ideal for one but also two families with some modifications thanks to the subdivision and the two independent entrances. I'll show you the garden right away. " It takes us right to the back where the porch is.
“This was added by the last owners, the lady was a big fan of plants and had built her own winter garden. She was a concert performer and right here she kept her piano, as you can see there is a stove to heat the room during the cold season; instead of the parquet they have put very strong tiles suitable for outdoor use. "
"Is it possible to see it from the inside?" my cousin asks.
"Sure. I just wanted to show you the structure, now let's go through the main door and I'll show you the highlight. "
We go around the house and finally pushed aside the gigantic ivy I see a black wooden door, it will certainly be restored but it is beautiful.
The lady turns the key a little with difficulty: "It hasn't been opened for a while but I'm sure that with a little maintenance ..."
"Yes it is really nice!" I say with enthusiasm.
"You love this kind of thing," grins Ale.
We enter a large entrance, on the sides of the door two stained glass windows, the herringbone parquet like those of the past, indeed it is certainly the original. It is very dusty but it looks like it has kept up well.
"On the left is the living room, follow me ... here look what a show!"
A living room whose walls are covered with exposed stone and a gigantic fireplace that dominates, in the center of the room the parquet forms a design: the wind rose with all the cardinal points.
"I know for a fact that the first owner was a man of the sea, he traveled the length and breadth of all the oceans and designed the house himself, he was a great navigator with a flair for architecture."
"But what period does it date back?"
"The house is very old, it was built starting in 1864. He supervised the work himself and it took three years to complete it."
"Wow a long time."
"Yes, but you have to take into account that special works have been done."
"For example?"
“Under the kitchen there is a real cellar, it was dug by hand. In addition, there is a food door that reaches the floor above, an example of the time ... "
"Really interesting, at this point I wonder what price a prestigious property can have." Hazard Ale.
"Much less than you might think."
"Where's the catch?" I reply.
"No scam, the house has been uninhabited for many years and needs some interventions, moreover the current market offers brand new rentals with all the comforts and let's face it not everyone wants to devote their time to tidying up the garden or doing annual work for the shutters Wood."
"I'm curious to see the kitchen."
"Come, miss, you will be amazed."
He opens the double wooden door and we are flooded with light from the huge window right above the sink, there is a whole marble top, cabinets for the length of five meters, a wooden table in the center of the room with eight chairs in wrought iron, a stove / kitchen and some storage walls. The lady points out the tiles on the walls, they are originals of the places visited by the captain some come from the Caribbean, others from the Spanish islands, and then Cyprus, Malta, Greece. The French door that opens onto the garden is a masterpiece! The wood is inlaid with marine inspired designs, I've never seen anything like it.
Then I notice a heavy-looking door on the right side: "Where do you go?"
“It is the cellar I was talking about, during the Luftwaffe bombings in World War II it was used as an air raid shelter, apparently they made all the neighbors come when it happened during the night. I'll show you something. "
He turns on a light on the side of the door and we go down a narrow corridor with stairs carved into the stone, I count the steps: 44 are about two floors of stairs, there is no doubt that it is underground.
At the end of the staircase another iron door with bars, it seems strange to see it here. The lady opens with the right key and lets us into the cellar, the floor is in good condition, there are barrels and numerous dusty bottles, there is a large glass case with anti-gas masks of the time inside, a oil lamp and other tin cans.
"Why are these things left?"
“The owners wanted everything to remain intact like a museum of time, it seems to me a good idea indeed. There are the original barrels of the Captain where he kept his wine, even if they are unusable they are ancient, and also the boxes that were used for the smuggling of cigarettes and to store food "
"How many came down here during the bombings?"
"We found documents from the time where it is said that there were thirty people down here for even three days."
I feel strange, a sense of uneasiness, if I think about the past of this house ... it has seen many, it really has a historical value. Ale also seems upside down, then we hear a strange noise behind the barrels, the lady turns pale and smiles nervously.
"It will certainly be a mouse!"
"I think we will have to put the mousetraps." Ale confirms, but the lady seems a bit uneasy in fact she cuts it short: "Now let's go back upstairs there is much more to see."
When he closes the cellar door behind us, I feel calmer, as if now I can appreciate the value of what I have seen. Even if it looked like it was something different.
Next to the kitchen there is a large laundry room, not very modern washer and dryer, a nice stone sink and a built-in wardrobe. It seems they had thought of everything.
"I'll show you the most beautiful room."
He shows us a large room with windows on all sides and an exit to the veranda.
"This was the Captain's study, the old owners had kept some furniture of the time including this desk and the armchair, even if they had created the dining room here for special occasions they liked to think that he was still here, perhaps that's why they left everything in the same position. "
"What a nice thing!"
"Yes indeed ..."
Going upstairs he also shows us the wall-mounted food rack, it still works!
"And here is one of the first examples of a helical spiral staircase, it is all in wood and for the time it was a very important project."
It is really incredible, I wonder how much he will shoot at us, probably 800 thousand pounds.
At the end of the staircase there is a kind of glass dome, small but very significant, making the environment truly special.
When we enter the first room we are frightened by a black crow hitting the window sash and then coming out of the broken glass.
"Here this is to be fixed!" she exclaims agitatedly.
We see four of the five bedrooms and three bathrooms that were probably renovated in the 1950s, sure that a couple will still need to be fixed, I would also like a shower.
"And now the last bedroom is the master bedroom with attached bathroom."
I am speechless: the room that all girls would like to have!
"As you can see, the old fireplace remains, once they were used to heat the rooms, but the old owners wanted to close all those in the other rooms except this one."
Ale and I are really sorry, we will never be able to afford the house, in short, we have some money aside but we thought we would ask for a mortgage for twenty years, with this it would become at least 80, if I have children I could let him finish paying their.
We go back to the entrance and he asks us: “did you like it? I'm curious, I haven't brought anyone in a long time. "
"Saying that she is beautiful does not convey the idea, we thank her but I don't think we will ever be able to afford it, right Stella?"
"It's bad to admit but I think you're right."
“How bad you guys are! Why don't you try to make an offer? " then lowering his voice as if not to be heard by someone he suggests "this house has been unsold for many years and the heirs want to get rid of it, if I were you I would think of the amount you had imagined and add a little something ... just so as not to stay too low."
My eyes widen: “Really? Well we had thought of giving an advance and asking for a loan of up to another 250 thousand. "
"I suggest you get to 300 thousand plus the advance and the house is yours!"
"But is it safe?"
“I guarantee it. If you want we can make a proposal today, fill in the documents and ... "
"I would prefer to think about it for a couple of days if you don't mind, we'll have to do some renovations too, let's think about it." confirms my cousin.
“Sure, it's true you could make a lower offer and then play up. It's really an opportunity, think about it ok? "
"Thanks, I'll call you on Monday."
We say goodbye and I notice a lady in the next garden who seems interested in us.
"Ale, that could be our neighbor, how about asking her a few questions?"
"Do you know this is a good idea?"
We approach smiling and she reciprocates.
"Good morning."
"Good morning to you, are you thinking of moving here?"
"We don't know yet, we saw the house ..."
"Oh it's very beautiful, unfortunately if no one comes to live it will fall apart, it takes some maintenance for these old houses."
"The agent told us it has been unsold for a long time, I wonder why, can you tell us something?"
The kind lady who introduces herself as Agatha looks at us in a somewhat strange way.
"I have lived here for many years, I met the old owners who had inherited it, they were the grandchildren of the Captain's nephews, and they told strange stories about this property, after all these walls have seen some things ..."
"What are you referring to?"
"I don't know exactly, but when Mrs. Dallaway invited me for tea she said she heard strange noises coming from the cellar ..."
"In fact, we heard them too."
"Stella is only because you know what happened down there, surely there will be rats, I had a good impression and the house is in good condition, we just have to think about it."
Agatha seems to agree with Ale but I feel that there is something hiding from me and so I investigate a bit.
"So you were very friends ..."
“Yes we have lived side by side for over forty years, and every Wednesday we met for tea, it was so nice to talk to her. She was a great pianist, as well as a friend, I know a lot of Helen's secrets. "
"Do you think there is something strange in the house?"
"I don't know, but once when we were chatting a painting fell, and then other times we heard the doors upstairs close ..."
“A falling painting, maybe they should have changed the nail! Old houses always make strange noises are made of wood, that's why there are drafts. Well Stella we should go now. "
"Agatha was a pleasure, I hope to see you again soon."
"I hope so too, and good luck with the decision!"
End of the first part.
The house with the green shutters
Second part
Welcome reader friends,
I propose the second part of the story "The house with the green shutters", the first part can always be found on the Once Upon a Time page.
I recommend reading the story in one breath, putting the original soundtrack of the film Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock as background music.
Enjoy the reading
Aurora Redville
Second part
After saying goodbye to Mrs. Agatha, we take a tour of the Covent Garden market to buy some typical products, vegetables, pretzels and delicious cup-cakes. On the way home we talk about the pros and cons of the house, even if we don't find any.
The only doubt is the feeling that there is something they have not told us, I talk about it to Ale and he claims that I make films, the old houses are a bit creepy because they make a lot of noises. "But didn't the noises in the cellar seem strange to you?" I ask.
"Yes, actually the mice make me quite disgusting, we will set traps."
“Ale but are we sure they were rats? What if there was more? "
He smiles “for sure it's some ghost trapped in the cellar. Listen Stella, you found the house, I like it if we can pull the price we can afford it, you are good at renovating jobs and I can help you. In my opinion we could save a lot of money. "
"Yes, I've seen all the episodes of How I transform your home Detroit, English houses are not like Italian ones, it's much simpler ..."
"If we really needed the money we could always rent one of the rooms, there is really a lot of space."
"I'd rather not, you know I'm jealous of my spaces but it's an option."
With a heart full of joy I give the news to my parents with a video call, my mother is with my grandmother and so I tell the details of the doors, the captain's study, the cellar with the old barrels.
My grandmother who is very acute senses a strange note in my voice and asks: "Am I wrong or is there something strange?"
"Yes a bit'…"
"Forget it if it gave you a bad feeling!"
“No, but it's beautiful! Just for a feeling we cannot let go of the house of our dreams. "
"I trust you though, don't say I didn't warn you."
My grandmother is a bit obsessed with these things, the spirits, the afterlife, in short, that's why I'm so suggestible too, since I was a child she told me strange stories.
I refer to Ale and as usual he starts laughing. We get ready for the evening and go to Soho to meet up with our friends.
We have dinner at the Spacca Napoli restaurant, we like to go there because it feels like home in Italy, they are all nice and the food is good, we tell Kate and George about the house and they are enthusiastic, finally they too have decided to go and live together at home of Kate who is really perfect for the two of them.
“It would be great to live in the same neighborhood! Think we could see each other much more often for dinner, go to the theater and the market together! " exclaims my friend.
After dinner we take a nice walk to the cinema, tonight there is the latest 007 Specter movie, we are all James Bond fans.
When the lights in the hall go out, I get lost in my thoughts, I imagine a giant screen in the living room, everything makes me think about the house, so I feel I have made the right decision; moreover, when someone from the family wants to come and visit us, there will be plenty of space.
I relax and enjoy the projection, when we are alone I confirm to Ale that I have decided for the yes.
“Well then on Monday morning we can make the proposal, I'll go to the bank to inform me. Think about it too. "
We make the proposal that is immediately accepted, indeed they give us an additional discount. Looks like the agent was right and they were eager to get rid of the house. We handle all the paperwork in record time and on Saturday morning after the bank's ok, the agent gives us the keys to do the first inspection, we want to get an idea of the work to be done so I take some photos to send to my friend Paul who is an Architect and will give me advice.
Already on Sunday morning we give a good cleaning and Kate, George and Paul give us a hand.
They are all fascinated by the environments, Paul says we made the coup and asks to go down to the cellar to see this museum of the time that I have described so well.
Ale accompanies them while I finish cleaning the floor of the veranda, after twenty minutes they have not yet gone up so I go down to take a look, as soon as I arrive I hear their voices.
“Stella finally! We were locked inside. " They all scream together.
Ale confirms: “Stella, didn't the agency lady say anything about the key to the iron door with bars? It was open but when we entered it closed by itself, maybe a gust of wind coming from the staircase? "
"Yes but it should reopen without the key, wait here and I'll try to see if it's in the deck."
I take the set of keys in the hall and go back downstairs, the light has gone out too. I use my iPhone flashlight and find everyone particularly excited.
"Typical of old uninhabited houses, as soon as you enter them all the flaws pop up!" Paul laughs.
“It's just the old electrical system. It will have to be fixed. " Ale continues convinced.
"But be careful not to come down without the key or else you get stuck inside."
I open the door and it looks like it has been locked, it's impossible.
Let's go back to the first floor and then immediately take a tour of the rooms.
Paul advises us to open all the fireplaces because they are usually aesthetically beautiful and you could create something special, he takes a hammer and breaks through the plywood sheet, slowly a stone fireplace with old stucco emerges.
"Seen? It is really well preserved. Once they had a tendency to cover up the things of the past ... "
We spend a few hours cleaning up and starting to decide on the necessary interventions, we make an appointment on the following Saturday to start demolishing a small wall, Paul and I will work together. He will bring a friend of his entrepreneur to give us a quote for everything else.
Saturday I arrive at 8 in the morning, when I enter the hall I feel a strange draft of air, I enter all the rooms and when I arrive in the kitchen I find the door that goes into the cellar wide open. How strange it seemed to me to have closed it ...
We thought with Ale that it is better to make some copies of the keys to leave in the cellar and to give to Kate, you never know!
I go straight upstairs, we'll do heads or tails for the bedrooms, I'd like the largest one to make a mega walk-in closet but if I lose there is always the other with the wall to be demolished. I really like the position of the windows, today we play it.
I start from this room, I remove the peeling wallpaper and notice that there are several layers of it, under the last one you can see a wooden wall, how strange who knows what is behind it. I take the hammer but when I'm about to break it I hear a knock on the door downstairs.
It's Paul, how cute he came early. I tell him about the wooden wall and let's go immediately to find out what is hiding.
Together we peel off the rest of the paper at that point, he suggests a product to make it come off more easily and then we discover a wall two meters high and half a meter wide, my friend presses several times with his hands and at the height of his nose feels a point that detaches, in fact it opens, takes the cell phone and lights up: there is a kind of tunnel.
"Let's use the hammer to keep the door open, I wouldn't want to stay closed here too." He winks at me.
I also put on the old chair so as not to risk and together we venture within the walls.
The passage is narrow, it is in exposed wood and after about two meters we notice a very narrow staircase that leads downwards, we go down the steps. We count there are 22, we arrive in front of a plastered wall, we see a cavity and at the top there is an old dusty lever, Paul lowers it and we hear something click. It opens - it's a heavy wooden bookcase - we find ourselves in the captain's study right in front of his desk, I didn't expect it.
"Incredible, there are secret passages!"
“Stella this house is fantastic, who knows how many things there are to discover! We absolutely have to remove the wallpaper everywhere! "
"Let's play a joke on Ale when he arrives, what do you think?"
"I'm in. Now let's go back up and continue to fix. "
Arriving in the room I feel the chills rise on my back, if I had not been with Paul all the time I would have doubts ... instead: the chair has been moved, the hammer has been placed on the fireplace and the door is closed.
We look at each other in silence for a few moments and move back towards the front door.
"Ale have you arrived?" I almost scream, but no one answers. Then we hear a noise behind us and see Mrs. Agatha near the stairs.
"Good morning!" the thin voice startles us, and instinctively I embrace him.
"Sorry guys I didn't want to scare you, I saw you arrive but no one answered when I knocked on the door so I went in ..."
"Agatha did well, we didn't hear her enter because we were exploring a secret passage, did you know there is one leading from the bedroom to the study?"
"Helen had told me about it, in reality she had made it close again because she said that at night she felt strange currents, probably the air rose from below."
"Did you move the chair and the hammer?" Paul asks.
"No, I just got on."
"Is it safe?" I reply uncertainly.
"Of course, I'm not old enough to forget things." She smiles and I feel the shivers again at the very thought, but I meet Paul's reassuring gaze who in a whisper suggests "maybe he has forgotten, in short, there is only her ..."
"You are right."
Agatha asks us what works we want to do so Paul explains that we would like to restore the house to its former glory with some modern touches, she seems happy.
"Maybe sometimes we could organize some games at Bridge what do you think?" he seems enthusiastic and so I say yes.
After about an hour he leaves and we hear the door open, it's Ale.
We tell what happened and he glances at us: “you are cowards! He must have played a joke on you, or if he has forgotten it. "
We go back to the room to show him the passage and the door is wide open.
"Ok now can we say that there is something strange or are we cowards?" I tease him.
"Actually it's strange, probably the owner had it closed because it was defective ..."
"Mmh maybe you're right." Paul exclaims who in my opinion is starting to be as worried as I am.
I'm thinking of giving the room to Ale but then I look at the large fireplace, the bookcases on the walls and I decide it's right to try.
"Ok Ale heads or tails?"
"Already? Don't you want to leave it to me? The door could open at night and scare you to death ... "
“Rather, a strange thing happened when I arrived. I found the cellar door open. "
Paul widens his eyes and Ale smiles.
“Ok Stella we need to sleep more. We are too tired. "
Let's do it heads or tails and I'll win the room, go downstairs to check the laundry appliances and hear the food door move.
“It takes a good check on everything. Too many years of inactivity. " Paul is convinced.
Keep it going…
The house with the green shutters
Part Three
Welcome reader friends,
here we are at the third and last part of the story “The house with the green shutters”, the first and the second part have already been published and you can always read them on the Once Upon a Time page.
If some things seem strange to you, think that we know very little about our historical past and sometimes reality surpasses fantasy.
I recommend reading the story in one breath with one of my favorite songs: Billie Eilish - No Time To Die.
Part Three
A month later.
Finally the big day has arrived, Ale and I today will make the definitive move and from tonight we will sleep in our new home. Paul helped us a lot even if we still have to do some retouching and knock down some walls; it was impossible to do everything together, we decided that we will not go on vacation and we will spend the month of August here in London to finish the renovation, it is so exciting to do things the way we want ... of course with an architect friend everything is easier, however we discovered a lot of interesting things: there are other secret passages, from the kitchen to the laundry, it seems that the captain was a very special person with a great sense of humor or maybe just for mysteries.
We found a wooden casket, it is very old with a date 1941 engraved on it, it was in the cavity of one of the two fireplaces in my room, in fact, removing the wallpaper, a smaller fireplace with a crack came out but still not we found the key to open the lock anywhere. It's like going on a treasure hunt in your own home.
We order a pizza, I'm too tired to cook, and Ale prefers to finish painting the kitchen, we finish work late and so I propose to Paul to stop and sleep with me, the bed is a double and we can also fit two. Moreover, it has been a while since I noticed a certain interest in me, this great passion for our home, he is always here to help ... the way he looks at me ... tonight will be the right opportunity to declare himself, otherwise it will not happen nothing.
Of course it is strange to sleep with someone, it hasn't happened for a long time, I light a few candles because I still have to buy the bedside lamps, there is only the light of the chandelier. We change in the bathroom, me in my room and he in the corridor, I arrive first and I slip under the sheets, it is not cold because it is summer but I feel the air coming from the walls, we will have to plaster well.
When Paul arrives I am a little excited, it is said that a woman feels certain things ...
He seems very sure of himself, I like this side of his character, he joins me in bed and observes me: "Are you cold?"
"No it's just that there is air filtering into the room ..."
"You're right, but we know there are strange corridors around the walls so I guess you'll have to get used to them." He smiles.
"Yes, I think so."
He gives me a meaningful look and sits down next to me with his legs crossed.
"Stella I have to tell you something ..." here we are.
"Yes, I listen to you."
"Well, I don't want to ruin our friendship ... but you ..."
A sudden gust of wind blows out the candles, I instinctively approach him who, feeling the bedside table, finds the lighter, illuminates the switch and turns on the light. We remain silent, staring into each other's eyes: the door to the secret passage is open.
"Okay now I'm really starting to worry!"
"Stella, don't worry, Agatha had said that it is defective, maybe you should think about having it sealed."
“No, I like the idea of having a secret passage. Just think if thieves entered I could escape from here. "
"Maybe but if every time it opens you get scared ..."
“I'll lock it, I promise. But what did you want to tell me? "
"Mmh really the magic of the moment has been lost ... however, it is appropriate to give a boost of optimism, at least I hope."
"Paul?"
“Yes, Stella I like you. I've liked you for a long time and this time spent together with the excuse of the house made us very close, we got to know each other more. I'm fine with you, and I want to be with you. "
She stares at me with those big blue eyes of hers, she left me speechless. I always know what to say but not now, even though I had thought about this eventuality hearing this statement was exciting and beautiful.
Before you think that I have lost my tongue, I take off his glasses and approach him, with a faint voice I reply "I like you too" and kiss him on the lips, those kisses that leave you breathless because they are so desired and unexpected.
We hear a knock on the door and we start, but then we laugh.
"Guys can I enter?"
"Come on Ale."
When he enters he looks a bit strange. He looks at us because we are still facing each other so I move.
"Sorry if I disturb you but something just happened ..."
"Also here." Paul retorts.
“Ah ok, good. That is, no. what happened?"
"Before you."
“I dozed off on the bed while I was watching TV and was awakened by a movement on the pillow… as if someone was leaning next to me, it was weird. Then I smelled a scent of cinnamon, got up and followed the trail downstairs to the door to the garden. Then it vanished. "
"We all agree that strange things happen in this house, you say we should call a psychic?" Paul suggests worried.
“No, I think we have to wait and see what happens. We are in a new environment and we have to adapt ... "
"Yes I understood Stella but there was something on the pillow next to me, I didn't imagine it, it was real."
"Ale, let's wait, let's take some time and then we'll decide what to do."
"Ok."
On Friday night Paul stops to sleep with me with the excuse of keeping me company because throughout the week there was always some noise that woke me up. We decided to search the house for other passages.
After about an hour we found nothing strange so we go upstairs to take a shower, while Paul is locked in the bathroom I lie on the bed and close my eyes, I'm really tired.
I feel the numbness pervade my body and without realizing it I doze off.
I have a strange dream, I hear a voice whispering something in my ear and then I wake up when Paul opens the door.
"Everything good? Did I wake you up?"
"Yes I was dreaming of something ... I don't remember, I heard a voice talking to me while I was sleeping."
“Maybe it was me singing in the shower! Ha ha! "
"No it was more like a whisper."
We go to sleep and the night passes calmly and without unexpected events, no noise wakes us up. In the morning there is a beautiful sun so we go out into the garden to drink coffee, we have set up an old table and four chairs right outside the kitchen door. I observe the plants, Ale is doing a great job since she started cleaning, she even planted some violets in one place, they are really beautiful.
He also arrives after a few minutes with his cappuccino and sits down to drink it with us.
"Ale, what beautiful violets, when did you plant them?"
“It wasn't me, I thought you did it. I cut all the plants last week and two days later when I got home I saw them ... "
"Well if neither you nor I put them then they grew spontaneously."
"Stella grew in two days."
"Okay, maybe there is a particularly nutritious soil."
“Mmh yes, let's say yes. One of the many mysteries of this house! " adds Paul.
"Today I decided to polish the parquet in the captain's study, what will you do?"
"I asked Paul to help me demolish a small wall between the two rooms if you don't need him little cousin."
"Certainly okay. This morning I will dedicate myself to parquet. "
After having vacuumed it, I decide to wash it with a special detergent for old wood, I take the rag and slowly pass it on the wind rose, then I move near the large fireplace and retrace the whole room to the bookcase. As I go backwards I stumble at the height of the desk, as if there was something on the ground. I look good but everything is smooth, I don't understand.
I keep passing it and the door that goes to the veranda opens wide for a sudden gust of wind, I lock it and look around, all normal, then I hear a strange noise near the desk, I go to check it could be a mouse. Instead I smell a sweet cinnamon scent, I sit in the captain's chair. How much I like this inlay, who knows why the heirs have always left it here ... I look at the windows, the fittings all in wood, in fact we should whiten here and there it's too dark in here. When I am about to get up I hear a breath on my right, I turn to see if there are the boys but I am alone, I hear a creak inside the desk so I open all the drawers. Nothing, I couldn't have imagined it.
I get up to go and call the boys and the pen on the table falls to the floor, it is as if there is a strange magnetism. I run to the boys and tell what happened.
"There is really something strange, too many things all together create a puzzle but we are still missing a few pieces." Ale says.
"Let's go downstairs and check well." Paul suggests.
Together we observe everything even if we don't know what to look for.
"Where were you when you heard the breath?"
"I was in the chair."
"Well sit down again." Order Ale.
"Guys, have you seen this desk well?"
"Paul what do you mean?"
"Which is the captain's original, but have you noticed which one it looks like?"
"No." we answer in chorus.
“It is very similar to Queen Victoria's Resolute. With the timbers of the HMS Resolute the ship of the Royal Navy had some precious furniture built including a desk that he donated to the President of the United States still today is in the oval study, and he had others built for his residences and some that he gave as gifts. Is it possible that this was given to the Captain? "
"I don't know anything more than what Agatha told us."
“Maybe we will have to look for some secret drawer, I know they have made at least one and only the owner knows where it is. Maybe we discover something interesting ... "
"Ok let's see if we find him."
We get on our knees and patiently touch, brush, crush the various parts of the desk, it is really huge, there are several easy-to-access drawers, in one I find marbles, in another antique stamps and buttons. When we are about to give up Paul finds a piece of wood that seems to be part of something else, try and try again he manages to open a hidden drawer that turns out and shows its contents: an old key.
"And what will this open?" I say without thinking.
A gust of wind makes the windows slam and then the cinnamon scent again.
"Listen, I'm starting to get nervous." Admits Ale.
"How about going out for lunch?"
"Good idea."
We meet with Kate and George in the Thai restaurant on the corner, while we eat, we tell what happened and we wait for the information to be processed. George is a very sharp and rational type so he immediately seeks an explanation, but Kate interrupts him.
“It seems quite clear to me that it is not the result of your imagination or even of strange suggestions, instead I think that perhaps someone or something is trying to communicate with you. Why don't we go back together and take a look? "
Ale, Paul and I have nothing against it indeed.
We go straight to the study, I sit in front of the Captain's desk, Kate and Paul on the sofa while George and Ale remain standing. We present the facts from the first time we entered this house, everything goes back, strange coincidences, doors that close, chairs moved, locks that suddenly do not open, secret passages ... it is not a house like any other.
“We have to live with the reality Ale, we bought a house with strange presences. But if it has always been inhabited, perhaps there is some explanation. We should get Mrs Agatha to come, I think she knows something ... "
As I say this, something falls upstairs, we go up the stairs and check all the rooms; when we enter mine we find on the floor the famous wooden casket that I had placed on the shelf above the fireplace and which I had never thought of again.
"What's in that box?" Kate asks.
“We don't know, we couldn't open it… of course! The key we found in the secret desk drawer ... "
"Let's go to the studio soon." Ale and Paul say in unison.
I put the box on the desk and then I open the lock with the key, suddenly the room darkens, Kate looks out the window, big black clouds above us, it starts to rain. The light doesn't work so we take some candles from the kitchen, put them around the room and sit on the sofa, finally find out what's in the box.
With a little fear I lift the lid, inside the rolled up and yellowed sheets of paper, they look very old. I open them, it looks like a letter, the handwriting is very small, round and elegant.
"Ok read it" says Ale emphatically.
A sudden movement of air makes me jump.
"Come on, read it," Kate encourages me.
London 22nd December 1952
My name is Sarah and if you are reading this it means that you have found the secret desk drawer. This is a confession, I am about to die and I know that only in this way will I be able to find peace for what I have done.
I was diagnosed with an incurable disease so I made the decision to share my words with someone, I hope they will be found by my children when I am gone but if not I would like you to do one last thing for me.
But first I have to tell my story to explain the tragic events of that night.
It was August 3, 1940, that night the bombings arrived unexpectedly we thought we had a night of peace instead ... the sirens sounded to save the population, my husband was on a mission so I took care of the neighbors, I made them all come to the our cellar, it was the safest place around here.
I let my children down first and then I went outside to make sure that everyone arrived, the sky was illuminated by the bombs, I was as if kidnapped by that tragic sight, I looked up and prayed, while I was waiting for Mrs. Carter I saw a man on a motorcycle that turned the lighthouse on and off, I knew what it was doing: it warned the Germans where to bomb. Without thinking I took the spade in the garden and walked towards him, he noticed me when I was near and pointed a gun at me, but I saw Mrs. Carter who took him from behind making him fall from the saddle, there was a struggle and before could hurt her I hit him, she was lying on the ground but the man stood up almost immediately but he didn't move, I went over and touched him but there was no more heartbeat, he was dead.
I panicked and started crying, Mrs. Carter shook me and said we had to drag him into the garden, I didn't answer but nodded, we dragged him on the road to my house, while the bombing continued we took the shovels and dug a hole beside the wooden gate without saying a word, we buried him there. We washed our hands and then we joined the others in the cellar, I said that Mrs. Carter had fallen and could not walk so I was with her in the street.
After that night we only talked about it once, we agreed not to tell anyone what had happened but then she died in a tragic accident and I got sick, maybe it's the fate that befell us for what we did , but all these years I have been telling myself that we have saved lives because if a bomb fell nearby, many would die.
A month after that night I planted some violets, a sort of homage to that man whose name I don't even know, the strange thing is that every year they always grow back in summer, always at the same time.
My last wish is that you give that man a proper burial. Somewhere he may have a wife or children.
Now that I have told this story I hope to find some serenity in the journey that awaits me.
We are silent for a few moments and then we hear the door to the garden close and the scent of cinnamon vanish.
Jack and the mystery of Halloween night.
Welcome reader friends,
I propose a Halloween-themed story, tomorrow night will be witches' night and for the occasion I involved my children to write a scary story together. Read it to your children, grandchildren or friends, first create the right environment: soft lights, a nice cup of tea and a nice soundtrack, we chose Theme from The Fog.
We wish you a good read and ... trick or treat?
Aurora Redville
Jack and the mystery of Halloween night.
My name is Amanda Blackwood and I live in a small neighborhood in the city of Portland, my home is near a dense Douglas fir forest, I know the name because my dad is a great nature lover and tries to teach me and mine brother Damien all the names in Latin, it is a deadly bore but at least we have the excuse to be together and learn something.
My house is a big log cabin, it looks like a fairy tale house except that in the evening when it gets dark I'm afraid to go out alone and take my Jack Russell puppy for a walk, Damien is two years younger than me , I'm 9 and I do some tasks that my mom has given me, taking Jack out or feeding him are just a few, but why am I telling you this?
Halloween is approaching and I'm afraid, for three years in fact strange things have been happening on the night of the 31st, if I have to be honest a week before… yes, since all the inhabitants of the neighborhood compete to decorate the porches of their houses.
Our veranda is one of the most beautiful, we have a pumpkin patch right in a plot a few tens of meters from here and mom helps us decorate them for days: triangle eyes, scary mouths, handmade candles placed inside of each pumpkin to make sure they are lit all night, it is a really nice preparation, unfortunately, however, I know that something will happen again this year, and I am afraid because I am only a child and my parents have gone on a trip to I work in Alaska and they won't be back for two weeks.
They left us with my aunt Daphne - dad's sister - she's a weird guy, she wears colorful clothes and spends eight months a year in India, she's a kind of sorceress, she says she heals people with the power of meditation, but every time he puts me in front of a candle and tells me to stare at it, I fall asleep.
Damien instead when she comes to visit us has the habit of running away to the attic, there we keep all the old things and even our games for rainy days, Oregon is in fact one of the wettest and greenest states thanks to the frequent rains, it is also for this reason that some days are very sad, I like to be outside running and wandering in the woods hunting for elves. With my brother one day we heard some strange noises coming from the highest branches and we saw some strange little creatures, I would love to meet some of them.
Now I am at home in front of the lit fireplace, and I want to tell you when it all started.
Three years ago on October 21 my parents gave us Jack! He is a bit of a lively little dog but the vet says it's a characteristic of his breed, it was decoration week and our neighbors were complaining about the disappearance of pumpkins, cobwebs, spiders and all kinds of things. At night Jack often barked and I would go and get him downstairs and take him to my bed, he just calmed down and I felt calmer.
For two years things have gotten worse, some thieves broke into houses along the road and stole the bag of sweets that the children had collected on the evening of the "trick or treat". It is certain that they did the trick, but now I am afraid that they will also enter our house since my dad is not there.
Another strange thing also happens: when thieves enter houses, all the lights in the driveway and in the house go out, and in the morning they have to call the electrician to fix things.
This time I had decided to find out for myself who the thieves are, but I fear there will be more control with her aunt in the house, she feels responsible and never leaves us alone. I will absolutely have to invent something ...
I hear a noise behind me, I turn and see Jack wagging his tail joins me on the carpet followed by my brother.
"What are you doing?" Damien asks.
"I'm thinking of a plan for Friday night ..."
"But it's only in two days."
"Exactly, I have to think fast."
"What's the plan?" he stares at me with a strange glint in his eye.
"I thought we're going to have to do everything as usual, go trick-or-treating with our aunt, go home and pretend we're going to bed and then sneak out."
"Mmm"
"What's up?"
“How are we going to get out? Aunt always falls asleep on the sofa until late. "
"Yes, it can be a problem, but I was thinking that in the bathroom cabinet there are the tranquilizer drops that Mom takes when she has a stomach ache, we could pour some in her herbal tea in the evening and be so sure that she sleeps."
"Wow Amanda this is an idea!"
“So we can dress up, go out and find out who the candy thieves are in our neighborhood. But we will have to be very careful, the aunt must not suspect anything otherwise the whole plan will be skipped. "
"Okay, I swear I won't tell my friends anything either."
"Especially to your friends, the thief could be one of them!"
"I think there are at least three of them, the bags are heavy and you need a lot of strength to transport them."
“Well maybe you are right. Anyway, I have everything planned: we will go out at nine in the evening accompanied by the aunt, to do the whole tour of the houses it will take at least two hours, I plan to return by eleven and no later, the aunt is fixed for the hours of sleep, she will want to to bed by half past eleven. "
“So you want to go out so late? Us alone? "
“Of course, we can't go out earlier. And then Jack will accompany us, he will protect us. "
"But isn't it a bit small?"
"You'll see Jack if he wants he can become a lion!"
My brother stares at our dog and then exclaims: "Maybe, but I hope I don't need him ..."
“We agree then, let's not talk about it anymore. Friday we will solve the mystery. "
Thursday afternoon we spend it finishing the decorations with my aunt, they also call us mom and dad, we recommend to be careful and keep the flashlights at hand in case of system failure. Aunt Dafne reassures them by saying that she has already put the torches on the table in the hall and confirms that we are very good.
Friday 31 October.
The big day has arrived and I am very excited, we are late on the schedule.
I fixed the porch, lit the lights and candles in the pumpkins with the help of Damien but aunt keeps wasting time, she made some ginger-based biscuits to exchange with the other children, she still doesn't understand that ginger sucks !!
It is really fixed, it says it is good and therefore you have to eat it. How many stories. So to buy time I try to do my own makeup but she intervenes and gets to work.
"You will be a beautiful little witch!" he tells me with proud eyes.
And I have to admit she's really good, the makeup is so cool, I look like an old witch. Damien on the other hand is Frankenstein, he is really horrible.
We leave the house at ten, Jack is with us, his aunt has also made up with a nice purple all over his head, and some fake cuts on the rest of the little body. We immediately go to the most distant houses in the hope that the other children have not already passed, we ring the first door and Mr Brown and their daughter compliment us on the make-up. Unfortunately they ran out of candy, that was to be expected. Without wasting time I drag my aunt to the second house, the one the Smiths have recently moved here, same story: finished candy. But they are nice, but Jack seems annoyed because he growls when they offer us some tangerines and dried fruit.
At the third house that of the Stewarts I lose hope, luckily there are some marshmallows and skull-shaped chocolates left, I put them in my still empty pumpkin and in exchange we give some ginger biscuits. Damien finds a small bag of candy on the floor that has probably lost someone and is all happy. The aunt wastes time giving the lady's cookie recipe so the two of us and Jack go alone to knock on the door of the giant Morrow house.
Their porch is the nicest on the street, there is a real coffin in front of the stairs, gigantic white cobwebs and a life size skeleton that keeps making a chilling, fearful laugh, knock on the door.
Alister comes to open the door, he's the nastiest kid in the neighborhood. Damien and I hate him almost as much as his sister Gretchen, she is convinced that she is the most beautiful, the most intelligent, the most wonderful in my class.
Alister looks at us with an air of superiority, swallowing a giant chocolate bar, his face is all dirty around his mouth, it's disgusting.
"What do you want?" arrogant question.
"Trick or treat?" says Damien.
"I'm sorry but we just finished it all ten minutes ago ..." liar!
While he continues to stare at us, his jovial aunt arrives and asks him for some candy for us, but repeats the same thing she has already told us. So I want to punish him: "Aunt, do you have your delicious cookies left?"
She lights up: “sure darling! What a nice idea." And without saying anything else, he hands his pumpkin full of cookies and offers them to him. He takes three in his hand and sticks them in his mouth, but when he starts chewing I see his expression of disgust and disbelief. He goes all red, grabs my pumpkin with my booty in it and throws up the cookies.
I start screaming in anger, Jack throws himself on the hem of his pants and starts biting and pulling while Damien hits him with his pumpkin on the head, Aunt Daphne gasps and then she screams too.
"Enough, enough children!"
Alister's parents also arrive and ask what happened as I detach Jack from his ripped jeans.
The aunt tells what happened and they apologize to us, Jack continues to bark furiously so we walk away, I have tears in my eyes with anger and Damien is sorry because he broke his pumpkin on Alister's head and lost all his candies.
It's a disaster, hers are lost and mine are vomited. I'll have to throw everything away.
Jack is weird, he walks and growls at the same time I've never seen him so angry. The aunt takes us home without saying a word.
When we are in the living room he exclaims: “that child is a monster! He threw up my cookies. "
"He threw up on my candy." I add.
"I broke my pumpkin on his hard head." Damien says amused, and Jack lets out a howl.
"Children I'm so sorry, tomorrow I'll take you to Candy Heaven (the new shop) and you can choose whatever you want!"
"It doesn't matter aunt, it's not your fault." I admit.
"Now I'll take your make-up off and then let's go to sleep." She smiles sweetly, the aunt is really good.
I persuade her to prepare the herbal tea and drink it together on the sofa, then as agreed I wink at Damien who asks her for honey and while she goes to the kitchen to get the jar I put ten drops of tranquilizer in her herbal tea.
It's done! We just have to wait for them to take effect. We drink the herbal tea and then we go to our bed, I turn off the light and under the covers I turn on my LED flashlight to read and not fall asleep. After half an hour on the clock I get up and on tiptoe I go to call Damien, he is in his bed half asleep but as soon as I touch him he snaps to attention.
"Come on, take your jacket." I say softly.
"Ok I'm ready."
When we go down to the living room the aunt sleeps on the sofa and snores loudly, I go over to check and a bubble of saliva explodes in her mouth, I jump in fright and she almost wakes up, I crouch at the foot of the sofa and Damien does the same , absolutely must not see us. He turns on his side and starts snoring again.
I call Jack softly but he doesn't come, he must have fallen asleep somewhere. I take the blue flashlight on the coffee table and give mine to Damien, silently we go to the back and go out the kitchen door, I close it behind me and I breathe a sigh of relief.
"OK let's go."
"Where do we start?" my brother asks.
"From the Morrow house, they didn't break into it last year so they're likely going there."
"OK let's go."
We pass through the woods, it is better not to be seen on the sidewalk. I hear my own breathing and my brother's, almost absolute silence if it weren't for the disturbing sound of the skeleton's laughter in the distance. If my parents knew that we left the house alone, at night ... I think they would put us in detention until we graduate.
Passing in front of the Brown house we hear noises on the porch and suddenly all the lights go out, Damien gets scared and hugs me so we get behind a tree to look in the shadows. Unfortunately we can't see anything we hear only footsteps close by, I point my flashlight but it's too late I can't see anyone, he went behind the house and got lost in the woods.
We wait a few minutes, we move near the Morrow house which is still lit and then we hear a strange rustle in the bushes, we stand still, we see something small moving on the porch and then suddenly the same thing happens: the lights go on. turn off.
"Have you seen? He did it again, how do we find out who he is? We are too far."
“Damien, do you feel like getting closer? I'm sure he'll escape from the back, he did that before too. "
Unfortunately we arrive late, we find in front of the back door some candies scattered here and there, they probably lost them dragging the bag, there are a lot of them and Damien takes some and puts them in his pocket.
"Let's move soon, let's go to the Stewart house if I'm not mistaken it will be next."
Of course it's really weird, two of the three houses we passed through were burglarized. They said they no longer have candy instead ... the mystery deepens!
We run to the Stewarts and this time we hide on the porch, from here we will be able to see the thief.
After about ten minutes I lose hope but then we hear a noise: footsteps on the driveway, I rub my eyes because I think I have hallucinations ...
I'm about to call him but Damien covers my mouth: "shhh, wait, let's see what happens." I nod and hold my breath.
Under our eyes Jack approaches the gigantic power strip where all the lights are connected and gnaws until a short circuit blows the current, then in the dark he goes to the back, we follow him very quietly, the moonlight illuminates everything, he enters the house through the cat flap in the back door and after about a minute we see him sneak out with the bag of candy. With his mouth he drags it from the edges, it is very full but he manages to take it away, sows some candy along the road and then disappears.
Damien and I are amazed by the discovery and then we follow him, he passes through the woods and arrives at our house but instead of passing by his cat flap in the door he goes to the cellar door which is half open and sneaks in.
Now we understand his modus operandi, we need to find out where he puts the candy.
We go into our cellar but this time I want to catch him in the act so I turn on the light and close the door behind us. We hear noises but we do not see it, we follow the traces of candy on the floor and lead us to the woodshed, there is Jack hidden behind there on four bags of candy.
He looks at us with the air of someone who knows a lot and then takes two candies in his mouth and brings them to us.
My dog is a genius!
Writing Love has its difficulties. First part
Do you believe in genetic predisposition?
Hello readers friends,
did you start the day well? Not me.
Have you ever done things casually? To me yes, also because I often sleep little at night and so in the morning if I don't drink coffee I look like a zombie. The only mistake on my part was buying new pods for the coffee machine on Saturday, which ones?
Chamomile drink. Distracted by Ohm slamming his rubber carrot on my knee to play, at 6.45 am I really didn't want to but he did! I bent down to throw it over the sofa and grabbed without looking at the box with the pods inside, taking the first one that came into my hand. I heated the rice milk (I am intolerant to dairy products) and yawning I inserted the waffle into the machine, I did not see the color of the liquid because I was taking the acacia honey and placing a napkin on the breakfast area. I actually smelled a strange scent, different from that of coffee, but I thought I had "caught" the barley coffee, patience, amen.
I sat with my face turned to the window overlooking the woods and I relaxed, the green always gives serenity even if it was still a little dark. I thought I would see the Aurora again today and I tasted the liquid from the cup, just for a split second I didn't spit it out. You know the chamomile in rice milk in the morning?
I didn't like it. I assure you that I have done strange experiments with them, like the Chipster with Nutella, or the pineapple pizza when I was really hungry. So I'm not a picky girl.
While I was reflecting on the fact that I really (maybe) should avoid waking up and taking notes in my notebook tonight, I thought about writing a post about insomnia, but then I said to myself that it would make you sleepy so here I am. another story.
Have you ever thought that to experience bizarre things you had to go to a big city? Like the ones you see in the movies, London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles… I never thought about it because so far I have probably been in the right place at the right time! Or maybe wrong? It depends on your point of view.
Yesterday I posted a post on Instagram with the word LOVE, made in the sand last month, and I told you that I would tell what happened while I made the photo. You will think that it is a fictional story, no problem, okay, in reality, however, often and willingly I happen to have fun experiences, or as my husband says: "but do you find them all?".
Yes, I believe that you must always be very predisposed to certain situations, seize the moment!
In this case I was trying to make a video and a sequence of images of the word LOVE that was erased by the waves, I was in Porto Ferro and the beach was practically deserted apart from our umbrella neighbors, they are a small community of three families, who have placed themselves right next to us even though there was all the space in the world. I stood on the shore and made the writing. I was all excited because the night before I had not succeeded because on another beach there were too strong waves, so I stood in front of the sign and waited. One, two ... here is the German child named Borg (probably his father is a tennis fan, or his mother secretly loved Bjorn Borg) starts running and ends up right on my writing, he doesn't apologize so much he is taken by his run , but I look terrible at it. I move and rewrite, but these nice kids (there are 4 of them) seem to have decided to destroy only my writings, plus it says LOVE not HATE.
My children Nicolò and Mattia decide that it is better to build a kind of wall to block the attackers and so I wait for the next ten minutes. At the end of the wall I observe the successful work and rewrite the famous letters, I take the mobile phone, I open the camera but a very strong wave arrives that erases everything, I wait a moment for the waves to calm down, a motorboat has passed that has stirred the waters , I get back there, observe and prepare myself. Nothing to do, after having done the writing comes a guy running, so in a hurry that I bent down for the shot I didn't notice him, what does he do? Go fast and step on my writing! I scream: "Hey!" he turns and looks at me and sends me a kiss. I remain with my mouth open and I would like to run after him to throw sand at him, I hold back. I go to my husband and explain the problem to him. He laughs, he is very Zen, nothing scratches him, then seeing my eyes change color he suggests that I go farther, indeed much farther, towards the coves where there are certainly fewer people: " 'is nobody ”he says very convinced.
So I take my cell phone, a small towel, you never know that I have to put the phone down and I leave.
As I move away I feel happy, alone and ... here in front of me the guy is coming in my direction, he's all launched, I would also say very convinced, all nice muscular and tanned, I think I could trip him , it seems ugly to me though, a girl of my age shouldn't do certain things, so I opt for the "distraction" method. There is a wooden stick right in front of me, just see that maybe I can ...
No, don't worry, I don't pull it, instead I slow down and smile, I untie my hair and move it with great elegance here and there. There he is, he notices me and smiles in turn, he is distracted, he is completely taken by me, he heads right in my direction with a predatory look.
One, two, three… Tack! He tramples on the stick and takes a retort, he almost falls miserably and I laugh. Now he doesn't smile anymore. I arrive right in front of him and I say satisfied: "so you learn to step on my writing!"
He looks at me and with amazement he replies: “I don't believe it, you did it on purpose! Okay sorry! I didn't notice before. " Then staring his eyes into mine: "Would you like to have a drink?"
I look at him seductively and acidly retort: “I don't think about it! I have a message waiting for me. " And laughing I continue on my way.
After ten minutes of walking I found the right place, the night storm created a slightly wider space on the shore, I observe the movement of the waves, it is perfect. I write the writing, I take the phone and observe that it is not good, the O is too big, I rewrite and take some shots. Meanwhile the waves arrive and it is canceled. I write it again and make some videos, I am so taken that I do not notice that someone is coming in my direction. I just hear: "Hello!"
I turn around and a lady smiles at me, I observe her carefully while I answer "Hello!" she's blonde, she's wearing a skinny bikini worse than mine, she's so tanned that you can't imagine what color her skin was previously, she's all dried out and she's very, very, very old.
I am immediately struck by his smile, he is sunny and nice.
If you want to know what will happen, I give you an appointment next Wednesday.
Good day
Aurora Redville
Writing Love has its difficulties. Second part
Good morning friends readers, I'm sorry to have left you waiting for the sequel but it was necessary ... joke actually I had a lot to write, besides I was really pleased to receive your comments, even outside school some mothers asked me: "when do you publish the rest of the story? ". Ok, I'll satisfy you.
Let's pick up where I left off.
After ten minutes of walking I found the right place, the night storm created a slightly wider space on the shore, I observe the movement of the waves, it is perfect.
I write the writing, I take the phone and observe that it is not good, the O is too big, I rewrite and take some shots. Meanwhile the waves arrive and it is canceled. I write it again and make some videos, I am so taken that I do not notice that someone is coming in my direction. I just hear: "Hello!"
I turn around and a lady smiles at me, I observe her carefully while I answer "Hello!" she's blonde, she's wearing a skinny bikini worse than mine, she's so tanned that you can't imagine what color her skin was previously, she's all dried out and she's very, very, very old.
I am immediately struck by his smile, he is sunny and nice. It reminds me of someone ... but I can't focus ... I'm there! She looks strikingly like Iris Apfel, the eccentric 98-year-old designer, now also the oldest model in the world.
But this lady is a little younger, and tanned.
I don't know about you but I usually when I know a person I always try to think about who he looks like, but let's leave these details out, the lady introduces herself, I'll use a fancy name I like Tamara like Lempicka, also because they have a lot in common. She speaks in a strange language that I just don't recognize, I discover that she is Dutch, and here I thought of my friend Dario who is studying her as a self-taught. A real mess!
So I turn to her with my broken English, yes for some years I have not studied it anymore and therefore I have forgotten it, but in some drawer of my brain together with a disproportionate number of gestures I can remember and communicate with her.
I discover that she is an artist, a painter, Dutch based in London, but look what the case ?!
She has the beauty of 79 years but the spirit of a girl, she is nice and has the same laugh as my grandmother Marge, this makes me shiver, and I am completely taken by her, listening to her with transport and affection is like finding mine again. grandmother who ...
Here comes a boy from the sand or rather from under a giant fuchsia umbrella, that is, he will be my age, so yes, a young man. He sits down and looks in our direction, nods in greeting and then decides to get up… what I see is incredible. Did you know that the coves of Porto Ferro are used by naturalists, or rather I think only the one at the bottom but I'm not sure, anyway I didn't think it could also be in the part of the beach where I am. I look around because with the search for the location I did not realize that I really arrived at the coves, here is the usual stunned!
The young man is striding closer, he is really a handsome boy, tall, tanned, with long hair and athletically muscled, very much, especially in the part that should remain sheltered from the light. Yes, it's just like mom did it, in reality there is nothing wrong with it, even if I hadn't become so modest I would do it, only here, however, hidden from prying eyes.
He looks very comfortable, pulls back his wavy brown hair and smiles kindly. Maybe it's her son who went on vacation with her, yes for sure. I could find similarities, keep in mind that everything happens in a few moments, think how fast the brain works!
His name is Jonas, he has two beautiful green eyes, and I admit that I am very embarrassed at least for the first few minutes I try to look them in the eye, but then nothing, the gaze falls there. He speaks to me in Swedish! But in short, it is almost worse than the Dutch! I kindly ask you to speak in English or possibly Italian, ours is a beautiful language!
I'm asking the degree of relationship when Tamara asks me if I like her toyboy!
Here it is. So I learn to always think about the most obvious things. I am about to answer that CEEEERTO is very nice but I hear my son's voice, Nicolò has come looking for me, with his ringing voice he is calling Aurora! Why not mom?
When he comes to me he explains that he was calling my name so no one could make a mistake, he was looking for Aurora, maybe there were many mothers. Ok ok, it has its own logic.
Nicolò looks around and then with an amused tone says: "Mom, did you realize that everyone is naked here?"
I reply that I hadn't noticed it, and he continues lowering his voice: "Mom, do you think they don't have the money to buy a costume?"
I explain to my baby that once upon a time we were all going naked, and that some people still love to do it. He nods seriously so I ask if there is any problem or if it bothers him.
"No mom, I was thinking that in fact the costume bothers me, I'd like to get naked but I'm ashamed" so I tell him that as a child ...
“When you were little I always kept you naked, we have photos as testimony, in fact your cousin Bianca one day asked me if I didn't have the money to buy you the costume ... you see you thought the same thing. If you want you can stay naked for me there are no problems. "
He smiles and asks: “Did you take the pictures? Dad is waiting, it's been an hour. " Exaggerated!
I introduce Nicolò to Jonas and Tamara, they start talking and while Tamara talks to me about her fantastic work, I tell her about my change of direction (working speaking) and she is enthusiastic, Nicolò takes a bath with Jonas who is happy to play with he.
After maybe half an hour I see my husband arriving with his leopard-like step, already from a distance I see him laughing under his mustache. She approaches and shakes the hand of this nice lady, the toyboy also comes out of the water and my husband's jaw drops, now it's me who laughs, without being heard he says softly: "only you can ..." he doesn't finish the sentence because he introduces himself also to Jonas, I actually know that for him there is no problem, but I understand his comment.
I'm not going to tell you that after a few minutes I also met a quite famous friend who was there as mom did it, I discovered that he has some really interesting hidden sides ah ah ah aha aha.
What is the gist of the story?
Even if the day starts badly, he will certainly have a way to improve. I met two interesting people and got an invitation to Amsterdam and London and I also managed to make the video of the word LOVE ...
What do you say next year will you take a trip to the coves?
I hope I have cleared up this rainy day, I wish you a good day!
Aurora Redville
The house on the lake
Welcome reader friends today I will tell you a story with a mysterious flavor, for lovers of the mystic but also for those who believe that there is something after death.
Have you ever happened to be in a place and have the feeling that you have already been there?
As a soundtrack for the reading I suggest a very sweet song: Sade - Pearls
It was an ordinary Sunday when we chose a destination near home to go for a swim with the children, the heat was muggy and the only reason to move was to allow our children to splash around in the water of the lake. Also there was always a strange connection between me and those places, from the first time my husband took me I felt a strange connection, as if I had already been in that place.
We arrived at the beach it was very crowded, so we decided to go for a walk on the path that runs along the lake, to find some refreshment and also in search of an isolated beach where we could possibly dive. This is how I fell behind my children and my husband, to take some shots of wonderful views, as seen in postcards.
While I was walking trying to recover the distance between us I skirted a wall that strangely attracted my attention, it was peeling, ruined, but at a certain point there was a small entrance gate that overlooked a house, not much could be seen due to of the dense vegetation, after throwing my gaze I continued decisively, my 7-year-old child joined me, took me by the hand and began to tell what he had seen later, a dead snake, I listened to him without paying too much attention because I felt a strange energy to guide me. I reached the end of the wall that ran along the path and on my left I saw the large entrance gate.
It was a very strange coincidence to arrive there, I carefully observed the wrought iron of the inlays, an old rusty gate but still noble, above the side columns to which it was anchored there were two large lanterns always in wrought iron, wrapped in a ivy plant which gave it an air of elegant abandon.
Beyond the gate the plants had grown everywhere but I was able to glimpse the house, without realizing it I leaned on and held the aged iron in my hands, it was then that I saw on my right a date carved on the column, it marked 1809. The house was really old .
A shiver ran down my spine, as I looked in front of me a strange thing happened: the plants disappeared, I only saw the building as it once was, the lawn started from the gate and extended throughout the garden to the shore of the lake. The house was beautiful, all in exposed stone, the shutters were colored red, there was a veranda and a table near the wall that overlooked the lake, above a table center with fruit and the white wooden chairs moved like if anyone just got up. I heard some children's voices, they were not my children, I looked around I was alone in that place I was walking in the garden and then I saw them. Four children playing on the lawn, dressed in light clothes but from other times, a little girl with blond curls attracted my attention, waved to me with her hand, smiling happily and said aloud: "Mom is there. it's a dead snake! ”. Then I felt touch my arm, it was Nicolò's hand that called my attention: "Mom, come, Dad and Mattia are already ahead ..." I replied in monosyllables and turned to look at the child. Everything was gone, I was still at the gate, in front of me the plants and the ruins had reappeared.
As I walked away I could still hear the voices of the children playing, now I knew that in that house there had really been, in another time, another era.
To my father
Welcome reader friends,
today I propose a story that I wrote last year. We often write to exorcise our fears and our thoughts, or simply to remember… in this case it is a very personal reading so I want to dedicate it to my father, indeed to all the fathers who will read it.
The soundtrack falls on one of his favorite songs: Summertime by Billi Holiday.
Enjoy the reading
Aurora Redville
To my father
I breathe the pungent air of late September and here on the slopes of Monte Rosa the climate is different than in Milan, it is now evening when I put my burden on my shoulders and set off.
Leaving the car at Dosso, the last hamlet of Alagna-Imland, I set off to reach the Cristo delle Vette. It is not a trip but a reunion, at least I hope, in order to find some peace again. I carry with me the ashes of my father Franco and I waited for him to spend the summer with his tourists to complete this journey in solitude, He is dead, He is no longer there.
We had not seen each other for a long time, for years it is as if I no longer had a father and the feelings of guilt have constantly accompanied me since the day of the accident.
I walk the path with the front panel on, I will have this light to guide me as well as that of the stars that keep me company tonight. Mine is a silent journey, I need to live this moment, I have to overcome my fears and let go of all the resentment I feel towards myself and towards him.
Franco was a mountaineer, and he died in his mountains for a distraction, a fatality as the mountain rescue workers said. But what doesn't give me peace is that before the accident we had a fight over the phone and I accused him of not wanting to see my baby bump with his nephew inside. Mine is a pain that comes from afar, since my mother died and he decided to move here, in search of her and get lost in these mountains that they have climbed many times together.
I left my husband and son at home and I am here to disperse his ashes in this immense cathedral, I wanted to climb at night to relive the magical memory of the first time he took me. It is the last tribute I can pay to my father even though ...
I would have preferred to give him a different goodbye, maybe shake his hands as he left this world in a more traditional way, but he was: Franco in name and in fact.
After five hours of silent walking I stop to put on crampons, because I am near the glacier and this is the most dangerous part. I resume my journey, I don't know where it will take me.
The moon has risen and its glare on the snow creates a surreal atmosphere, so I turn off the front panel and move on, as if suspended in another dimension. Thoughts, memories, dreams ... I'm distracted!
Bam !! I slide into the gully below, hit a rock and stop on a ledge. I cling to it so as not to fall into the void and I feel my heart beating wildly and then the pain in my leg, it's broken. I can't move, I feel the warmth of the dripping blood. The tips of a crampon pierced my thigh causing a copious hemorrhage; tampon, cry, but what do I do now?
The phone does not pick up. I have to wait for day to come in the hope that someone will come by.
What am I saying?
The only way is to try to climb. As I sit I look towards the valley that is at my feet and let the tears roll down my face.
What if I die?
What if I can't go home to my baby anymore?
It is only the pain that makes me think these things, God how bad! I start to tremble, it's the shock. I close my eyes.
I try not to fall asleep but it is tiring, pain, cold, fear, envelop me and numbness arrives.
I hear a voice and He appears to me in the shadows.
“Bianca open your eyes. It's not your time yet. "
"You are not real ... am I dead dad?"
"No, but that's what will happen if you fall asleep."
"But I just want to rest a little."
“You passed out but you have to find the strength to wake up. Bianca you have to let me go. "
I hold the urn in my hands, it is not possible: "You are dead!"
“I am here for you and I have to tell you something: you have always been in my thoughts, after your mother died I moved away from you because in your eyes I saw her again. It was heartbreaking for me not to be able to hold her, so I looked for her in these places that were ours and in the end she took me with her. It was my time and I am at peace. But now you have to go back to Diego and Noah because a part of us lives in him. I love you my child, courage open your eyes, I've been keeping you company for many hours now. "
I feel shaken by something, two strong hands wrap my leg and I hear the roar of the helicopter rescue engine above my head, I open my eyes and see the face of my rescuer who smiles sweetly at me and says: "hello Bianca, now you we bring to safety. "
The clock strikes 23.59 and I am safe, I have found my father and peace, now I can let him go.
Sardinia, land of sea and surf, what you did not expect
California or Sardinia? The past that presents itself unexpectedly.
Part one
Goodmorning everyone,
what's better than a post at the end of summer?
Here I am after the summer break to tell you a piece of my summer directly from my home. Obviously not from Sardinia but from the mountains where I live now.
If you are wondering how can I live with this diversity ... well, you are probably a person with a strong impetus to the adaptation although these days it's hard to look around, I still see the waves breaking on the shore or on the rocks with their sound that for years has accompanied even my winters.
And this is exactly what I want to talk to you about, because many of you know my land and love it, some Sardinians can't leave it, the roots are very strong, but I have always dreamed of going to discover the world. The sea was a very important element for me but over time I had decided that I could detach myself a little from it and go to know other places.
In my youth (not so far in fact ha ha ha) I visited a very special place in the summer, one of the places I loved most and dream of visiting again: California, San Diego to be exact.
I spent a very happy period of my life, I discovered that you could practice the most extreme sport even at sea, in Sardinia I had not yet seen anyone riding the waves, only windsurfing, and that already fascinated me, but when one afternoon I went for a walk on a beach in La Jolla ...
I felt like I was discovering paradise. There was a group of about ten boys in the water above their boards waiting for the waves, or rather, the perfect wave.
I had nothing to do so I sat on the sand and watched them for hours, I went away that the sun had set and had given way to darkness, this could be a problem because I was on a bicycle without the lights, but I didn't it mattered, that day I realized that I absolutely had to feel that thrill.
I returned home and since there were no cell phones at the time, I discovered that everyone was worried about me, all but one: my uncle, the surfer.
His was a completely different approach to life, he was one that life ate! There were no conventions, he had traveled all over the world and I listened fascinated to his stories, I loved him for this too, he asked me why I was late and I explained to him where I had been.
"Tomorrow I'll take you there!" was his reply.
At night I hardly slept an eye with excitement, and I can tell you that the next day when he loaded two boards into his pick-up at four in the afternoon, I remained silent for the entire time it took to get to the beach.
The ocean is different from the sea of Sardinia, that day the waves were pretty high, I admit I was a bit scared, but the desire to enter prevailed and so I followed my uncle, looked at him and tried to do what he was doing. It was very difficult, but the satisfaction I felt when I managed to stand up and get to shore was immense.
I decided that this city would be my home.
Unfortunately, the conventions dictated by society sometimes change our path, first there was the diploma and then I had to take the famous piece of paper: the degree.
But I was very clear that it was all a journey to get to where it all began. My life was like in stand-by, don't get me wrong, it's not that I didn't "live", let's say my goal was very clear, everything reminded me of that place, and it was there that I wanted to go back.
Instead, fate has got in the way, or call it whatever you want, in short, I'll stay where I am for a while, and I'll tell you more: I don't think things just happen by chance.
In fact, this summer I found the courage to come to terms with my past. I had been keeping an eye on some young Sardinians for a while, partly because I love to talk about the land where I was born, partly because nostalgia makes us feel more and more overbearing, then one morning while I was at my brother's house in Sassari I read an article on S&H, it's a Sardinian magazine (I always read it because they always make very interesting articles and I gave them my first interview), what was it about? Obviously surfing.
Case? I would say no, inside of me I was harboring this idea and so I loaded my family into the car and we went to the beach of Porto Ferro where there is the school of a famous athlete from Sassari.
We parked and headed to the Bonga Surf School, it's right at the beginning of the beach. Marco, Riccardo and their father Antonello were already there - for friends - ready to start the day.
Getting to know them and seeing them smiling and kind was a huge dose of good humor, as I later discovered they are really like that. Marco has a great positive energy that he manages to convey with his eyes, at the first impact his sculpted and strong body strikes you, but the lightness in his movements immediately transpires, when he talks to you he always smiles because he is like this: he is happy.
He loves his work and driving it is a great passion!
But I'll tell you how the day went.
After providing his students with a lycra shirt, he explains to me that the board should be chosen based on height, weight and your surfing level, you can choose a bigger board especially at the beginning because it gives greater stability, more so you can take the more you practice and have fun, so you will have a greater load of adrenaline that allows you to overcome certain physical efforts, and this serves to improve.
In a second time you can think of reducing the size of the board, with smaller boards you can perform faster and faster maneuvers, or a larger board, in both cases you must have a decent technique. At the beginning, therefore, you try to choose a middle ground and then you can also change the size. He likes to talk and I listen to him captured by the explanations, but first of all we have to start the lesson.
We go to the shore for the theory lesson, to see him everything seems very easy, the basic position looks like the one I do in Yoga, and this makes me smile. Even in surfing it's all a question of agility, in fact everything changes in the water, our perception of things, our movements ... that's why you have to train very often if you want to learn, even more so if you want to become a champion like him.
I made my oldest child do the lesson who learned to swim and play in the water without fear, I wanted to do it too but it was not possible due to a physical problem, but next year I will take the plunge : I will try my hand at this discipline again!
It was wonderful to see how the children, boys and girls, tried to slide on the waves without fear, blindly trusting Marco and Riccardo their teachers, and this is precisely their gift: knowing how to transmit all the love for the sea and nature. that surrounds us.
Theirs is a way of life, they are like that even when they come out of the water, they live by following principles, and one of the most important things we can pass on to our children is just that: love for our land, growing by exploring, knowing other realities different from ours, because thanks to these teachings they will become extraordinary men.
In a few days I will publish the second part of the story.
I hope I have intrigued you, if you have some time, go to the beach and try a lesson with Marco too!
Good day
Aurora Redville
Sardinia, land of sea and surf, what you did not expect.
Second part
Last night I had a dream, I was on my red and white surfboard, I was riding a very high wave and then I fell into the water. The sensation was so vivid that I felt the coolness of the water on my body, I was immersed and saw the light that filtered into the water and at the same time I tried to get back up .
I was not scared, far from it I was at peace with myself, I think this is what those who experience the sea feel.
It was a memory , one of the beautiful ones.
Now I'm curious to know if friends from Sassari or from the surroundings have gone to the beach to browse, after all, the climate of Sardinia lends itself more to weekend outings, and is a little different from the place where I live.
I'm not jealous, it's just that when my brother or some friend sends me photos of their aperitifs on the beach, I only think one thing: what the f ... am I doing here?
I saw that Marco Pistidda is still very active in the water, I enjoy his stories on I nstagram every day, so a little to hurt me, but also because "seeing" stimulates the imagination and warms the heart.
Not everyone loves the sea in winter because it is colder, but it is not always the case, often still in November you can find beautiful and warm days, so it depends, yes, it depends on the desire we have to discover and get involved ... and then you know what it feels like to walk on the deserted beach, with only the sound of the wind and the waves?
Have you ever tried surfing?
You may discover qualities you didn't know you had, for example: patience.
One aspect that characterizes " the surfer " is in fact calm but also patience, I have always thought that waiting for the wave was a sort of meditation and ... well, that's right, active meditation let's call it this way.
The day of my child's first lesson the waves were perfect for learning, so much so that if I hadn't had my knee out of action I would have jumped into the water.
As I watched Marco Il bonga give a lesson, I felt a deep admiration for this boy, because he is one of those who chased his dream… and still does.
I took a few photos, but then I stood on the shore to watch with what attention he followed his students together with his brother Riccardo.
I was perhaps more excited than my son, in fact he was "working", I just enjoyed seeing that show, the first waves under his feet. I don't know if it depends on the fact that I feel a very strong bond with my land, its wild nature, and my family, the fact is that in that precise moment I understood.
I realized that it was time to stop thinking that only in San Diego I could have that kind of experience, the waves were there in front of my eyes, I could touch them and I could put my heart at peace.
Now, thanks to Marco, many can live that dream.
Understanding that just having a board to do what you want was like icing on the cake. We have an extraordinary sea , you can see your feet when you are in the water, you can see yourself in them. If you are careful enough you can come across starfish, there is no need to go to the Caribbean or the coral reefs. We in our land have everything that can be found in other places, much farther away.
A dear friend, who is of Scottish origin, has traveled all over the world for passion, he was one of those who took photos for National Geographic , and some time ago when he landed in Sardinia he said that our land is not a ' island, it is a micro continent. He was so impressed by this place full of history and traditions that he bought a house here.
The truth is that not only me or a few others experience these sensations when we are in this land.
So I reflect on this and much more, when the lesson ends my child I promise myself that next summer I will finally do this too, fingers crossed.
But as well as desire for this type of experience, Marco has aroused my interest, in fact I become a bit curious when I meet people who know how to pass on their passion and their determination, I am always on the hunt for stories and I am inspired by my novels. .
Taking advantage of the wind factor, we return to the beach also the next day because there are the right waves, just as the day before I put myself on the shore and observe. They are all enthusiastic and even if it is tiring, they are always in a good mood after class.
It is very hot so I take a bath, I notice that the current is pushing hard, I take my youngest child and take him to the shore. In fact it is since we arrived that the lifeguard keeps whistling to bring people back to safety, I would say it is the perfect day for surfing.
After the lesson and after saying goodbye to his students Marco returns to the shore with his Linda, she is his splendid puppy, she has eyes that speak for themselves and I have a weakness for four-legged friends, we started talking about more or less, few people around us, those who sunbathed and those who played in the water. My children were close, and everything seemed muffled by the sunlight that flooded the sand. It was at that moment that I realized that I had to write something about this experience, and I was honest with Marco, I told him that I am a writer and that I wanted to ask him a few things.
He smiled, he understood that that experience had inspired me, in the meantime Riccardo (his brother) also arrived, they are so similar and different that they seem drawn.
But if you have to talk about someone you don't know, ask them a few simple questions.
I love music, and the first thing I noticed was the “Love, Surf & Punk Rock” tattoo on her chest.
It didn't occur to me to ask why the first two words, I knew they were tied together, but Punk Rock thunderstruck me.
So I ask him directly, the answer convinces me instantly.
There is no doubt that he is "the man of the waves", this came to me like this, after hearing these words.
“As a child I was struck by a group that, with their music, fully expressed what my ears needed to hear. Energetic, powerful but melodic at the same time, Green Day from Berkeley California . They turned my life around. Moreover, Californian punk rock has always been the soundtrack of many surf videos of the 90s and 2000s. A perfect combination. "
But how he discovered the passion and love for the sea and this sense of freedom that this force of nature releases is something he tells me himself.
Since childhood he has had a strong paternal influence, Nello has always had this appeal, he has chosen various sports that have led him to be in contact with the sea, then he has dedicated himself to other things, from hang gliding, to paragliding, different sports but the same lifestyle because you are always in contact with nature, you always breathe a sense of freedom and peace that satisfy you a lot, he tells me with laughing eyes that these sports can become a kind of therapy for anyone. It is his father who taught him so many things when he was still small, led him to discover the bottom of the sea, to know the creatures that populate it, to discover hidden places that only a few could find.
But how it came into contact with the board is very California Dream.
When he was 17, he met a small reality that revolved around a surf shop that was the first in Sassari and was called Black market, the owner of the shop told him that in Sardinia you could go surfing, and showed him a photo where he was in Porto Ferro on a very long wave.
But what prompted him to try surfing he tells me almost in a whisper, as if it were a secret between him and the sea.
To give him the input was a sense of emptiness, like a lack, it was as if it were incomplete. He confesses to me: "I was able to fill this void when I went to the sea and played with the waves, but I didn't know exactly how to do it, later I learned of this reality that was still practiced by a small niche of people, it was almost a sport unknown, it was a sport / lifestyle. It is everything around you that captures you, you are immersed in nature, and this makes you fall in love with the rest as well. "
So comes the decision to buy the first board, the wetsuit instead had been given to him by his father, an old waving diving suit that he completed by putting on a cotton t-shirt. After he started he never stopped.
Just as we are talking, we see his father come out of the water and run towards the shower. I think it really is a sport for all ages, for those who love the sea but want to experience it differently.
We go to the Bonga Surf School because he has to train and to say goodbye he offers me a beer, let's toast to the new acquaintances.
But do you know that he lent his face and this passion to the Ichnusa beer commercial? If you haven't seen the ad yet, you should definitely do it!
It was shot in April 2017, I was at home, it was the month of June I think, I turned on the TV and I was mesmerized, the music, the faces of the people ... it was my home.
Then I saw that sequence of Marco walking on the cliff holding his board under his arm and then going into the water (I didn't know it was him yet), it was so moving that tears came to my eyes.
Only those who are far from their land know what I'm talking about.
I don't know if this story will end here, but I want to leave you with the image of Marco going into the water to "chase" waves.
I look at it, and I think back to that afternoon many years ago on the beach of La Jolla.
Betrayal, deceit, infidelity!
First part
Welcome reader friends,
for reading this story I suggest the piece by Keane-Everybody's changing, very sweet.
If we look up the word infidelity in the dictionary, we will find the explanation of the term but not the causes that determine it, because this is how it works.
I like to talk about love stories, but in the book I'm working on right now one of the themes is betrayal.
Why?
Because it is a very topical topic that will never die.
I decided to write a post about this because working on social networks I realized that every day we are bombarded with information, with "new friends" who are always trying to establish a dialogue with us.
I admit, I have never used social media in the past to create a network of acquaintances to go out at night, with someone I mean. But I became aware that our society has changed and this has become one of the many uses of the various social friends.
I myself in this last year have had the opportunity to meet some fantastic people thanks to my work, and I have multiplied my interactions. While in real life I am not a shy person but one who socializes with ease, on the net I felt like a rookie, shy and clumsy.
Almost by chance I had a chat with a friend I hadn't heard from for a long time and she explained to me how her life has changed thanks to these means of communication.
She is married.
Yes, but why this information?
Because it's a preview of my speech. I have read several books dealing with this subject and I must say that no one said a fundamental thing, and almost all had the same point of view.
I want to explain that betrayal is not the first cause for divorce.
Instead, the lack of dialogue in the couple is, which could subsequently lead to infidelity.
Why am I telling you? I am not a psychologist, but it is a topic that fascinates me and I have always tried to mediate, fix and advise friends too, they often confide in me and I have treasured their words. Life has given me a lot of knowledge and I'm happy about this.
But back to the main topic, long-time husbands or boyfriends - I don't want to blame them all because it wouldn't be fair - but they often forget how to woo a woman, and we love being wooed.
Furthermore, the time they devote to us is often insufficient, not only that, they do not even create opportunities for couples to go out and this is serious if you have children. The only thought is the famous evening with friends to shoot bullshit, which is always good for us, but one does not exclude the other.
My friend lives abroad, she married the classic career man and has always been by his side as a good bride. They had three children and she took care of them without ever complaining, then one day he started neglecting her and she decided to make new friends on the "network" in order not to get too depressed, and even if mothers life is hectic (she she is an artist, paints and makes sculptures, so her work is dynamic and has no fixed hours) she always has some time available during the day when other friends work.
But the extraordinary thing is that I would never have expected it from someone like her.
It went more or less like this, she first signed up to Facebook and Instagram, then another social network whose name I don't remember and so she did some practice, first she wrote only to those who seemed nice to her, then to those cute until she got to the next step. Having a husband over forty, she decided it was time to feel young again.
She is a beautiful woman, and she holds herself very well. She made friends with a guy she thought was about her age and they started texting each other daily, until she got a crush on.
In the evening she couldn't wait to go to bed to chat with him, her husband is always away for work during the week which often leads him to change continent even once every two weeks.
And things went on until he - the boy - offered to meet to get to know each other.
Here comes the best part, he lived in Oslo, he took a flight to reach her in the city where she was staying and they met. She went to the airport and almost fainted when she saw him come out of the arrivals gates.
It was there in front of her, and it was beautiful. Brown, green eyes, pronounced jaw and sensual look as well as tall and sculpted. Very young in fact, he had failed to reveal his age to her because he was afraid that she would reject him ... poor naive.
She lives in northern Europe, those postcard places where you expect an elf or a gnome to emerge from every bush. In short, it is easy to be isolated but also to be caught.
She has a studio in the city that she uses during the week, which is something she really cared about having her space outside the house. It's a loft with a kitchen and two bedrooms, that's fine for her and the kids. In addition, the children go to school in the city so she does not have to travel every day from her home (which is in an enchanting place I will reveal a few details later), especially when her husband is not there.
In short, the opportunity was there indeed it created itself ...
Do you want to know how it ended?
In the second part of the story you will also smell the saltiness… as my friend Marco said.
Good day
Aurora Redville
Betrayal, deceit, infidelity!
Second part
I bet you are eager to know how it will turn out between Adam and Jade so here is the rest of the story.
When you think the time has come… it usually never is.
My friend I'll call Jade - it's a name I really like and it reminds me of Jada Pinkett the wife of that great handsome boy Will Smith - she is petrified when she sees Adam, yes Adam is the right name anyway, the problem is usually the emotional charge that you carry with you after days, weeks or even a few months you wait to meet the person you chatted with.
In your head you have imagined the meeting dozens of times, at least we women do this, we work a bit of imagination, for men the reasoning is slightly different, but it is not a bad thing.
For example, when I think of airports I have a whole series of memories: beautiful, exciting, breathtaking, sad, heartbreaking, demanding, embarrassing… I think I get the idea; but if I think of a clandestine meeting, I imagine the emotion, the adrenaline, the mental state but also the flickering in the stomach.
First dates are this right?
I'm digressing, I know, that's how I am ...
But in this particular airport, when Adam walks out the sliding doors their eyes meet, they both twitch and know what's going to happen… Sooner or later.
Giada remains motionless, so it is Adam who goes to meet her, puts the backpack at her feet, runs his hand through her hair to pull it back and smiles, says: “Hello”.
Obviously in English, they do not speak the same language, and I deliberately omitted a not inconsiderable detail ... she was born in Sardinia.
The game had been part of the daily routine that until now had given both of them enough to satisfy each other, now what?
Looking into each other's eyes they understand that now everything will change even if ... sometimes you should change your choices from the start.
He leans over her to kiss her between her ear and cheek so she can smell her scent. The game is done, it is already engraved in the memory. Hers is a sweet but fruity fragrance based on lily of the valley, she has always reminded her of the perfume her mother used when she was a child.
She pulls back slightly: "not here, come."
She drives him to the airport exit and they go to the car, he loads the backpack in the trunk and they get into the car. They remain silent for a moment, staring in front of them, partly out of embarrassment and partly because they are afraid of what is about to happen.
Giada turns the key and the car starts, drives fast out of the airport and goes down a highway, then takes an exit and drives on a breathtaking panoramic road, runs along a fairly isolated cliff that leads to a place she loves, that's where she parks her car: a square overlooking the sea.
It is not just any place, it is the one where she often goes alone when she feels that her heart needs something familiar, a place that reminds her of her land so far but so close, because she can feel its warmth and scents. .
Usually he gets out of the car to breathe the scent of iodine, the salt that splashes on the rocks and imperceptibly settles on his face, his hair, his bones. Today Giada stays in the car and feels the weight that this moment will inevitably have on her.
It is Adam who makes the first move, he shakes her hand which is resting on the steering wheel, Giada gives him a smile and then inhales deeply, her defenses give way when she hears "you are even more beautiful than in the picture ..." she approaches and kisses him on the lips, with his eyes open because he wants to remember this moment forever.
He holds her in his arms and kisses her as always one should kiss, sinking into each other.
They are hooked for a few minutes until they are out of breath, Giada moves slightly away to observe him.
Yes, it is as expected, and its taste… never tasted anything like it.
Will it be the taste of the forbidden?
Keep it going…
This part is dedicated to my friend Marco Bait met by chance, who lives in a place very similar to the one you are slowly imagining, but he too always feels the warmth of his land.
Aurora Redville
Weekend with a surprise!
Nice Monday to everyone,
today I started the day listening to the song of a musical group that I hadn't heard for some time ... also because it left the scene in 2012.
I'm talking about The Cardigans, a Swedish band founded in 1992 in the city of Jönköping, which achieved success in 1995.
I had a reason not to listen to their songs, I got nostalgic, in fact I had met this group thanks to a Swedish friend who lived in Milan.
He was very nice as well as a great piece of boy, however he was engaged, in reality I was saddened because he was linked to a very carefree period of my life, that of the university, the first trips abroad, in which you had to Come on, get involved because you were alone without anyone who could help you.
Obviously one of the first trips there is London, one of my favorite cities ... and here me and Ian had made a weekend with another friend, we were two couples although did and his friend we were not together, he wanted to visit his girlfriend who lived there and hadn't seen for a month ...
Here's if I think about it maybe that's why after this weekend I avoided surprises, I've always liked surprises instead ... poor Ian ...
We arrived at the apartment where Lara was (her name was), but alas she was not alone, here in reality… I don't know how to tell you… that is she… she was with another girl!
You can imagine my friend, completely shocked. Although I have to say, how can you not notice that your girlfriend likes beautiful women?
In fact, Rob and I (his friend was called that) immediately took him downtown, I was convinced that a ride on the bus could do him good, but as soon as we arrived in Soho he wanted to slip into a pub.
So maybe it was the right way to elaborate it, but… that is, I absolutely wanted to go around because I had wanted to go back to London for a long time and obviously I wanted to tour it a bit. So after two beers at the Pub I proposed to go to the park, walk around, but first I stocked up on beers. He carried them in his backpack. And as he walked he spoke to me, the first fifteen minutes only in Swedish, I don't know about you but I never understood Swedish.
So after he had vented for good I said to him: "Sorry Ian but I didn't understand anything ... can you start over ?!"
He fixed his intense blue eyes into mine and said, “Au (that's what he called me) how long did you want to wait to tell me? That is, I talked for half an hour ... "luckily Rob intervened and said:" quiet it was only a quarter of an hour ... "he looked at us upset but then resumed talking as if nothing had happened and revealed a very important detail.
The dialogue went more or less like this: "That is, Au, it's not that I didn't realize it was a bit strange, but I thought it was all open-minded, in fact more than once he mentioned that he would like it "Share me" with another ... "
Me: “I would never have shared you with anyone else! In short, Ian you are such a special person that if one is lucky enough to be with you ... here I am no, I'm jealous of the people I love so no! It is not a question of having open views but simply of not loving you. "
"You say?"
"Yup."
Rob: "Well now that you are no longer together I can tell you ... Lara tried with me."
Ian: "In what sense?" upset.
Rob: “One night we were alone in the living room while you were taking a shower… he kissed me and then asked me if I wanted to be with you two that night. I said no, I told her you were my friend, but having threesome sex was another thing. And she made me promise not to say anything. I love doing some things in the traditional way. In my opinion you didn't miss anything it was just a great tik "
Then Rob looked at me and winked at me.
I blushed and ventured: “Do you see Ian who is not the woman for you? Sorry what does tik mean? "
Rob: "slut, slut ..."
I admitted: "you see it wasn't the woman for you ... you will surely find another one!"
He nodded and drained all the other beers while Rob and I admired the ducks in Regent's Park ...
Now you understand, right? it was a sad weekend, even if thanks to our affection Ian recovered in a short time, he always listened to the Cardigans and with the mp3 player we went around Milan with a headset for each.
I associate them with him ...
Hi Ian wherever you are ...
Aurora Redville