Giada´s short stories and tales

ASYLUM

2012-01-21T08:55:00.003+01:00

I saw him arriving from the sea in this land. He asked for asylum; it was granted.
Now he feels offended if his neighbour wears a little cross.
But his wife goes around in a black Niqab and his neighbour shouldn´t consider it offensive.
Strange idea of gratitude.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

WHISPERS

2011-11-15T23:11:00.003+01:00

She used to come here with her daughter. She laid a blanket on the grass and played with the girl. The little one often fell asleep; the woman nestled around her and whispered words of love.
A young woman sits now at my feet.
She comes here every now and then; she closes her eyes and listens to those whispers again.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

CURSED POET

2011-08-26T11:31:00.003+02:00

His fingers on the guitar´ strings moved like the brush of a painter.
He used to come here to write his songs.
He had very long hair and a beard. His voice was as warm as the summer´ sun rays.
Many were his fans and I, one of them.
He died young and in trouble.
A modern poet was he and a cursed one.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

UNFORGIVABLE INFIBULATION

2011-05-19T15:34:00.003+02:00

She was three years old and happy when they came here.
With a dirty razor an old lady cut away her clitoris and more; then she sewed her tight.
Her mother was holding her and I still don´t know how she could stand her own daughter shouts of pain. A brutal, useless pain that changed a healty little girl into a forever suffering woman.
She was three years old and devastated when they went away.
Blood was everywhere and they justified it with the name of Allah.
But Allah created the woman like she is and Allah doesn´t make mistakes.
Allah is infallible.
For sure the terrible pain and scars on that poor girl´s body and soul will not be forgiven.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

17th May - Full Moon

2011-05-17T10:41:00.003+02:00

The three fairies I met at the lake are my mother´s sisters. I could finally see them and I realized that one of them was always at my side. Since I was born they were taking care of me without me noticing it.
I learnt that they have powers on the elements and that Water, Fire, Air and Earth are their servants. My mother has control on Water.
When I was born the four sisters gave me a part of their powers to protect me. I could control the four elements alone. I just have to learn how. And they are willing to teach me.
The sisters of my mum - I just started to call them aunts - took me, on the night of 30th April, to the Beltane Fairy feast. We spent all night dancing to welcome spring and its renewing of the nature and life.
Many other fairies were there and one of them literally took my breath away. When he looked at me the first time his eyes were so piercing that I nearly felt pain: I had to stop breathing for a few seconds. He then smiled walking towards me, and the four elements I tried to dominate started to beat my soul, all at once. When he touched my hand I thought my heart would explode. He gently pulled me and we danced. We danced the all night without speaking. It was not necessary. We both knew that our souls would have been bound forever.
- Mum - I said when my mother came out of the rear mirror of the car - I think I am in love.
- I know - she said sitting on the passenger seat - but I am not sure it is good for you.
I didn´t answer. My eyes filled with tears.
- He is the son of the most powerful fairy that turned to the dark side, Dunkel. He has been grown up by his father. He is not the fruit of love as you are; his mother, a human, was given to Dunkel as the seal of a pact. A terrible exchange to get success and money. The poor girl was eighteen years old and for ten years she was Dunkel´s personal slave. Then, with the help of her son, that was only nine, she suceeded to find a way out. Since that very day, he protects her from his father and this is good. But he is very strong, and so is his dark side.
- Who could make such a terrible pact?!
- Your boss.
I had to stop the car. If I had looked at me in the mirror I would have seen a stranger. I was so upset.
- He comes to me every third day - I said after a few minutes - We are getting to know each other even if I have the feeling I know him since ever. I am sure he is not as dangerous as you say.
- Did you look at him also in the mirror I gave you?
- No, I didn´t.
- You should. And now drive to the river. You have to learn how to control water.

(Tales from the Mirror - Fifth Moon)

18th April - Full Moon

2011-04-18T18:09:00.004+02:00

In my mother´s arms I dreamt about a little girl.

She was fighting alone against a huge dragon. Sometimes she seemed to be able to tame the dragon to her will, sometimes she was on the point of being eaten by him and I didn´t know what to do. I was feeling so helpless that tears started streaming down my face. They transformed into crystals. Crystals that contained little beings. They were my fairy powers and I gave them to the girl. She smiled and the dragon was tamed.

When I woke up my mother was gone.

I spent this last month learning about myself.

I often looked in the little fairy mirror that my mother gave me but this time not to discover about the others. I wanted to know more about myself. I wanted to explore every feeling, every mood, every thought I have to finally understand what it was that made me so unhappy. All my life I looked for something whithout exactly knowing what it was. And now it was there, in front of me. It was the missing part of my soul.

I think it will take my life time to be completely aware of my double nature but it doesn´t scare me anymore. I am what I am and my powers come from my deepest place. If I can´t control myself I´ll never be able to use them properly.

I was completely buried in this thoughts when my mother came out of the reflecting surface of the lake. The full moon was like a lamp switched on and the waters were mirroring it in a million little wavering lights. It really looked like in a fairy tale. And maybe it was.

-Mum – I said after a few moments – I want to know more about the fairy world. I want to go there. I need to know more about my magic side.

- The fairy world is everywhere – said she – Fairies prefer to live far away from the cities, in woods and forests but it is not uncommon to find them around humans, in their garden or in their fireplaces. It is just that, normally, humans can´t see us.

- Normally? Are there people that can see fairies?

- Yes. Little children for example, before they forget how to watch things, or very sensitive persons like...

- Like my father.

- Yes, like your father – she whispered blushing.

She was so beautiful, my mother. Impossible to resiste her if only one was able to see her.

-We met in front of a wild rosegarden – she continued after a while – White roses they were, and your father saw me. His eyes on me were a caress softer than the roses´ petals. I will never forget it. Never.

A gentle breese moved our hair and souls: it brought with the scent of the roses. And suddenly I could see the three fairies sitting near us. They seemed to know my mother and they looked a bit alike.

I was not afraid. They were smiling and I smiled back.

(Tales from the Mirror - Forth Moon)

19th March - Full Moon

2011-03-19T21:42:00.002+01:00

My mother came out from the mirroring surface of the table just in time to stop me.
It is full moon tonight and I was supposed to meet her. But I didn’t think it would have been in that way.
He is on me. He is lifting my skirt.
I knew I shouldn’t have trusted him but he is my boss.
And I was stupid.
With an excuse he made me work till late, than he called me in his office. Everything was dark in the room and he grabbed me putting one of his big fat hands on my breast.
Nobody is in the office any more, it is nearly midnight.
At the beginning everything was so fast and I was so shocked that I paralysed. But it lasted the time he took to throw me on his table. The cold surface made me regain my lucidity and I flew him against the wall behind us just with a glance.
His hands are off me and now I can serve him his punishment. He was laying on the floor bleeding from his head and – I got to know it later – with a broken shoulder. I walked in his direction like a wolf ready to dismember him.
He was lucky and so was I.
Midnight came and my mother stopped me.
She puts one of her hands on my eyes and whispers something. My internal fire cools and I calm down. I didn´t even see her appearing but I am happy she did. I would have become a murder under the tonight bigger moon and I would have been forever. I know that if she had not been there I would have killed him. I could not control myself anymore and I would have done it.
She is taking my hand. We disappear in the old mirror hanging on the wall and get out in my room.
- You spent the last month observing how in reality people are in the little mirror I gave you – softly said my mother driving me to bed – I think is now time for you to learn about yourself. In your eyes sits your power. And the eyes mirror your soul. I will make you sleep now and you will dream. It will be a fairy dream that, if you are willing to learn, will tell you more than you expect.
She starts singing.
It is a beautiful melody that I think I know. I am not sure... I am tired... I am falling asleep.

(Tales from the Mirror - Third Moon)

MIMOSA

2011-03-08T15:49:00.005+01:00

Running holding her baby in a tight embrace she fled from a bad husband and even worse father.
Unlike many other she made it.
Like the baby she had the hair of the colour of the big Mimosa blooming in front of me; I had the feeling that the spring was for them.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

18th February - Full Moon

2011-02-18T20:05:00.003+01:00

It was full moon again. And midnight.
When she came out of the mirror she was even more beautiful of the first time I saw her.
We were in my bedroom. We sat on the bed and started to chat.
She told me she could see how hard I tried to keep away from my dark side; she was proud of me. But I needed to first go deep into it before being able to really control it.
I am half a fairy. And fairies have two sides. A dark and a bright one. They follow one or the other depending on what charms them most and how strong they are.
But I am half human as well. Also human have a dark and a bright side. Humans as well decide which side to follow depending on their nature.
But no one is just shadow. No one is just light.
When my human feelings are evil my fairy bad side grows so strong in me that I nearly can´t control it. I know I could kill with a glance. And it is fascinating, I have to admit.
- I want to give you something – said my mother while a little round shining box appeared in her hands – Take it always with you and look into it every time you feel you can´t control yourself.
It was a little compact mirror with a sparkling white rose on the top of the box. It was my mother first present.
- It shows what people really are in the moment their image is reflected into it. It is how I see people. And it will help to know better your real you.
- Mum – I said taking the mirror carefully in my hands – what about Dad? I told him I met you. I wanted him to be here as well tonight but he said it was not possible. He was crying when he said it.
- We are not allowed to meet. He knows I can see him in every mirror he looks into. You know this little and shining piece of silver he never forgets to take? It´s his way to take me always with. But if we meet again, I would die. I only wish his last day will be on a full moon so that I could embrace him a very last time and then close my eyes forever. Together with him. We love each other so much!
- Isn´t anything that can be done to set you free?
- Maybe, but it is too dangerous. Failure would mean death for a human or neverending confinement in the tear of a tree for a fairy.
- The tear of a tree?
- Yes. A drop of amber.
- What can be so dangerous? – I asked clenching my fist around the compact mirror.
- To get the key. Loving your father I broke one of the oldest oath of the fairies: “Time doesn´t touch us, old age stays far away, true love can´t die: the mortal will. I swear, in front of mother nature and you, sisters and brothers in magic, never to love a mortal”. Giving birth to you I created a door in between our two worlds. The only way to rescue me is to to get the key and lock that door again.
- Where is the key?
- I don´t know. The spell says: “Deep in the mirror, see but not seen, loving reflections that seem on a screen. Forever but if the key is met and the two worlds´ kiss set”.
There was a way to rescue my mother. I couldn´t think of anything else.
I looked in the mirror she gave me. The image was changing so quick that I hardly recognized myself. It was going as fast as my thoughts and some of it weren´t so positive. A dark lady looked from the mirror. I was scared but she smiled charming.

(Tales from the Mirror - Second Moon)

TRICOLOUR

2011-02-17T21:00:00.005+01:00

I saw them passing by, 150 years ago.
A sea of red jackets marching on lushly green fields.
In the background the shining white of the salt-works.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

SHEEP

2011-01-28T09:24:00.012+01:00

A teacher once sat at my feet with some of his students.
They didn´t look very different from the many others I saw, they didn´t seem more stupid or obtuser but they sounded like an ignorant manipulatable group of sheep.
He was repeating them the same lie in many different ways. I was shocked to see that they blindly believed him.
No one probably ever taught them to think with their own brain. Unfortunately.
It reminded me of the one that once said that "a lie repeated often enough will eventually be accepted as truth".

(The Olive Tree Tales)

COURTESANS

2011-01-27T09:07:00.005+01:00

It was a couple of hundreds years ago when he arrived here with three of his courtesans.
They called him the Duke but nacked into their arms he just looked like and old man.
He payed his few minutes of pleasure, they struggled for existence.
They were impetuous like young mares: he was wise enough not to make them senators.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

19th January - Full Moon

2011-01-19T11:15:00.004+01:00

It was not yet midnight when I arrived home.

The full moon was shining in a dark sky that seemed to promise nothing but coldness. It was with anger that I threw the car keys on the table; the bag and the coat I left on the floor near the entrance door. I never did it before. I am normally so tidy!

Sitting on a fulfilling bathtub I observed my clothes lying all along the corridor like many empty bags.

Finally I entered the so-thought relaxing bath. Few minutes and my heart nearly stopped.

Absent mindedly I was watching my reflection in the big mirror in front of me: I saw someone else in it.

At first I thought it was a kind of mirage created by the steam but then she came out of the mirror.

- I saw the wildness growing in you – she said with a entchanted voice – It will overwhelm you if you don´t learn how to control it.

I didn´t know what to say, what to do; I was nacked in front of her hoping that she wasn´t real.

She had beautiful long platinum blond hair and an ivory skin; she was wearing a transparent sparkling veil and she was bare foot. She smiled and touched my left nipple.

I saw her suddenly trasforming in a woman that could have been me but with such a horrible look that I moved back.

- Who are you? – I finally babbled.

- My name is Rhoslyn – she answered regaining her gorgeous aspect – and I am your mother.

I stared at her incredulous.

They always told me that my mother died while bringing me to the world.

They always told me she was beautiful. I had no picture of her. I never saw her face but in the loving eyes of my father.

My anger was becoming fury. I always wanted my mother to come back; I wanted her to be there for me, with me, when I was little and also when I grew up. But I knew she wasn´t in this world anymore and it was such a pain!

I looked for her in each corner of my face, asking my father if I looked like her, if I had her eyes or her nose, if it was her smile that answered me every time I looked into a mirror. I missed her so much.

And now this, this... illusion was telling me that she was my mother! I was not afraid anymore, I just wanted to kick her away.

But she didn't let me time and my rage magically disappeared the moment she caressed my cheek. This very single touch gave me the caresses of a mother. All at once. I couldn´t buy cry.

My mum was there. Finally.

I always thought I had some kind of power. I can hear and see things that the others don´t. I can cook in such a way that my food seem to enchant those that eat it. I have a scary dark side inside me, and it is so strong that if I am upset I can move things with a glance. It terrifies me. I spoke with my father about it. He didn´t seem surprised but he forbade me to tell it to anybody. Now I know I am not fool nor psychic.

My mother is a fairy.

- I was condemned for loving a mortal – she said sitting on the edge of the bathtab – After your birth I was imprisoned into a mirror. I can go in whathever surfaces reflects but no where else. I see the truth mirroring itself and I can tell you that things are not always as they look like. I can´t be seen but if I wish it and, in any case, only at midnight of a full moon day. Like tonight. We have only one hour, then I´ll be sucked into the mirror again.

I wanted to ask her so many things that no words reached my lips. I could just sink my head into her embrace and let her rock me.

- When someone looks into a mirror – she started after a few of the most beautiful moments of my life – I can see his real image, guess his feelings, touch his thoughts. When I took your form I showed you what I saw. The time has come. Half of you belongs to a world you are not aware of and that you now have to be acquainted with or it will destroy you. You have a huge power and you have to learn not to let your dark side to use it.

It was true. That very evening I had to dig the nails deep into my flesh to be able to control myself. I knew that if I had looked at him once again I would have literally driven the pen in front of me into his left eye. I knew I could do it. I know I would have done it.

But I didn´t want to think, I didn´t want to speak. Not in that moment at least. And she knew.

It was the first time I could touch my mother, smell her wonderful parfum of fresh roses and enjoy her caresses and kisses. We simply cuddled like if nothing else had any importance.

When she disappeard I held back the tears. Now I knew that every time I look into a mirror it is her smile to smile me back.

I went to bed.

I dreamed the next full moon.

(Tales from the Mirror - First Moon)

MISERY

2011-01-09T10:40:00.006+01:00

Sitting at my feet, smoking a fat cigar a writer was listenig to the radio.
They said they had to amend Huckleberry Finn.
It sounded to me very much like censure, or stupidity.
I saw him writing something down in is moleskine. Then, in a whisper, he read it out loud.
"What's in a name? That which we call a nigger
By any other name would forget the misery his people had to suffer?"

(The Olive Tree Tales)

New Year´s resolution

2011-01-04T23:19:00.006+01:00

Caressing my old trunk he whispered his New Year´s resolution.
He would tell her about his love every day, as if it was the last one.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

SPRING

2010-12-08T09:40:00.003+01:00

She loved watching her great grandchildren playing in the fields.
In spring she used to take them here as she had done with her children and grandchildren.
The last time I saw her she waved and smiled.
It was a deep inner smile.
She knew she had earned a piece of immortality.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

FREE TIME

2010-11-18T11:56:00.003+01:00

They sometimes came here when he had free time.
She played with the children, he was busy with his laptop.
Few minutes would have been sufficient, but he forgot to watch his own kids growing; he forgot to look at his wife smile.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

NORTHERN HAIR

2010-11-12T16:49:00.004+01:00

It was one of these hot sunny days when the nature is flourishing and the wheat is as blond as northern hair.
Unexpectedly a scented refreshing wind started to blow.
I had the impression that the long fingers of God were softly caressing the Man´s head.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

THE TRUTH

2010-11-11T10:16:00.004+01:00

He was often sitting here waiting for the people coming back from the Church.
He used to shout at them the truth. They laughed and moved on considering him a fool.
When he died nobody went at the funeral but the following morning his grave was covered with flowers.
Later, I heard someone speak about him as a wise man.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

AFTER THE SUNSET

2010-11-08T23:44:00.005+01:00

You could see it in their eyes, in their gestures, that they loved each other.
They always met here just after the sunset.
How they acted, what they said, all their trouble... I would have compared them to Romeo and Juliet if they only had not been two boys.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

THE SPARROW

2010-11-07T08:24:00.003+01:00

It was rainy and cold.
The little boy arrived here barefoot; his clothes were light, his face dirty with old tears.
He looked like a frightened sparrow. I wish of the sparrow he had the feathers: they might have kept him warm.
He sat to rest. Forever.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

WALKING AWAY

2010-11-03T17:09:00.004+01:00

He turned and walked away.
Even though her eyes were full with tears, she was smiling.
He´ll never know what he missed.
He didn´t see her hand gently caressing her belly.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

JASMINE FLOWERS

2010-09-21T22:43:00.001+02:00

The first time he stole some flowers from the plant nearby. She wore them on the hair.
From then on that parfume made him dream of her. Forever.
It was jasmine flowers.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

CLIMBING

2009-10-23T18:03:00.002+02:00

They arrived running like never before.
The little cat climbed my branches and sat on the top waiting for the huge black dog to go away.
It took quite some time and a lot of barking but finally the dog left.
I wish I could help humans the same way.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

CHARMING

2009-05-27T16:52:00.002+02:00

An old lady is sitting at my feet.
Children are around her. Everyone is silent, they are keeping their breath to listen better.
Their eyes are shining with excitement; the smile on their little lips is contagious.
I feel like one of them as well; I´m charmed by the old lady´s Fairy Tale.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

EVERY NOW AND THEN

2009-04-24T09:28:00.005+02:00

She came here every day to play with her baby.
She didn´t want to miss any of his smiles, any of his growing progresses.
His father came as well every now and then.
She was just sorry he couldn´t be there to see his first steps, to hear his first words.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

THE IRON BELLY

2009-03-27T20:28:00.003+01:00

The first time I saw it I was very scared.
It was coming towards me at high speed, it was big, it was shining, it was whistling.
I really thought it was going to destroy me and the crowd not far, but it stopped ten meters before.
People started to come out from its big iron belly. The others were clapping hands.
They were very excited, they were crying and laughing the same time; they called it train.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

BIRDS

2009-02-15T09:52:00.005+01:00

It was the first time I saw that kind of birds.
They were slowly coming down but without moving their wings. It was night and I could not see their shape very well but I had the feeling that the nearer they came the less they looked like birds.
They landed all around me and I finally understood they were soldiers.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

A LITTLE BOX

2009-02-04T21:41:00.004+01:00

He was speaking to himself watching the moon.
He walked up and down, he knelt and then got up twice, he was kissing his hand... I really believed he was a lunatic.
Suddenly something moved behind the bushes; he froze.
She was there.
Nervously, he took out of his pocket a little dark box.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

THE OPENING DOOR

2009-01-27T15:56:00.003+01:00

A car stopped, a door opened. Someone threw him out.
It was cold and rainy; I knew he was feeling scared and disorientated.
He didn´t understand why they rejected him.
After a while a solitary boy passed by and heard his yelping.
From then on they´ve always been seen together.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

THE DREAM

2009-01-20T16:15:00.004+01:00

Today, a huge black man with curlied white hair sat here with his little radio.
I thought I saw him before but I could not remember when.
Then from the radio came a clear voice swearing to protect the American Constitution.
The old man was crying.
In that very moment I remembered. That man was sitting here with his radio also 45 years ago. And that time, the voice coming from the radio was saying that he had a dream.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

FIGHTERS

2009-01-12T23:31:00.003+01:00

They used to come here to play when they were little. I can not remember a day they were not fighting with each other.
More than sixty years have passed.
I saw them yesterday; brother and sister caring for each other. Even if their parents are not on this world any more they have not been left alone.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

LITTLE HANDS

2009-01-09T22:59:00.003+01:00

They had little hands but still they were carrying heavy stones.
They went up and down for months, working hard in all their free time.
Their fatigue disappeared at once when they saw their old parents´tears.
Their dream had become true. They owned a house.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

A BETTER LIFE

2008-12-13T14:45:00.003+01:00

When she arrived she was crying.
She knew they were going to pass by after the Church.
She left it in a basket at my feet and went to hide not far away.
Those who found it were richly dressed; the woman held it at her breast, the man immediately gave her his jacket to keep it warm. They looked around, nobody was to be seen.
They happily took it with them. It was theirs now.
She sadly smiled.
She just offered her baby a better life.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

HOMELESS

2008-11-16T18:04:00.001+01:00

Long hair and not shaved. He sitted here to rest.
I thought he was homeless.
Then he started playing his guitar singing ballads.
He wasn´t homeless. His home was everwhere.
He was a storyteller.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

SOLDIERS

2008-11-09T09:29:00.002+01:00

They were young, they were strong. They builded up their camp just in front of me.
They were laughing loud in the beginning, then they became more silent and started writing long letters to their beloved ones. I am not sure they thought they could go back home one day.
They were fighting for some reason they probably didn´t know. Their smile was gone.
They looked like the leaves of a tree in autumn.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

NIGHT AND DAY

2008-11-04T21:23:00.005+01:00

He arrived here dragging heavy chains. He was supposed to work in the fields.
It was the first time I saw a painted man.
He was big and strong but the little white girl bringing him the water was not afraid.
Their love broke the chains; they ran away together.
It´s a long time now but I still can see them, hand in hand, walking together like night and day.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

THE WOUND

2008-10-26T13:02:00.003+01:00

It was hurting with its thick rope. It made a deep wound in my bark.
But I was sorry when they took it away.
I still miss the laugh of joy of the children on the swing.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

THE BLANKET

2008-10-10T12:28:00.005+02:00

They stopped the car, they walked towards me and lay an old blanket on the ground.
When they embraced enjoying the shadow of my leaves I recognized them.
They used to meet here, forty years ago.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

A MIGRATORY BIRD

2008-09-29T09:30:00.005+02:00

It fulfilled the air with beauty and magic; that music seemed to come directly from heaven.
I was wondering which bird had such an incredible voice but I could not think of any. It must have been a migratory one coming from far away.
When that old gipsy neared I finally understood.
He was telling his story playing a violin.
I would have cried, being a man.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

THE LAST SUN RAYS

2008-09-20T22:37:00.003+02:00

When she got out of his blue sport car she was smiling.
He was speaking at the telephone, he seemed very busy. She waited for him enjoying the last sun rays caressing her skin.
When he reached her he didn´t embrace her. He was not in love anymore and he finally said it.
Going back to his car he didn´t turn; he left her there, alone, he didn´t see the tears fulfilling her eyes.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

BAREFOOT

2008-09-09T14:59:00.004+02:00

She was barefoot. Her clothes were poor and worn out.
Her face and hands were dirty and when she passed near by, she stopped to collect some olives. She walked away eating my fruits.
She was the poorest child I have ever seen, but she was smiling: a big loyal dog walked at her side.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

SUGAR

2008-08-27T11:21:00.004+02:00

I was cold that night.
The noises around me were different and the steps of the horses passing by seemed like if they were walking on fields of cotton.
When the sun rose I thought I was covered with sugar.
In my long life I saw it few times but I always enjoyed the children throwing each other white snow balls.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

PURE POWER

2008-08-14T16:52:00.006+02:00

Shiny, strong and nervous.
When I saw it the first time I thought it was pure power. I admit it scared me.
Then it came again together with a little girl.
She was caressing it speaking softly: it looked like enchanted by her.
She needed nothing else but her little voice to tame the powerful black horse.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

PURE POWER

2008-08-13T18:54:00.002+02:00

Shiny, strong and nervous.
When I saw it the first time I tought it was it was pure power. I admit it scared me.
Then it came again together with a little girl.

THE EGG

2008-07-26T18:30:00.003+02:00

It seemed difficut to break it. It took quite some time but wearingly they succeeded.
They were still wet and their beaks were already asking for care.
From this very day, everytime I see the miracle of life repeating itself, I can´t but move.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

THE FALLING STARS

2008-07-19T17:10:00.003+02:00

Like falling stars I could see on the village the bright tail of the bombs.
The piercing sound of the alarm lasted all night long.
The next morning a long row of grieving evaquees paraded in front of me.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

HIS ENEMY

2008-07-15T11:06:00.004+02:00

Silent and motionless, hidden behind my trunk he was waiting.
He knew they were going to come.
When they arrived she was laughing loud but as soon as she saw him she froze.
The sound of a shot and then a woman cry.
His enemy was dead.
He walked towards her and shoted again.
He died looking at her.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

THE ROSEBUD

2008-07-09T15:39:00.006+02:00

The night before it wasn´t there. Then, in the morning, a scented red rosebud appeared on a bush not far.
They arrived that was nearly sunset; he picked the rosebud and gifted it to her. She pinned it on the deep neckline of her summer dress.
I could not think of a more beautiful place to die on.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

THE NUT TREE

2008-06-30T12:08:00.005+02:00

I was still very young when I saw them the first time.
Not far from me there was a huge nut tree and they collected around him.
It was a warm night of June; they danced naked under the moonlight at the furious rhythm of drums played by big black men. Then they made love.
The nut tree explained me that it was a feast for the renewing of life.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

KINGS

2008-06-11T14:17:00.004+02:00

Their clothes were poor, they were dirty and not all of them owned a pair of shoes.
They were very young, still children I would say, already used to the hard work in the fields.
But that day they were laughing and running, they looked like kings: they had a rag ball.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

THE WIZARD

2008-06-07T18:45:00.004+02:00

It looked like he was stealing the red of the poppies, the golden yellow of the ripe wheat, the dark green of my leaves... I don´t know how he could do it, maybe he was a wizard, he had to be.
The only thing I know is that when he finished, the canvass had a soul.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

THE REST

2008-06-03T12:19:00.002+02:00

Every afternoon he was coming there to rest after the hard work in the fields.
He sat under my leaves, crossed his arms and enjoyed the last sun rays with a smile of bliss.
The deep lines on his faced showed the hard life he had. I think he was quite old.
One time he sat longer.
The night came but he still was there with his smile on his face.
He looked asleep. He was dead.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

RED FLOWERS

2008-05-28T18:44:00.003+02:00

She was collecting red flowers when the soldiers arrived.
She was alone.
They teared her clothes out and used her for their pleasure.
Laughing, they went away.
I would have been ashamed being a man.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

THE HARVEST

2008-05-26T17:44:00.003+02:00

As every autumn they started harvesting my fruits. I always like when they do it, it makes me feel loved.
They started working and it seemed as it was every year. But it wasn´t.
In between my brunches their eyes were meeting, collecting my fruits their fingers were quickly crossing, their smiles were always open to each other and, before sunset, their lips softly touched...
It was incredible but I was the only one to recognize that two of them were in love.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

THE CAR RADIO

2008-05-12T18:24:00.003+02:00

The car radio was playing some beautiful forbidden swing and they were having fun.
Suddenly the music was interrupted and the voice of a man started speaking instead.
All the chatter and laughs stopped.
The boys exulted.
The girls´eyes were already fulfilled with tears.
It was the 10th of June 1940.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

THE BASKET

2008-05-07T14:11:00.005+02:00

In the shadow, at my feet she left a basket; then she went to hoe in the field nearby.
She was working hard, her sweat glinted on her front and the sun didn´t have mercy that afternoon.
After some time she came back to the basket. Its content was moving, it was wrapped in white sheet; she sitted, she opened her blouse and took it to her breast.
That very day I learned how gorgeous a mother looks.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

THE SUN

2008-04-29T17:52:00.002+02:00

It was raining like if it never rained before.
She found some refuge under my leaves when she arrived. Her light dress was completley wet and sticked to her body as a second skin. Her long brown hair was falling on her face heavy with rain in every curl. She was keeping her arms around her breast trying to warm up a bit. She was so beautiful!
After a while we saw him walking towards us. Her cheeks blushed; she smiled.
The sun was there.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

THE EMBRACE

2008-04-25T17:03:00.005+02:00

They always secretly met here.
But that day there was something different; I recognized it from the way they embraced. It was a long, strong embrace and when they untied their arms she was softly crying.
He was wearing a black shirt.
She was Jew.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

THE GUILT

2008-04-22T18:34:00.002+02:00

She arrived running.

Her dress was as black as those winter nights without moon.

I think she was young but her face was nearly completely covered with a dark veil.

It was long ago and I am afraid my memory can’t recall all of it but I clearly remember the shouts of those men. They got her under my leaves and knocked her down throwing grave stones. She felt, she cried and her life was gone.

They said her guilt was love.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

THE CICADAS

2008-04-18T11:57:00.003+02:00

It was one of these hot summer days when, in the still air of the afternoon, a bicycle stopped near me.

The man that was riding it left the bicycle at a side and walked under my leaves to rest in the shadow. He took his straw hat off, bended his light linen jacket at a side and sat with his back on my trunk. He remained like this for few minutes observing the nature around then, he took out of the jacket’s pocket a little black book and a pen.

The cicadas were singing loud and their song told me this man was a poet writing about us on his moleskine.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

A BEAUTIFUL SUMMER NIGHT

2008-04-16T16:44:00.008+02:00

It was a beautiful sweet summer night, the moon was high in the sky and so bright that you could think she polished herself for some special occasion.

That very night I was being cradled by the music of my friend the nightingale when something started to tickle me. I thought I was alone; everything seemed quiet but this something that was tickling me.

The nightingale interrupted his song and, in the suddenly silent air, the only thing I could hear were sights of pain. The tickling was not ceased but it slowly became less acute and when it stopped also the sights were gone.

When the nightingale started a new sad song I looked down at my limbs and, in the moonlight, I saw the shape of a hanged man.

(The Olive Tree Tales)

HIS MARK

2008-04-15T20:33:00.010+02:00

She was whispering in his ears how afraid she was.

I remember he was holding her tight in the evening sun.

He slowly caressed her unripe breasts.

She seemed to shake but she forced herself to smile and then she drunk honey from his lips.

I don’t remember which year it was but if you somewhen pass by, you might be able to read it on me.

He left his mark on us both: on me their names, in her his seed.

(The Olive Tree Tales)