Chapter 9

Jane blew away the dust of centuries, from what would now become her book, as if she were able to free him from the constraints of time. She began to leaf through it, focusing on the first three or four pages, the only ones to have been written, in an unknown language never seen before. Looking at the paper that made up her pages, she recognized that it was valuable; the leather that covered them included the cover and the binding and although some pages were missing at the end, it was still in good condition. At first glance, it would have seemed an object completely out of time, from another era. On the back, she had an engraving, followed by some sort of symbol, which meant nothing. The transcribed language was of extraordinary complexity and refinement, a sort of out of the ordinary modernity: the girl was surprised to see that the words (those signs seemed to compose real words, so she defined them as such), they were fickle, almost like the girl herself, they varied in shape and length every time the book was opened or ajar. Jane then decided to open and close it several times, to confirm her hypothesis, which was certain and verifiable. As she did this, however, she placed the book against her ear. A pulsation made her jump: the object was alive, she could feel it.

She looked at the stars, it was after three. She made a wish in a low voice, she didn't want to express it, it was more to promise herself something. She would have liked to study the manuscript, understand and reveal its mysteries and discover its innumerable secrets, which found ample refuge in that still unknown and arcane language.

In her heart, the girl hoped to find solutions to her indulgent questions about her, she aspired to grow like her curiosity, which came gradually to increase rapidly, to be able to keep her awake and alert. Although she could feel the signs of her fatigue, turned into an unusual fragility, she was frightened by a din, but at first, she did not move. She forgot about her book and ignoring a sharp pain, which clouded her vision, she whirled around, like a spring mechanism. Once she regained her sanity, she headed for the threshold of the lair. Seeing no one, neither in front of her nor behind her, she continued with her apparent studies and with her logical considerations. A song coming from outside her drew her. It was a beautiful, low-pitched voice in which she recognized Samuele's. She didn't care why she was singing late in the day and what song she was singing about, whether one of her invented her or her knowledge of her.

"I suppose he came looking for me," the girl said to herself, and while she was taking care of her business, she was joined by her friend.

"Tu quoque, ibi, amice?" Jane asked.

(from the Latin: "O friend, are you here too?")

Her study had gone to her head.

"Yes, I'm here too, as you can see"

"What are you looking for, Samuel?"

"Precisely, I was looking for you. You know you left without warning, again this time "

"Sorry," she said in a faint, barely audible voice, later blaming herself for what had happened.

"Quiet. Once I happened to read a sentence: "history always repeats itself twice", I think it's a quote "admitted Samuel, and then added, when he remembered who it had been uttered by:" therefore, on your part, I waited ».

"Great intuition, Samu," Jane replied, sitting down on a rock.

"The sky is extraordinarily beautiful this evening," she attacked shortly after.

"Already. You are right. Now and then I stop to look at it too, to admire the stars ... "

"It's a bit as if we wanted to rediscover our dimension"

"Eh, exactly"

"In any case, I don't believe, to tell the truth, that the Universe is there, in silence"

"Honestly, I am convinced, in my opinion, yes"

"If you think about it, we will probably never know some things. This is an example, such as why we are here. Lately, I've been thinking about it often "

"Why should the Universe speak? And what's more with us? " Sam asked.

"Because we have it inside," Jane replied vaguely, maintaining eye contact with Samu, and placing both hands over her heart as if to make it feel that the organ inside her ribcage could adapt to the melody, which was the universe itself.

"He is part of us, and we are part of him"

"Or her," Sam said.

"Quite right"

"He could also be neutral though"

"Yes, but they are details"

"What is that book in your hand?"

"Nothing in particular"

"Minds".

"How can you tell?"

"In that, I'm better than you," he said. «You turn red, you can't find the words. You're not good at lying, you can read it on your face. But tell me, why don't you hide it, if you care so much? "

"I have no secrets, I have nothing to hide," replied Jane, looking away and pointing it at the thin line that took the name of the horizon and marked the boundary between sky and sea.

"Look who's there," Jane said shortly after, pointing to Francis, followed by Joy.

"I expected to see Joy, followed by Francis. You will have understood how they are, two hotheads. They both want to lead, and as you know, it's not feasible "

"When it comes to your life or that of your friends or the people you care about the most, sometimes the only ones you have left, you start not giving a damn about who's in charge, believe me, Sam," she replied.

"Francis is smart, he has the torch"

"In my opinion, Joy reminded him of it, man"

"We'll see".

"But where the heck did these go !?" Francis snapped, yelling like that, it wasn't like him.

"Exactly over there, the footprints end"

"Good"

At one point, they saw their friends arguing.

"Hey, you!" Francis called back to the two boys.

"Gaia, Fra, hello!"

"Does it seem like the time to wander?" Joy asked, rubbing her eyes.

"It's a long story," Sam replied, sidelong glance at Jane.

"Here we go".

While the Boys walked silently, as they used to be, towards the meeting point, Samuel took care to ask Jane why her footsteps were hers for those who have long trailed the footsteps. Jane was silent. She preferred to avoid the pain that she felt and hated compassion, so she kept to herself, the sad fact that sometimes she felt strong twinges in her hips, so strong that it almost prevented her from walking, so much so that, a few hours earlier she had fallen and he had had to drag himself along on the sand with the help of his arms. From her effort, many tears streamed down her face and were absorbed by the ground, which seemed to mean: "Give me more, some water."

She often pushed back that horrible thought, or at least she tried.

Samuel's words, however, were heard by Gaia, whom she aimed, undeterred, in an attempt to obtain a valid and satisfactory answer, but she was in vain. Jane involuntarily kept a solemn air, saddened and without attracting too much attention, she lined up with the others, letting them advance. The weight she carried on her was enormous, it wouldn't bore her friends any further. She thought back to the conversation she had had with Sam.

"I have no secrets," she replied, to one of her intrusive questions.

"I have nothing to hide."

She had lied, she was aware of it, but on the one hand, she was justified.

"In words, I don't think I can explain it, what I feel, what I feel," she thought. "Because of empathy, they would try to understand me, to be close to me. I do not wish them what I am going through, and if this wish of mine is unrealizable, I hope that their pain is greatly reduced, and the joy, the personal and unheard-of victories, copiously distributed over the days and appreciated. With this, I conclude this desire of mine ».