"To the Castle, to the Castle..." Alvaro Mario Ferlenghi | ||
To the castle, to the castle... To the castle to hunt Giacomina The Ghost.
The crowd convened on the hill of Dosem and while people arrived, a big dark Cat with pitchforks took shape.
By the light of the torches the grins of the peasants jumped like carps in a tank.
They whispered quickly amongst themselves while walking out of the sleepy hill towards the Castle.
If initially it was only a quiet muttering, now the murmur grew and grew.
And with it also the movement of the fluid mass shortened, curving his back like a cat, and elongated to run faster and faster.
The people in front started shouting that there was danger, but the ones at the back could not hear because of the strong winds and carried on pushing and did not see that there was a moat that protected the castle.
The information arrived in the middle of lightning.
All pointed their feet, nails and backsides; they hung to each other sotight that you could hear their bones creaking, but without any pain.
The Beast was one.
The peasants that formed the right whiskers fell in the moat, so that the Beast was named “Cat without its right whiskers”.
The castle looked deserted, even when a beautiful full moon rose to illuminate its tall towers.
The moon swayed due to the strong wind like a big lantern hanging outside a house.
And it created shadows and reflections.
When the wind suddenly ceased, a shriek burst out of the dark silence: Giacomina!
Where, where? Without waiting for the others, “Cat without its right whiskers” jumped with a big leap and with one, two pirouettes, it is on top of the towers, inside the castle... and it can already smell its prey.
The blast that followed was due to the excitement felt while the Beast followed the growing smell.
“Cat without its right whiskers” continued the pursuit for days, weeks, months, without any rest.
For Giacomina it was horrible, importune and annoying and she said: Oh dear, l need to move again!
Cremona, april 30, 2020, Alvaro Mario Ferlenghi
