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i was lying in agony on a mattress on the floor of the dark living room. It had been a wonderful sunday. We left milan to
spend the day in the hills, with alessia and her friends and a bunch of kids. The village was georgeous, friends happy, i
was too, strong of a good relation beginning its second start, i could even stand the presence of my imminent ex-wife.
grilled meat and stuff, lots of red wine, at the end of the day i insisted upon the kids to let me play hide and seek
around the little church with them. they said ok, just one more time, and you count. fun. hunt out every single brat exept
nina, the biggest: an antelope. She couldn't free all the others, no way! when she darted from her (perfect) hiding on the
left, i did the same, straight towards the right of the base, one of the two stone columns holding the little porch over the
entrance of the church. Angels were propelling me at a speed i rarely touch, i think i hit the column before her. our collision
was an instant later, at the intersection of our trajectories right after the column. being smaller, she fell to my feet,
sending me in a fast arch head first towards the corner between the stone bench and the cute pavement, made of geometrically
disposed smooth stones the size of potatoes. i put my arms in front of me, but i don't really remember this. i hit. seconds
of pain so strong it was alien, hence less painful in some way. things stop flashing, and i realize i have my chick on the
smooth stones, my hair brushing the bench, my arms a mess. stand up, declare aloud IT'S SERIOUS, check the girl who is checking
me, she's ok, stop, look at my left hand since it hurts less. the middle finger.. i fixed it without knowing, exept that i
couldn't stand the view until i got to a hospital. the angels must have been there, 'cause it's fine, now. other aching fingers,
messed fingernails, scratches. ok. right arm. it was bent under me when the world stopped, and it was still there, in front
of my stomach. the fingers moved ok. shoulder, slowly. the sound and feel of sand and crumbles. no need to test further. wait
for a car, the whole company arrives, i manage not to faint, throw up or cry. on the way to the nearest hospital i have the
time for cry and panic, then i realize i'm perfectly conscious, my hair gently brushed away some dust from the entrance of
a forgotten church, even though i had enjoyed hiding behind the altar just a couple of hours earlier. I had been SO lucky.
X-rays confirmed i had fixed my left hand ok, and i had fucked up my right omerus alright too: the head of the thing, the
ball, had been split in four by the shaft of the rest of the bone itself. got to milan all wrapped up for the night, until
the next morning, in a line for an hour waiting to be accepted in the hospital. i was wrapped but i got to the 4th floor on
my feet, in my imminent ex-home. Sabine put the tired and perplexed kids to bed and tenderly put me on the floor, pillows
under the right spots, rolled for me the most therapeutic joint of the year, and i lay staring at the drawings the light from
ouside the windows made on the ceiling. The next day i would have started a different type of life, for a while, at least...
this was two years ago, today, this hour, 01:13, minute more minute less.
People helped me, and now i don't normally pay my arm any particular attention; i don't have a problem, after all, except
i haven't ever played hide and and seek since then, and this is a pity.
Thank you:
the friends in Verzimo, Antonio and Alessia, Beppe and Sabine, the doctors and Michele, Elena and Roberto, Pop and Mom,
Laura and Riccardo, Silvia and Rino and the tricky angels for all those i'm forgetting.
Yay calcium, vitamin d and sunny days!
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