Massimo Longo E Maria Grazia Gullo - Quarter Moon

Her authoritative tone was her shield. However, on the inside she was as sweet and soft as a cupcake.

After a while, Elio came back fully dressed and almost freshened up despite his bad mood and his hunger.

He could smell milk and chocolate, and the fresh pastries that aunt Ida had made the day before.

They were milk, braid-shaped brioches in different flavours: cinnamon, anise, and sesame, his favourite.

His sister and Libero were already dipping them in the milk.

Libero asked him:

"Do you know who's coming today?"

Elio startled at his question.

"Who?" he replied.

"Ercole, my little brother!"

Elio did not say anything, but he had completely forgotten of his peer.

"From where?" he asked as if they had not talked about it.

"What?" replied Gaia. "Aunt Ida told us yesterday."

"He's coming back from summer camp." said Libero smiling.

"The attic is waiting for you two." hinted their aunt with a tone that brooked no argument. "Come on, Elio, finish up your breakfast and get to work." "Gaia will come and help you in a bit. I need her to run an errand for me."

Elio drank his milk in a sip, being relieved at the idea of spending some time alone in the attic. He was happy that he could go back to listening to his music on his mp3 player.

He looked for it all over the house but could not find it anywhere. He went back into kitchen and asked:

"Has anyone seen my mp3 player?"

"Unfortunately, something happened to it yesterday. You had left it on the sofa. When I opened the sofa bed, it got stuck in between the frame mechanism...There's not much left, but I’ve managed to save the memory card." said his aunt, who took the memory card from a saucer and gave it to him.

"The day has begun in the worst way" kept thinking Elio. He climbed up the stairs that lead to the attic with his usual pace and switched on the light.

Things were piled up everywhere. He would have had to tidy everything up and find a spot where to place two beds. The thought of it was too much for him. Therefore, he decided to open up the big central window to let some fresh air and some daylight in, and intended to sit down somewhere and wait for Gaia.

But then, something caught his eyes. It was a book placed on an old wooden box that looked weirdly similar to that book the old man was reading on the train.

It was a very odd coincidence. It certainly was not a very common book, which made his nervous. All of a sudden, the light went out and Elio began to hear that odd voice that, like a bad omen, was whispering into his ears words in an unknown language.

Although he knew it was impossible, Elio was scared that the old man could be standing right there with him, in the dark. He searched for the light switch, but could not turn it on. The light bulb must have burst. A deep-rooted fear took over him. The voice was getting stronger and stronger and kept echoing in his head. He was fumbling around in the dark to get to the window, dragging along with him all the objects he was running into.

When he got to the handle, he realized that the window was locked and started punching on the glass hoping it would unlock.

He was shaking and was covered in cold sweat.

Suddenly, the light came on. Elio turned around, he wanted to scream, but his throat got all choked up.

Then he saw Gaia.

"Elio, are you okay? What's with all this noise? Are you hurt?"

The boy, who was white as a sheet and was shivering, looked distressed.

Gaia hugged him tightly and worriedly whispered to him:

"Is everything alright? It happened again, didn't it? That thing that flusters you..."

Elio neither answered nor hugged her back. He was still far, far away, deep in his thoughts. He could not feel on his skin the warmth of her embrace. It was as if he were made of stone.

Gaia slightly let him go as Elio came to his senses.

The first thing that he did was check if that odd manuscript were still there where he had seen it, or if he had only imagined it.

Unfortunately, it was still there. And his stare turned cold once again.

Gaia noticed what had just happened and walked towards the old volume. She wanted to see if it was the cause of her brother's distress. She analyzed the trajectory of Elio's stare.

He was precisely staring at that old book. She turned around and grabbed it. And with the book in her hands, she addressed him:

"Is this the reason why you are so creeped out?"

Elio did not mutter a single word.

"Elio, talk to me. I can't help you if you insist on shutting me out."

"The train." whispered Elio.

"The train? What do you mean?"

"I saw exactly the same book on the train."

"What's weird about that?"

"This weird old man was reading it when you were off to the restaurant car. He was sitting in the row beside mine.

"A lot of people read books when they're travelling."

"But it's not an usual book, can you not see it?" replied Elio, who was getting upset.

Actually, Gaia had not noticed how particular the cover of the book was, and she looked even more astonished when she opened it.

It was written in a foreign language. The black and white pictures were portraying odd figures standing against some woods and full moons. Most of those figures were distressing,

but she pretended not see them. She immediately closed the book and threw it in the corner.

"Come on, it's just a coincidence. It's just an old book."

Elio remained silent; his ears were ringing again.

The young girl tried distracting him, although those spectral images were not leaving her mind.

"Come on, help me move these boxes towards the light. And let's make some space under the skylight. That's where I want our bed to be. Unfortunately, we'll have to sleep in the same bed, and I want to fall asleep under the starlight."

They worked all morning at a good pace. Gaia managed to distract Elio with her gab and he seemed to be reacting with more energy after what had happened.

They spent most of the afternoon tidying everything up until aunt Ida encouraged them to freshen up a little bit. That night Ercole was coming back home and they wanted to celebrate.

Libero had promised that he would take them dancing at the harvest festival that was going to be held in town.

They heard the sound of a car's horn honking. It was the old local bus that would pass by twice a week. After going through different neighbourhoods of the city, it would eventually reach their town. Usually, kids would use it to go back from the summer camp in Tresentieri, a wood not too far from the main town.

Libero jumped out of the house, and, as usual, he lifted up his brother, who did not even manage to his massive backpack, and spun him around up to the front door. After Ercole had managed to move out from the "squeeze" position, he had to deal with his mother.

He was happy about that expression of affection, but it seemed to him they were slightly overreacting considering that he had been away only for five days.

He affectionately kissed Gaia on her cheeks, whom he found very pretty, and coldly said hello to Elio, because of whom the TV and his beloved video-games were gone.

Ercole was the same age as Gaia, and just like a greek hero, he was tall, muscly and athletic, and he was in the local wrestling team.

His black hair was combed in a crew cut. His dark eyes and olive skin made him look more rugged that he actually was. In fact, he was a good-natured boy, incapable of holding grudges.

Dinner was served earlier than usual so that they had plenty of time to get ready for the festival. They had hours before the actual festival, but Ida had prepared a real feast for the occasion, and they needed all that time only to pass on to everyone all the dishes.