Massimo Longo E Maria Grazia Gullo - Quarter Moon

After that, they would be set to go.

All the men in the house had to wait longer than expected, of course. Both Ida and Gaia were taking ages. Elio was not in the mood. Plus he thought that the outfit he had showed off all day was more than appropriate. Ercole put on a pair of jeans and an exorbitant amount of hair gel.

Among the boys, Libero took the longer. He did not get out of his bedroom until he was fully ready. He looked lively with his blue capri pants and his multi-colored shirt that would have looked excessive on anyone, but was great on him.

His eyes were sparkling. It was one of the festivals he enjoyed the most.

As soon as everyone got ready, Elio tried escaping that torture, but was caught up in his auntie’s enthusiasm, who looked unrecognisable. She was wearing a black flowery dress, high-heeled shoes and her hair was loose on her shoulder. Moreover, she had put make up on her face. She took him under her arm and escorted him outside.

Along the way, they could admire the lights, the little flags and the decorations that were set up by the organizers of that year's festival.

On the edge of the road, bales of hay in all shapes were decorating the town.

In the city centre, the war memorial was surrounded by enormous wheels made out of straw.

The main square was hosting the stage where the marching band would be performing.

All around the dance floor, all the chairs were occupied by the elderly, who were chatting and waiting to admire all the young things dance. The younger kids were already running around the dance floor, imitating the adults that would have to avoid them during the dances.

That night everybody in town was talking about the arrival of Gaia and Elio. The elderly and the adults were recalling the old times when the two siblings would come into town.

People had different views: Some of them would recall them as two hotheads, some others as good kids. Their old friends, on the other hand, were remembering the old the times they would skip school and get lost in the fields.

Someone would say that Elio looked like his father, some others would say that Gaia did. Others would try and solve the mystery by saying that they looked like their grandparents.

In the meantime, the marching band was rehearsing. Everything was almost ready. The host, or stated more correctly, the man that every year was responsible for speaking from the stage, invited to the stage by the local authorities.

He finished up his speech by thanking the sponsors, whilst all the town dwellers were utterly uninterested in what he was saying and began yawning. Shortly after that, the audience broke into an applause hoping that the host had finished his speech for good and he would finally leave space for the band.

When it was announced that the host would be stepping down, the wilder applauses broke out. The orchestra's conductor jumped onto the stage and began waiving the baton around. At that precise moment, the trombone kicked in, followed by the drums, then by the saxophones and lastly by the clarinets.

Libero was the first to throw himself on the dance floor, accompanied by his favourite partner with whom he would always start the dance. Surprisingly, Libero was a graceful dancer and all the local women were used to enjoy at least one dance with him. He would give attention both to the younger girls and the older women. He loved to dance and was able to transmit his disinterested passion to his partners.

The dance floor filled up with people dancing. Gaia was receiving many invitations to dance and she was not backing down.

For a second, Elio felt an odd sensation. Without even realising it, his feet had begun bopping along.

As soon as the dance became more spontaneous, his aunt grabbed him by his dangling hand and made him dance and spin around.

He strangely did not oppose that decision. For an instant, he felt the rhythm kicking into his body. He was having so much fun that his cheeks started aching because of that odd contortion of the facial muscles that he had not experienced in years.

He went from dancing in his auntie's arms into several other girls's that were intrigued and were amusingly staring at him.

After he had finished dancing with the last girl, Elio returned to his seat. He could feel his blood flow through his limbs. Suddenly, he began hearing that odd ringing his ears, which forced him to move away from the main square. That same music he had been dancing to up until a few moments ago became deafening.

He walked towards the lawn beside the church, where some old tractors were displayed. A group of children kept looking at them and running around them.

Elio sat down in a dark corner and started observing them.

All those laughs were resounding in this mind and were reminding him of an old happiness buried for a long a time.

He was jealous of a child who was happily running towards his father and grabbing his hand. When he saw that, an old memory came flooding back: the warmth and the perfume of his father's hand.

A sharp pain shot up his temple. He could not think. He grabbed his head in his hands. He was cold.

"Elio, what are you doing here all alone? Are you in pain?"

Aunt Ida, who had not lost sight of him during the entire night, sat down beside him. Elio did not reply.

Ida put her arm around his shoulders and gently held him in between her arms. But Elio could not feel the warmth of that embrace. It was cold in his world.

On the way back to the farm, Gaia could not stop talking about her amusing night and her new acquaintances.

For the first time they spent the night in the attic. They had set the bed right below the skylight so that Gaia could fall asleep watching the stars, and so did she.

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