Love being different

The big wolf

The next day, I went downstairs early in the morning and met Mr. Trudi:

Trudi went pale and shouted:

I struggled to pronounce those words, I had a lump in my throat. I couldn’t stand being attacked anymore, not even verbally. I had already suffered too much in my life - I was about to burst into tears.

I could hardly hold myself back, when a weird voice coming from behind made me turn around. It was Mr. Mancini, he was under the arch of the door, leaning on his cane, and a small device on his neck allowed him to speak. With his metallic voice, he reproached Trudi:

I asked suspiciously.

And he went on:

He pronounced that sentence with a dazzling smile which displayed his perfect, white teeth. His kind and relaxed manners made me feel better. He added:

I gave him my arm and we took our leave without even saying goodbye, leaving Trudi frozen and still nervous.

We slowly walked through the path for the lake, Mr. Mancini asked me to sing something and I did. I noticed that he often directed his gaze to my face - he seemed to be fascinated, as if he was contemplating me.

We walked along the shore for quite a long time, talking peacefully.

He seemed very interested and added that he wanted to know me better.

It was very hard for me to recall my past and I struggled to describe my life after the death of my parents. I believe he was touched by my story, as he wrinkled his forehead and appeared very angry when he said:

I turned my eyes bright with tears towards him and he kept staring at me for a few seconds. Then, he said:

The day unfolded smoothly: we came back to the castle, I accompanied Mr. Mancini to his room and finally went to mine.

I was so tired that I got fast asleep as soon as I laid on my bed.

A strange noise awakened me in the middle of the night. Actually, it was more of an animal call…The more I listened to it, the more it resembled the howl of a wolf.

-A WOLF?…HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?…-

It was coming from outside, so I looked out the window and realized I was right: there was a huge black wolf with his eyes pointed at me.

His howling became even louder - I was literally shocked. Then, I realized that also Damian was looking out, recalled by all the noise. With his hands over the sill, he screamed at me:

I stayed still…I kept looking at that creature, I was paralyzed by fear.

He exclaimed, before shouting at the wolf:

ASCHEROY...ASCHEROY...ASCHERRRRR...>

Those words were impossible to understand for me, but had an immediate effect on the animal, as he disappeared into the forest.

He yelled at me in a commanding tone. He was very angry with me and I couldn’t see why.