Page 69 - RIVISTA NOIQUI GENNAIO 2022

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next to, invisible to his eyes, or else he was bordering on going crazy, because that voice
he heard was coming from his own mind! Then he heard her again.
ELECTRA AND THE SHEPHERD BOY <Don’t be scared, I am not a ghost and you are not mad. We are experiencing a telepathic
contact; do you know what that means?> The young lady asked him.
<Yes, but who are you?> He asked her in turn.
Crotos was a small planet quiet and deserted, located beyond the solar system. And yet, <I am princess Electra, the lone survivor of Crotos, a small planet that a long time ago
once upon a time, the Crotosians, a peaceful and happy population that was sadly exter- was much more evolved than yours. I cannot stand to be here alone anymore; I’d rather
minated by a terrible and mysterious epidemic, had inhabited it. face death!... I wish I could come to your planet.>
One lonely heart was still beating in that desolate land, Electra’s. <How can I help? I’m only a poor shepherd.>
She was the daughter of the Sovereigns of Crotos, who had realized everything was <I beg you, now that you know of my existence, don’t leave me.
about to end, and ordered the construction of a crystal dome under which she had been We could figure something out.> She begged him.
placed in isolation, with the hope she had not yet developed the mortal virus. <I don’t know…I have to think about it.> The shepherd answered.
Their wish had been granted, since the child, who was ten at the time of the epidemic, <Darn it, that’s all I needed!> He said out loud, so that Electra couldn’t hear him, but he
grew up to become a beautiful and healthy young woman; she did not lack anything, be- could not let her give up her life. What could he do?
cause under the huge dome she had everything she needed, even a small garden where He sold his entire flock of sheep at the market and bought an essay on astronomy to see
she used to spend her days, lovingly caring for her flowers, the only things that kept her where the planet Crotos was located; but he couldn’t find it, who knows where it might
company. be in the cosmos. He didn’t even own a bicycle; haw was he supposed to get there? He
In the course of all those years she spent in solitude, her brain faculties had developed should have had wings.
immensely, so much so that one fine day she realized she could telepathically sense the <Of course - he said to himself - wings! What a terrific idea!>
thoughts of her flowers. From that moment on, she started to speak with them and had Meanwhile, Electra impatiently kept on living and sent him another message: <Did you
a chance to express her distress. find a solution? You’d better be quick shepherd boy, I can’t resist here anymore, waiting
<I am so tired of this lonely life. It’s true I have you to keep me company, but I need to all alone.> She told him.
speak with a creature similar to me. I feel I’m going crazy.> She mentally complained. <I though about building two big wings and try to fly. If this doesn’t work, I will crash
<You know you can’t, on this planet there is no one other than us. to the ground.>
You have to accept your situation, Electra, you cannot do anything else.> The tiny voi- <It will work, you’ll see,> Electra answered.
ces of the flowers said, echoing in her mind. The young shepherd designed and built two enormous wings that he strapped to his back
<Do you think there is another inhabited planet in the universe?> She asked them. with a huge rope, whose ends, secured at his sides, permitted him to maneuver them.
<Yes, of course - the flowers answered. - We know for sure of the existence of planet Then, he climbed the top of the highest mountain, and with his eyes closed out of fear
Earth. Are you wondering how we know that? It’s easy to say: we have terrestrial origins he took a leap into the unknown.
ourselves, because we are the descendants of the seeds that arrived to this faraway pla- He descended at a crazy speed and couldn’t rise; he was about to crush when Electra,
net from there, carried by the winds. Earth is a beautiful place, full of life.> thanks to the power of her mind, helped him regain altitude. The winds helped him as
<Really? Oh, I wish I could go there.- Electra said crying. - Sadly, I know it is impossi- well, because they propelled him higher and higher, until he went beyond the Earth’s
ble, I’ll remain captive under this prison of glass all my life. Why didn’t my parents let atmosphere.
me die with them? If only they knew, maybe they wouldn’t have condemned me to this <Get ready, I’m coming,> he said mentally, and she sent him the necessary directions to
solitude.> go the right way.
The obsessive idea about Earth began, from that moment on, to accompany her day After a certain time, she saw him approach and opened the dome, letting him in and
and night, until one day the image of her dreams appeared in front of her in reality. joyfully hugging him with rapture, but not before saying: <Hello shepherd boy!> To him.
She focused on it and was appeared in front of her in reality. She focused on it and was Finally someone could hear her voice.
eventually able to distinguish places and people. Her gaze wandered over a green mea- <Are you ready for a long journey?> He asked her smiling.
dow, where a young man was resting under the canopy of a tree. As a matter of fact, he <Just a second,> she replied, and then went to the garden to say goodbye to the flowers
was a shepherd boy. she had to leave there. But how could she do it?
Over-stretching her brain, she tried to send him a telepathic message, hoping he might <Do you want to come with me?> She mentally asked them.
have the faculty to hear it. In the image that was fluttering in front of her, she saw the <Don’t you think we will die during the trip?> They answered, hesitantly.
shepherd jumping to his feet, startled, with the scared expression of someone who had <If we take your roots out with care you won’t.> Electra stated.
just seen a ghost. So she filled a basket with her flowers, delicately laying them down next to one another.
Poor guy, he could sense a pleading voice in his mind, but no one was actually there with Afterwards, she took the treasure chest with her family jewels and went to the threshold
him. He thought of only two plausible answers: either a supernatural entity was standing of the glass dome.

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