・Giovanni
Giovanni opened his eyes.
He had been sleeping in the grass on the hill same as earlier.
His chest was kind of hot and on his cheeks cold tears were streaming.
Giovanni sprang up like a spring.
The town was the same, there were still a lot of lights underneath, but the light was somehow more heated than before.
And Milky Way, which he had just walked through in his dream, was also hazy and white, in the same way as before.
On the black southern horizon, it was particularly smoky, and to its right the red star of Scorpio was glittering brightly.
The overall position of the sky didn't seem to have changed much.
Giovanni ran down the hill at full speed.
The thought of his mother, who was still waiting for him not to eat dinner, filled his heart.
He ran through a woods of black pines and then around the white fence of a farm and came back in front of the dark barn from the entrance.
Someone had just returned, and there was a car with two barrels of something on it that hadn't been there before.
"Good evening." Giovanni shouted.
"Yes." A man in a thick white pants came out and stood up immediately.
"What can I do for you, sir?"
"I haven't had any milk at my place today."
"I'm sorry." The man went immediately to the back of the room and brought a bottle of milk and handed it to Giovanni, who said again.
"I'm really sorry. I accidentally opened the fence in the afternoon, so the general went to the parent's place and drank half a bottle of......" The man laughed.
"It was so. Well, I'll take it."
"Yes, I'm very sorry."
"No problem."
Giovanni stepped out of the fence of the farm with the still hot bottle of milk wrapped in both palms.
Then he went through the wooded town for a while, and then out onto the main street, and after a while again the road was crossed.
To the right, at the edge of the street, the scaffold of a big bridge over the river where Campanella and his friends had gone to float lights stood vaguely in the night sky.
But in front of the crossed streets and stores, about seven or eight women gathered together, looking toward the bridge and whispering to each other.
There were also a lot of different lights on the bridge.
Giovanni felt a rush of coldness in his chest. Then he suddenly turned to the people nearby.
"What happened?" He asked loudly.
"A child has fallen into the water." One of them said, and all of them looked at Giovanni at once.
Giovanni ran like a madman toward the bridge. There were so many people on the bridge that it was impossible to see the river.
There were a policeman in white.
Giovanni jumped from the side of the bridge to the open riverbed below.
Along the water's edge there were many lights climbing up and down quickly.
Seven or eight fires were moving on the dark bank on the other side of the river.
In the midst of them, a river with no more Japanese snake gourd lights was flowing silently, making a slight noise and turning gray.
At the very bottom of the river, on the sandbank, a group of people stood in a clear, black mass.
Giovanni ran towards it, faster and faster.
Then Giovanni suddenly saw Marso, who had been with Campanella earlier.
Marso came running to Giovanni and said.
"Giovanni, Campanella is in the river."
"How and when?"
"Zanelli tried to push the Japanese snake gourd light from the boat toward the water. Then the boat shook and he had fallen into the water.
Soon Campanella jumped right in. He pushed Zanelli toward the boat. Zanelli grabbed onto Katou. But we lost where Campanella was."
"Everyone is looking for him?"
"Oh, everyone soon came. Campanella's father also came. But he couldn't be found. Zanelli was taken home."
Giovanni went in the direction of the others.
There, surrounded by the townspeople and students, Campanella's father, a pale, pointy-chinned man in black, stood upright and stared at a watch in his right hand.
Everyone was staring at the river, too. No one said a word. Giovanni's legs trembled.
He could see the black river water flowing in tiny waves, with many acetylene lamps, which were usually used for fishing, quickly coming and going.
Downstream, on the entire river, the huge galaxy was reflected. It looked like the sky without water.
Giovanni couldn't help but feel that the Campanella was only at the edge of the galaxy.
But everyone was still thinking that from the waves somewhere, Campanella would come out saying,
"I've swum a lot." Or thinking that he would arrive at some unknown sandbank and stand there waiting for someone else to come.
But suddenly Campanella's father said clearly.
"No more. It's been 45 minutes since he had fallen into there."
Giovanni rushed over to the doctor and tried to say that he knew where Campanella was going and that he was walking with Campanella.
But he was so choked up that he couldn't say anything.
The doctor maybe thought Giovanni had come to say hello, and he looked at Giovanni for a while.
"You are Giovanni. Thank you for this evening." The doctor said politely.
Giovanni couldn't say anything, he just bowed his head.
"Has your father already come home?" The doctor asked again, keeping a tight grip on his watch.
"No." Giovanni shook his head slightly.
"I wonder what's wrong. I had received a very encouraging message the day before yesterday. He should be arriving today.
The ship must have been delayed. Giovanni. I hope you will come to my house tomorrow after school with your friends."
As he said this, he looked again at the reflection of the galaxy downstream.
Giovanni was too full of a lot of things in his chest to say anything else and parted away from the doctor.
And to take milk to his mother, to let her know that his father was coming back, as soon as possible, he ran down the riverbed at full speed toward the town.
- To return to table of contents of Night on the Galactic Railroad
He had been sleeping in the grass on the hill same as earlier.
His chest was kind of hot and on his cheeks cold tears were streaming.
Giovanni sprang up like a spring.
The town was the same, there were still a lot of lights underneath, but the light was somehow more heated than before.
And Milky Way, which he had just walked through in his dream, was also hazy and white, in the same way as before.
On the black southern horizon, it was particularly smoky, and to its right the red star of Scorpio was glittering brightly.
The overall position of the sky didn't seem to have changed much.
Giovanni ran down the hill at full speed.
The thought of his mother, who was still waiting for him not to eat dinner, filled his heart.
He ran through a woods of black pines and then around the white fence of a farm and came back in front of the dark barn from the entrance.
Someone had just returned, and there was a car with two barrels of something on it that hadn't been there before.
"Good evening." Giovanni shouted.
"Yes." A man in a thick white pants came out and stood up immediately.
"What can I do for you, sir?"
"I haven't had any milk at my place today."
"I'm sorry." The man went immediately to the back of the room and brought a bottle of milk and handed it to Giovanni, who said again.
"I'm really sorry. I accidentally opened the fence in the afternoon, so the general went to the parent's place and drank half a bottle of......" The man laughed.
"It was so. Well, I'll take it."
"Yes, I'm very sorry."
"No problem."
Giovanni stepped out of the fence of the farm with the still hot bottle of milk wrapped in both palms.
Then he went through the wooded town for a while, and then out onto the main street, and after a while again the road was crossed.
To the right, at the edge of the street, the scaffold of a big bridge over the river where Campanella and his friends had gone to float lights stood vaguely in the night sky.
But in front of the crossed streets and stores, about seven or eight women gathered together, looking toward the bridge and whispering to each other.
There were also a lot of different lights on the bridge.
Giovanni felt a rush of coldness in his chest. Then he suddenly turned to the people nearby.
"What happened?" He asked loudly.
"A child has fallen into the water." One of them said, and all of them looked at Giovanni at once.
Giovanni ran like a madman toward the bridge. There were so many people on the bridge that it was impossible to see the river.
There were a policeman in white.
Giovanni jumped from the side of the bridge to the open riverbed below.
Along the water's edge there were many lights climbing up and down quickly.
Seven or eight fires were moving on the dark bank on the other side of the river.
In the midst of them, a river with no more Japanese snake gourd lights was flowing silently, making a slight noise and turning gray.
At the very bottom of the river, on the sandbank, a group of people stood in a clear, black mass.
Giovanni ran towards it, faster and faster.
Then Giovanni suddenly saw Marso, who had been with Campanella earlier.
Marso came running to Giovanni and said.
"Giovanni, Campanella is in the river."
"How and when?"
"Zanelli tried to push the Japanese snake gourd light from the boat toward the water. Then the boat shook and he had fallen into the water.
Soon Campanella jumped right in. He pushed Zanelli toward the boat. Zanelli grabbed onto Katou. But we lost where Campanella was."
"Everyone is looking for him?"
"Oh, everyone soon came. Campanella's father also came. But he couldn't be found. Zanelli was taken home."
Giovanni went in the direction of the others.
There, surrounded by the townspeople and students, Campanella's father, a pale, pointy-chinned man in black, stood upright and stared at a watch in his right hand.
Everyone was staring at the river, too. No one said a word. Giovanni's legs trembled.
He could see the black river water flowing in tiny waves, with many acetylene lamps, which were usually used for fishing, quickly coming and going.
Downstream, on the entire river, the huge galaxy was reflected. It looked like the sky without water.
Giovanni couldn't help but feel that the Campanella was only at the edge of the galaxy.
But everyone was still thinking that from the waves somewhere, Campanella would come out saying,
"I've swum a lot." Or thinking that he would arrive at some unknown sandbank and stand there waiting for someone else to come.
But suddenly Campanella's father said clearly.
"No more. It's been 45 minutes since he had fallen into there."
Giovanni rushed over to the doctor and tried to say that he knew where Campanella was going and that he was walking with Campanella.
But he was so choked up that he couldn't say anything.
The doctor maybe thought Giovanni had come to say hello, and he looked at Giovanni for a while.
"You are Giovanni. Thank you for this evening." The doctor said politely.
Giovanni couldn't say anything, he just bowed his head.
"Has your father already come home?" The doctor asked again, keeping a tight grip on his watch.
"No." Giovanni shook his head slightly.
"I wonder what's wrong. I had received a very encouraging message the day before yesterday. He should be arriving today.
The ship must have been delayed. Giovanni. I hope you will come to my house tomorrow after school with your friends."
As he said this, he looked again at the reflection of the galaxy downstream.
Giovanni was too full of a lot of things in his chest to say anything else and parted away from the doctor.
And to take milk to his mother, to let her know that his father was coming back, as soon as possible, he ran down the riverbed at full speed toward the town.
- To return to table of contents of Night on the Galactic Railroad