Part 4
Part 3
Part 2
Other countryside was waiting for him that
afternoon, other pine forests and the satisfying feeling of
coolness. Thoughts ran through his head without finding a precise
location. Sometimes he felt pride, sometimes he felt a deep loss.
Von Maier had deeply surprised him. It was not so much the decision not to change his destiny but the feeling of having achieved spiritual stability as if, as far as he was concerned, he had paid enough for the misfortunes and choices of his own nation.
He too, among many, had participated in the great musters designed specifically to raise minds in order to feel an invincible nation. He too had believed in a different and better future, while his bosses were already preparing a totally different version to achieve that type of intent. Like the others, he was carried away by the absurd enthusiasm.
But today, he had found his harmony—his spiritual peace. He had had his ransom and was ready to suffer any fate. As a brave and invincible soldier, he was giving his life.
But then, thoughts went elsewhere, in a different version. When he crossed the main roads, so devastated and full of ruins of boundless contention, he understood how the sinister fate proposed by the regime should be understood by anyone among the citizens, beyond the emphatic announcements. It was clearly foretold by the terrible disasters that occurred even before the war began. An entire nation had let itself be carried away by believing or pretending to believe in a different way of achieving the goals announced.
Giovanni looked at the tranquility of the forest, it seemed the mirror of Von Maier’s soul even if his sacrifice would have served nothing as destined to oblivion, not to remain imprinted in the memory of the people in order to constitute a teaching. Who knows how many examples of morality were uselessly used in the history of man.
Von Maier had deeply surprised him. It was not so much the decision not to change his destiny but the feeling of having achieved spiritual stability as if, as far as he was concerned, he had paid enough for the misfortunes and choices of his own nation.
He too, among many, had participated in the great musters designed specifically to raise minds in order to feel an invincible nation. He too had believed in a different and better future, while his bosses were already preparing a totally different version to achieve that type of intent. Like the others, he was carried away by the absurd enthusiasm.
But today, he had found his harmony—his spiritual peace. He had had his ransom and was ready to suffer any fate. As a brave and invincible soldier, he was giving his life.
But then, thoughts went elsewhere, in a different version. When he crossed the main roads, so devastated and full of ruins of boundless contention, he understood how the sinister fate proposed by the regime should be understood by anyone among the citizens, beyond the emphatic announcements. It was clearly foretold by the terrible disasters that occurred even before the war began. An entire nation had let itself be carried away by believing or pretending to believe in a different way of achieving the goals announced.
Giovanni looked at the tranquility of the forest, it seemed the mirror of Von Maier’s soul even if his sacrifice would have served nothing as destined to oblivion, not to remain imprinted in the memory of the people in order to constitute a teaching. Who knows how many examples of morality were uselessly used in the history of man.
The Return - Incipit
Part 1
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Honest Deception
