Bora, Lievito and Mascherina

Reading Time: 3 minutes

This story is part of the literary competition created by In Trieste magazine in collaboration with Comune di Trieste called “Stories from Trieste to the World” which was open to all female writers living in Trieste as part of the annual “Festa della Donna” initiative by the city of Trieste.

by Alessandra

“Ouch” said Rina. The fall was bad and despite the plastic bag all around her now all her folds and laces were stuck with the grains of wet sand. 

Next to her a green sachet of baking powder was coughing up probably because he ingested them.

“Humans sometimes can be very rude! My name is Rina, nice to meet you”

“I am Vito, nice to meet you, how did you get here?” said he while spitting granules.

“I came to Italy from abroad to protect people, a human used me and.. you know the rest. We are prisoners in here and soon, when the tide comes we will end up in the sea.”

“I know,” he replied sadly “I was used for making a yummy cake and my dream was to end up in Scovazze bin to be recycled.”

“What is Scovazze?”

“Scovazze is rubbish in Triestino, I should be in the paper can, not here. And you? Why are you so worried, you are just a mask, you are not recyclable, and you would have finished in the sea anyway.”

“That’s not fair, I have a dream like you do, I want to be recycled too. In Australia people make use of disposable masks to build roads!”

“This is a wonderful aspiration.” Suddenly a sweet deep voice came from the sky. “..and I would like to help you.”

“What is your name and how can you help us?”

“My name is Bora.” The plastic bag started to roll, moved by a powerful breath of air, until it opened, and they were in plain air.

Rina was enchanted, closed in the bag she didn’t notice the big white castle above the beach. She imagined that once maybe not too distant the balconies overlooking the sea must have been full of humans romantically staring at the horizon.

“It’s astonishing, isn’t it?” The voice of Vito interrupted her thoughts. “Legend says that an archduke built it for his wife as a love nest for growing old together, but he never came back, and she went crazy for love.”

In that moment the Bora started again to blow, moving them towards the South and they reached a long empty promenade. Vito explained that it was Barcola and during summer, in ordinary years, it got crowded with Triestini sunbathing on towels put everywhere, even on the bonnets of the cars. A hedge was built because a high level of car accidents was registered in the street because of people distracted by view.

She laughed at this image; it was so strange to think of this now that the place was deserted. 

Together they were brought to Roiano, they passed by the station until the rive. It was a wonderful sunny afternoon, but no cars nor people were in the street.

She discovered that Vito was really passionate, and he knew the city really well, in some way he was making her love Trieste too. 

“We are on Molo Audace, here people, during Bora day, use to challenge each other to touch the wind rose on the dock and no one succeed” said he. 

But Bora was on their side, they could reach the end of the pier and they cheered up together to have made it.

In that very perfect moment, while they were happy watching Piazza dell’Unità, the most beautiful square Rina had ever seen, a far sound broke the silence, it seemed like a chorus coming from the entire city, people had started to sing all together at their windows. 

She spent the rest of the afternoon flying around the city listening to stories and curiosities, free and joyful, letting herself be cradled by the sweet cold wind. 

At the end of the day, together with Vito, she landed on a small beach in Muggia. They stopped there to enjoy the sunset. In front of them the fiery red sky reflected on the sea, full of silhouettes in backlit of birds resting on the floats for the acquaculture.

Abruptly Bora started to blow again, stronger than ever, they were caught in a vortex and when the air calmed down they found themselves on a wooden surface. Stunned, they looked around, they were on a sail, a flag blue and red with many stars waving.

“That’s an Australian flag!” said Rina. 

“Yes, I am” spoke the flag, we will weight anchor soon to return home, you can stay with us if you wish.”

“I believe in you and I will join you in your travel,” said Vito to Rina blushing a little. 

“Thank you Bora for helping me following my dream, where will you go now?” asked Rina with curiosity. “This is a secret. No one knows where the wind goes when it calms,” Bora answered smiling, and she disappeared.