Stories and News No. 968
Archaeologists from Egypt and Germany have discovered a statue of 26ft (eight meters) immersed into groundwater of a slum in Cairo.
They assert that it probably depicts the pharaoh Ramses II, who ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago.
At the same time and in the near future, in my naive head, a little boy and his dad are playing together on the beach of an island north of the world’s misfortunes...
"Dad," the child asks. "Can we make a hole?"
"Sure," the man says, trying to doze off lying on the beach towel, tired of the strenuous working
week and hoping to use the end of the latter to regain strength. "You first."
Well, where a game is satisfying and full of surprises, it is rare that a child refuses to start the dances.
Time passes, and he digs, first with the paddle and then with bare hands. He uses especially latter, because - luckily for him, he still trusts them.
Meanwhile, the sea seems to slow down its usual habit of caressing the shore, and the succession of waves stretches to the utmost.
As if the real master of the world was waiting.
As if it was just a regular viewer.
"Dad," the child screams. "Look, Dad."
The man is forced to give up the sweet sandy mattress, which over time had diligently taken the form of his limbs.
Such a perfect horizon, in a not too sunny morning on a public beach, a not too crowded one.
"What's up? Did you already find the water? "
"No, Dad, I found a statue..."
The father is intrigued, no disturbed, and slowly rises from the improvised, worshiped couch to kneel beside his son, before the discovery.
The man opens his astonished eyes.
Now, he is much more than disturbed.
His heart is so out time that he is afraid to get an infarct.
He looks around and only then notices that the beach is almost deserted. Just an old man with the dog, two amateur fishermen and a girl searching for the lost suntan exactly one year ago.
"Whose is this statue?"
Yes, the explorer child, you cannot ignore him, Dad.
You have to do something, the right, expected thing from you, but now you have to answer. And, as it often happens, what you will say at that time will determine the history that awaits the entrusted to you, young life.
"It’s the statue of a king, son, the king of a distant country, that one day woke up and found his people hungry and thirsty. So, like any self-respecting sovereign, he decided to do everything in order to save the persons he loved and that depended on him. So he went to sea and through it all, far and wide, but unfortunately he didn’t make it and sank with his ship. Then, the inhabitants of this island built a statue to him."
"Why, Daddy?"
"Because they understood that he died doing what every brave and noble king and every human being would do in his place."
"They were good."
"Yes, son. Now let’s go to warn the authorities that we just found..."
"The statue."
"Yes, the statue."
Then the two walked away from the hole.
Where the remains of the man who came from afar rested…
Read more stories of migrants
Buy my latest book Elisa and the wonderful world of objects
Listen my song Wolves
Watch my last storytelling show with English subtitles It's amazing what a little light can do
Storytelling videos with subtitles
Archaeologists from Egypt and Germany have discovered a statue of 26ft (eight meters) immersed into groundwater of a slum in Cairo.
They assert that it probably depicts the pharaoh Ramses II, who ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago.
At the same time and in the near future, in my naive head, a little boy and his dad are playing together on the beach of an island north of the world’s misfortunes...
"Dad," the child asks. "Can we make a hole?"
"Sure," the man says, trying to doze off lying on the beach towel, tired of the strenuous working
Well, where a game is satisfying and full of surprises, it is rare that a child refuses to start the dances.
Time passes, and he digs, first with the paddle and then with bare hands. He uses especially latter, because - luckily for him, he still trusts them.
Meanwhile, the sea seems to slow down its usual habit of caressing the shore, and the succession of waves stretches to the utmost.
As if the real master of the world was waiting.
As if it was just a regular viewer.
"Dad," the child screams. "Look, Dad."
The man is forced to give up the sweet sandy mattress, which over time had diligently taken the form of his limbs.
Such a perfect horizon, in a not too sunny morning on a public beach, a not too crowded one.
"What's up? Did you already find the water? "
"No, Dad, I found a statue..."
The father is intrigued, no disturbed, and slowly rises from the improvised, worshiped couch to kneel beside his son, before the discovery.
The man opens his astonished eyes.
Now, he is much more than disturbed.
His heart is so out time that he is afraid to get an infarct.
He looks around and only then notices that the beach is almost deserted. Just an old man with the dog, two amateur fishermen and a girl searching for the lost suntan exactly one year ago.
"Whose is this statue?"
Yes, the explorer child, you cannot ignore him, Dad.
You have to do something, the right, expected thing from you, but now you have to answer. And, as it often happens, what you will say at that time will determine the history that awaits the entrusted to you, young life.
"It’s the statue of a king, son, the king of a distant country, that one day woke up and found his people hungry and thirsty. So, like any self-respecting sovereign, he decided to do everything in order to save the persons he loved and that depended on him. So he went to sea and through it all, far and wide, but unfortunately he didn’t make it and sank with his ship. Then, the inhabitants of this island built a statue to him."
"Why, Daddy?"
"Because they understood that he died doing what every brave and noble king and every human being would do in his place."
"They were good."
"Yes, son. Now let’s go to warn the authorities that we just found..."
"The statue."
"Yes, the statue."
Then the two walked away from the hole.
Where the remains of the man who came from afar rested…
Read more stories of migrants
Buy my latest book Elisa and the wonderful world of objects
Listen my song Wolves
Watch my last storytelling show with English subtitles It's amazing what a little light can do
Storytelling videos with subtitles