Stories and News

The creature By Alessandro Ghebreigziabiher "A terrible feeling, you have no idea, believe me..." "Sure... tell me everything, Peter." "I’ll try… "The thing... I suddenly realize the thing. "It’s inside of me. "It’s alive, it moves and thinks. "At that moment I understand that it's not a thing... "It's a creature, an alien that lives in me, like that sci-fi movie. "But we’re not in a movie, I don’t live in a movie. "I am a person like many, a common guy, of flesh and blood, who may get hurt, who can die. "Someone who has to worry about himself, because life is already hard on its own, it pushes you to protect you, makes you selfish, because you have to survive. "Because I want to survive. "However, at that very moment I could not think of it anymore... "I felt incredibly weak and helpless, fragile beyond any possibilities, like the most thin tissue paper at the mercy of the ...

Stories and News No. 1078 I read that giant colonies of one million and a half penguins were discovered in Antarctica, revealing a remote area that has become a vital refuge for wildlife affected by climate change and overfishing. Vital refuge, refugee lives, still alive refugees, in spite of everything. This free association invites me to think about what I like... I like to think. I like it regardless of all, because that’s my mind’s need to me. A shelter, which to secure life in, and then, reading about those penguins - hoping that the aforementioned discovery’s news doesn’t reach the ears of those who in some way could be an attempt to their survival, I like to think of something else. In fact, I like to think that somewhere else, out there, among the folds of the known world, there are further colonies. Whispering it in a humble voice - not to awaken the damn devouring utopias monster, gatherings of a purely human nature. I like, indeed, the idea that these mysterio...

Stories and News No. 1062 Jalandhar Nayak and his family are the only residents of the remote village of Gumsahi in eastern India. Two years ago he took a chisel, a garden hoe, a pick and started digging. Over time, he managed to make an eight-kilometer route through the impervious hilly terrain to help his children get to school... I make way. Literally . I am a father and this is my job. I cannot just raise the arm with presumed authority and with a stretched hand pointing the finger at the horizon. Because the already written and conquered goal is old stuff, and because it would be too easy for anxiously travelers behind to follow the worn out footprints. I would dare to say useless. Jalandhar Nayak Photo: BBC India The peaks lacking of flags and memory are made of not yet pronounced dreams and hopes. If there is no beginning of the way, like the end, the future path greedily awaits pencil and courage. It waits for me. That's why I make way for others. I...

Stories and News No. 1041 It turns out that in Geneva, Switzerland, a seven-year-old girl child runs away from her parents, then she goes undisturbed through airport security checks and boards on a flight without a ticket or passport. Airport officials are still trying to figure out how it could happen. The girl who wanted to fly , period. This is the title of the inspector's report to reveal the mystery. How could have been possible? I’m talking about today, with all the aggravations of the case, which is not casual at all, since we are ever here to deal with it, then it means that everything will have a meaning that we must explain to our sponsors and lenders, there is the councilor and the minister who pushes on top and the one against all. Indeed, we could add the usual terror in the travelling eyes, in the hands that control and reassure, the landings, the latter more than ever. It’s like the soft-seated passengers favorite stories: they need a sweet ending, with...

Stories and News No. 954 In Manila, a fire destroyed 15000 homes of the shanty town. Families were forced to scour the remains of their makeshift homes in search of their belongings while the fires raged out of control, causing many injuries. These unfortunate events, among already born troubled lives, compose a sadly notorious background. However, the small story of who alone, in the middle of the night did not give up and continues to fight, it’s far less obvious than it seems... Me against the fire. Alone, covered with rags, standing still. Fighting the fire. I might look ridiculous to you, strictly behind me. So that I could listen your voice. But not seeing your eyes. Above all, avoiding you could see mine. Me alone against fire, with one bucket of water, which in a few seconds will become one of the many empty containers in my difficult existence. As the wallet, closet and drawers, as an imaginary bank account and the missing pages in my farewell to the global st...

Stories and News No. 824 Following the so-called decree Banks Rescue, a pensioner in Italy lost all his savings, about one hundred thousand euro , and took his own life. Let’s overturn the facts… What a story… Did you see what tragedy it was? It may read in all the papers. I understand, it is likely you have not read it. When I say all , I mean that one . And when I say that one , I am talking about valued stuff. For the smartest, who are not hypnotized by the headlines about football and gossip, that one is the only one . The one who pulls the strings , that moves life from one continent to another and does the same with death , that disguises itself as religion and politics , news and culture , but it is always back there, or rather, down there. His Greed the Finance . Nevertheless, even the wealthy people may cry, right? Well, if the price of tears on the upper floors of the welfare gains relief on the ground one, it is worth groped. After all, choosing to give ...

Stories and News No. 810 Last night a 14 year old boy - I read with health problems, was rescued by police in Rome, Italy, as he walked alone in the fast lane... I walk. Even now, I walk. Blinded by the absurd illusion of achieving the running life. And even overcoming it. I am the guy that disturbs the normality of the moment, where everything is permitted, as long as nothing really changes. And I am the girl who you cannot tell of, drawing her, let alone photographing. Because then the consciousness bans everything and then dares to explain that absence. I am the cumbersome woman, personified excess, unpleasant in appearance as in the remembrance. Because then the memory transcribes everything and then dares to explain that presence. And I am the man, who is out of tune in the melody as in the text, that you wish to never have met. Loved. Just watched. I am one of the many who walk beside, in a significant travel fragment. Fortunately on the last row. And for a cruel...

Stories and News No. 804 In the US, while his father slept in his own bed, a two years old child died after accidentally shot himself with the dad’s gun. This story is for him , for it . And especially for you ... Once upon a time there was a “before”. The first and more important one. There is always. There was, alas. Before you pulled the trigger ? Yes, maybe. Thanks to a simple thought, in the form of the memory of a precious admonition. Do not touch, do not touch it. It . Is this the most important? No, let’s try, be brave, don’t be satisfied. Before opening Dad’s drawer ? Perhaps, it could be. The above thought, but also a blessed distraction. A melody behind, a more interesting game or just getting back. Exactly what you were doing. Before . It is flawless, clear, smooth as the slide at the park. Among all, is this the most important? It does not seem, let's move on. Before entering your parents room ? That is, before you know that it is there , in the...

Stories and News No. 792 Despite recent pope’s plea against the death penalty in the US, as many important newspapers wrote , the first woman after 70 years was executed by lethal injection in the state of Georgia. Kelly Renee Gissendaner was accused of the murder of her husband, actually killed by her lover. Clemency bid by her children nothing got too... Words are useless. Alone. They are alone. Every word. You might write and tell. Shouting to the crowd and muttering to yourself that you have the big, beautiful and profound ones. Look, to avoid misunderstandings and against my own interest, I clarify it just now: so are the words you are reading here. Worthless phrases. You will stop here and I will understand. You're right, you had your reasons, we have all reason, if you think about it. The fact is that a murder that becomes storytelling for the wide screen, like a love that contradicts the principles of the clearly established moral, is never stuff for a few...

Stories and News No. 781 According to UNICEF, the wars in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen and Sudan deprived of education 13.7 million children... One day, normal, but different. It’s morning. Very soon, much earlier when you should look for light. There is one of them that gets up from the place he may call bed. He rubs his eyes. In vain. Because that is all true. Dream and nightmare effortlessly mingle, because no one ever taught the difference. This is the remaining school. Essential, frugal of advices, but it has its subjects. Mathematics is always the most difficult, even in the page to quickly turn in the great book of worldly things. Numeracy is learned very early and the teachers are many. Everyone, let's say. All feel entitled to interrogate you, to put you to the test. It’s an examination without end. This is war, a test that has a very clear start time, written on the blackboard in large letters, so unwieldy, that there is no room for anything. Let alone...

Stories and News No. 777 "I understand, you're very nice, but in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon there are thousands and thousands of people and we cannot welcome all." Words and music by Angela Merkel to a young girl, a Palestinian refugee, who a moment before said she does not know if she will remain in Germany, expressing also her own discomfort at seeing her peers living their lives. Unlike her. Then the tears arrived and everything froze... Forgive us. Forgive us all of you, watching from afar. Or close, although it makes no difference to us. It is not a personal matter. If we can no longer see. You, us, me. Them, all. Yet the words abound and evade without interruption. As we cannot welcome all . Or everyone must stay in his country . Italy to the Italians, Germans to Germans and France to the French. Europe for the Europeans. And Africa to Africans... Well, maybe we should remove the latter, otherwise you would never have had any reason ...

Stories and News No. 775 The photo taken by a medical student, Joyce Torrefranca , depicting Daniel Cabrera , a 9 year old boy who does his homework in the Philippines under a street lamp, became viral on the web and now, thanks to donations received from all over the world, he will have guaranteed education, including a university scholarship. You need three of them. All three, otherwise the magic is not working. And so the miracle. As we used to say, it would take a miracle , those phrases that you mutter more for resignation than hope. They are all fundamental, starting with the very first one. It takes someone who brings the light . Indeed, although only one light. Small too, size does not matter. We are happy of what will come, they say over there, which is never as far as it looks. As a lamppost on a street. The second is just as essential. You need someone who will take advantage of that light . With courage and dedication. Dreaming of reproducing the brightnes...

Stories and News No. 773 A man died while traveling on board a freight shuttle in an attempt to reach Great Britain through the Channel Tunnel. Many of us will not be there. Few of us have already read it. And maybe less have told it . It is the story of the migrant on the tunnel. One for all. And all for us. As the musketeers of survival, who with a cardboard sword against cold and indifference, ran with indomitable courage to save the only queen worthy of the name and her valuable jewels. Read as well as a wife and an unknown number of children . Left behind, somewhere. The darkness is impenetrable for greedy eyes and no less thirsty hopes. Fatigue’s weight is indecipherable. And the possibilities of a favorable outcome are unreadable, as scarce they are. But is this not the hero who should receive the best care? Is not him the man who we should stand up for? And is not this the case of trying to get to the end? Of the story, obviously. Because this tale has an e...

Stories and News No. 772 The mystery girl child found already dead in the United States has not yet been identified. "She’s a beautiful child, and she deserves dignity here," Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley said , spreading the photos of the four years old girl. The nameless girl… Once upon a time there were the nameless . Let’s restrict, a little story of a small page won’t be enough. Let’s limit ourselves to the children. Then it would be just as long. But the characters are small, yet free from vain human complications and, perhaps, they will be happy of this terse but heartfelt hospitality. There are many of them, just look up. On the tearjerker photos of NGOs seeking solidarity. And in the videos of the stars involved in a generous mood. They are there, in front of churches and crowded stores, in the middle of the notable squares and along the walkways between a seat and the other of metropolitan life. “Many are thieves,” some mumble, “of money and...

Stories and News No. 764 A message in the bottle from a young immigrant on a rock in Ventimiglia . Entrusted letter to the sea waves, hoping it gets to destination. Without breaking… Dear mother, we won. Almost ... You and I, we did. More or less ... For dad. Who wanted nothing more than that. For us. Who could not ask for more. Not reaching the goal. Never touching the promised land. Maybe putting on our feet and feeling it ours. Meanwhile, we watch. We are the ones who do not cry when the ground finally appears on the horizon, because the joy is unstoppable, breath escaped and the forces are all in the latest effort: the victory. Almost... Screaming at the finish is a privilege for the ancestors of the memory sick guys, which today demean our souls, ignoring of doing the same with their very own. And they are right, if some of these people cling to the idea that their ancestors were very different from us. Yeah, it is so, but not for the reasons they think. Bec...