"I Kill" - читать интересную книгу автора (Faletti Giorgio)

FIRST CARNIVAL

The man is one and no one.

For years, he has worn his face as a mask, a mere shadow of himself. He is so wiped out by tiredness that he has almost lost his sanity.

There is music, bodies moving. People smiling and talking. The man stands amongst them, leaning against a column as he watches curiously. He thinks that every last one of these people is useless.

He is surrounded by endless faces, people who do not question; people who passively accept their lives and never admit to the boredom and pain of the journey.

At the far side of the room, a man and a woman are sitting next to each other at a table overlooking the garden.

In the soft light she appears as delicate and tender as melancholy. She has black hair and green eyes, so luminous and large that even from where he stands the man can see into them. Her companion is conscious of nothing but her beauty. He whispers into her ear to make himself heard over the blaring music.

They are holding hands and she is laughing, throwing back her head or hiding her face against his shoulder.

Just a moment ago, she turned and looked around, perhaps aware of the fixed stare coming from the man across the room. Their eyes met for an instant, but hers passed indifferently over his face. And then those incredible eyes came to rest once more on the man next to her. He returns her gaze.

They are young, beautiful and happy.

The man leans against the column, thinking that soon they will be dead.