… and as the twilight began to melt the day, a smile in my eye caressed the photo of a little boy, to whom I was bound by the eternal thread of love.
The smile grew deeper as the mind began to recollect his words from long ago- his promise to buy me Lamborghini one day, to marry me one day ( only if nobody else shows an interest in such a task), to carry me everywhere, one day when I’m too old to carry not only others, yet myself…and suddenly I heard Duckling’s voice crystal clear.
-..I’m telling you, it was the best holiday you could ever imagine! Ever! I love everything Italian – their country, their people, their ice cream. Everything is simply delicious there! De-li-cious ! Do you like that adjective?
He winked at me with the speed of a photon, carrying on his ode to Italy.
-Their brilliant way of emphasising the importance of a mere pavement. They say MARCIAPIEEEDE! It sounds like a whole regiment marches over there.
A mischievous expression of his face turned into a waterfall of soul tickling laughter.
-PIIIIIIIIIIZZA MARGARIIIIIIITA also tastes a million times better than a regular pizza! And those gestures!
With the enthusiasm known only to the children, he began to chase one hand with the other. Catching one of them, aiming straight for my eye, I pulled him closer to me.
-Do you know how to say I love you in Italian?
-No,- he shook his head,- will you tell me?
-Ti amo.
-Ti amo,- he repeated with his eyes closed, as if savouring the flavour of the words he had spoken. -Ti amo. Ti. A. M. O.-
A short laugh curled his lips again.
-It sounds like “ammo”. General, we certainly need more ammo! But I like it. Very much so.
He settled down next to me, softly as a kitten, his pupils dilated, looking into the distance, observing his own thoughts. Duckling’s smile, illuminating the delicate features of his face, faded, and a quiet voice formed a question.
-Midnite?
-Mhm
-What is War?
-Some would say it must be two strangers, love, yet the war is nothing but two ordinary people.
He frowned.
-I don’t understand that. How can two people be the war😕
-Well, they are. Two people traveling to work, using the same train, smiling hesitantly at each other.
Ossie shook his head, and pulled away from me, muttering, -That just doesn’t make sense. What are you talking about..-
Eye pulled him closer once again, caressing his hair.
-You wanted to know the war, love. And I say, it is two people.
-But..,- he interrupted me again, falling silent.
-Two people sitting, side by side on a riverbank, listening to the quiet rustle of the trees.
Two people crying with laughter, listening to each other’s amusing stories.
Two people humbly praying, each to their own idea of God.
Two people patiently queuing at the airport, gossiping, getting to know each other in order to control the time.
Two people enjoying football on Sunday afternoon, even more so the feeling they truly belong somewhere, to something bigger, something meaningful.
Two people entering a bookstore, yearning for another form of more.
Two people crossing the street on their way home, exchanging glances.
Two people lost in a warm hug.
Two people leaving a funeral, contemplating their own mortality.
Two people watching the sunset, transforming the sky into the most magical, unrepeatable image of limited existence.
Two people existing side by side, their lives touching more delicately than wings of a butterfly.
Two children flying across a meadow, landing in a soft carpet of flowers, laughing at the delicate petals tickling their noses.
Two…
He raised his head sharply, leaning against my shoulder, and shouted:
-Wait! But that’s not how it is! What are all those nuclear warheads? What about cruise missiles, bombs, drones?
That big word you use here and there, ani, ani…
-Annihilation?
-Yes! What about all those terrible things they write about in the newspapers, hunger, suffering? People killing each other in the most appalling ways? That’s War, that’s what people call War! What you’ve described here is peace!
-Peace is something the human has not known yet, Ossie Pepper.
-That’s not true! Father says that we live in peace, war concerns others, and looks different.
I shook my head.
-No. It’s not like that. True peace is love. And two people can never touch love. Love can only be known when two become one.
He looked at me, his eyes bathing in confusion.
-One? What one? D’you mean the chosen one like Neo or Skywalker?
A smile crossed my face.
-No. When every person on this planet understands that in all those billions of bodies, there is only one entity, that we are nothing but different forms of the same entity. When all of us comprehend that we are all one. Now, in this moment. And in this. Also in this.. Because one does not fight with oneself, does not compete with oneself, does not lie to oneself, does not steal from oneself, does not torture oneself, does not compare oneself with oneself, does not kill oneself.
Such a human feels true love, respect and responsibility towards life, and therefore oneself, in all its forms.
Once people understand this, the wars will end, hunger and all the forms of violence will no longer exist – not even in memories.
Then and only then, there will truly be peace on Earth.
-Will it really be like that one day?
-Yes, love.
-But how can you possibly know?
-Because, the two of us, we are one…
Eye of the Darkness 