Mara Masolini

“HE CAN ONLY HEAR A SIDE OF A CONVERSATION” by Mara Masolini

 HE CAN ONLY HEAR A SIDE OF A CONVERSATION “ Yes, he took up birdwatching, do you know? Oh , it’s only an excuse …to spy on them” This was one of the sentences of the conversation that he had heard by chance and of which he had only been able to hear Cloe’s voice. Cloe was talking with Bob . He, Peter had only been able to hear what Cloe was saying, while he hadn’t heard a word of what Bob said. Peter had not resisted his curiosity to listen to them furtively and yet he had not been able to understand what the two colleag...

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“KIDNAPPED BECAUSE OF SUCCESS” by Mara Masolini

KIDNAPPED BECAUSE OF SUCCESS She had taken too long to decide on hair and makeup , and what dress to wear. To make matters worse she had found a queue that had blocked her for half an hour in the traffic.By now Martha was definitely late. Even if she had been admitted to the interview her being late would have made a bad impression. Since she arrived late, she had to wait until the other called ( summonses )had had their interview. The waiting time was tormenting.“So, there’s our latecomer. It seems that you don’t care much ab...

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“THE FORBIDDEN BORDER” by Mara Masolini

 THE FORBIDDEN BORDER In Normalandia life flowed calmly and peacefully. There were no murders, no thefts and no robberies. It seemed and perhaps was a perfect world. But some, like James, weren’t convinced at all about it.  In Normalandia it was forbidden, under penalty of death, to explore the borders of its territory, which was quite large. All the inhabitants had to be content to stay within their borders and they could not go beyond them.But James was too curious to be satisfied with such confinement. Many nights he s...

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“TRAVELING ON NEW YEAR'S DAY” by Mara Masolini

TRAVELING ON NEW YEAR’S DAY On the table, there were still the plates and glasses, bottles and crockery from the big end-of- year dinner. There were also food leftovers, the tablecloth was stained with wine, and there were broken glasses and bottles on the floor. She didn’t feel like cleaning up, putting everything back in order. That was A NEW DAY. It was the first day of the New Year. It was snowing but Martha had a great desire to leave, to set out on the road in search of HER PLACE. A place that she had never found in thirty-five ...

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“THOSE HIEROGLYPHICS” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #211

THOSE HIEROGLYPHICS Nothing, it wasn’t there. That page or sheet on which signs that looked like hieroglyphs were traced had disappeared. He had caught a glimpse of it when he was absentmindedly leafing through Lucretius’” De rerum nature”. Just at that moment, his colleague Greta had called him for an emergency. David had left the book on the table and when had returned the book was no longer there.  He had looked for it on the shelves, had found it, and had started searching frantically for that sheet ( with hieroglyphic...

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“AN EMBROIDERY FROM THE STARS” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #210

 AN EMBROIDERY FROM THE STARS Greta had a quiet, serene, and rather lonely life. She lived alone after having married twice and been divorced as many. Her three children were now adults and lived in other cities. Marisa, the youngest, had been living abroad for years. Since she had retired ___he had been a  music teacher in a high school____ Greta devoted herself to gardening ___her oriental roses were a rarity, and, of course, to music. She played the piano and the violin.  Greta loved walking at night, especially in the ...

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“WALKING ON TWO WHEELS” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #209

WALKING ON TWO WHEELS He heard a crash and he tumbled down the ground full of stones. Damnation, not only the front wheel suspension had come off but the chassis had broken. Good heaven, he should have known that his mountain bike was not enough stout to deal with that climb. However Alex stood up, even if rather bruised and aching, and he decided to continue his journey on foot. He had to join his friends in the mountain cabin ( cottage) to celebrate his birthday. The road he had to do was still quite long and bumpy but he set out confide...

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“THE FORGETTEN DOLL” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #208

THE FORGOTTEN DOLL When she happened to find it at the back of an old wardrobe, wrapped in pillowcases and towels, Alice gave a start of fear. Yet that doll was not anything but ugly or frightening. It was indeed beautiful. It was blonde, with very fine-flowing hair, and had a face with perfect features, almost regal: the perfect oval of the delightful face, the high cheekbones, the lively gaze. It had blue eyes and a small rosebud-shaped mouth. The blonde doll wore a white floor-length dress that was embroidered and embellished with ...

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“THE COLOR OF THE BLOOD” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #207

 THE COLOR OF THE BLOOD “ CUT!” said the director .” This scene is too full of objects ( things).”  “ And there’s also too much blood” the set designer intervened. It was the set of the film “ Domestic Murder” Two blooded corpses lay on the floor of a room full of vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, cabinets, and overturned drawers. The head of one of the corpses had been severed and was enthroned on the table. “ I would say we went too far with the blood,” the set designer said. He had a worried face. “ Okey, now let’s take a break,” ...

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“SINKING” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #206

 SINKING Evening. Sara was on her way home from work. She felt tired but above all embittered. She had had a disagreement with one of her colleagues and big words had flown between them. She had also been recalled by her boss who had guarded her for her lack of attention. “ You don’t seem to pay attention to what you’re being told. You must be more careful” He had said. And all for a job she didn’t like, that she had never liked. Yeah, why then she hadn’t left it and hadn’t looked for another one? She felt a lump of bitterness in her ...

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“DEATH” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #205

DEATH Kate was nine years old when her great-grandfather, who had spent the last years of his life with them, died. Great-grandfather Orlando was ninety-two and he had been very strict. He had often reproached her for her disobedience and had often repeated to her that she was rude. And when he said it he made a disgusted face and said:” Ah, those! They allow you everything” referring to her parents. The great-grandfather had died after a few days of illness during which everyone knew he was going to die. Kate had never seen a dead before...

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“THE SPACE PLATFORM AND THE BLACK HOLE” by Mara Masolini

 THE SPACE PLATFORM AND THE BLACK HOLE There was a disruption in the space platform Yzmoon7. The first and second modules seemed to have gone mad, the experiments had suddenly stopped, and the results obtained went down the drain and all the efforts to recover them were in vain. Captain Kreisler, commander of the station, summoned his team of experts: the engineer Crause, the biophysicist Hortens, and the electronaut Davies. “ We need to understand what causes this truly unexpected perturbation that is ruining our research wor...

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“THE KIDNAPPING” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #203

THE KIDNAPPING A five-year-old Gisella disappeared in the afternoon from the courtyard of the hotel where she was staying with her parents. The last adult who saw her in the courtyard, together with the other children, is another hotel guest. “ But we saw that man dressed in black who took Gisella away” Greta is saying. “ We have to say it” “ Now don’t exaggerate, we just saw the little girl following that man,” Peter replies. “ That man grabbed the child by the arm” Greta insists. “ No, he took her by the hand” “ But first grabbed her ...

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“AT THE WEDDING RECEPTION” by Mara Masolini

AT THE WEDDING RECEPTION “ Ah, unbelievable! Look who is seeing ( meeting) again after a lifetime!” “ Oh, what an incredible surprise to find you here! Are you a relative of the bride or the groom?” Tommy and Julia were incredulous. They had been classmates in high school and had not seen each other in over twenty years. Now they were meeting in the park of the villa where the wedding reception of Martha G. and Gabriel B., two wealthy scions of the city’s bourgeoisie was being held. “ Yes, I’m a distant relative of Martha, a third cou...

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“IN THE SQUARE AT NIGHT AFTER THE SHOW” by Mara Masolini

IN THE SQUARE AT NIGHT AFTER THE SHOW The celebrations, the enthusiasm, and the euphoria were over. The big show with singers, musicians, and dancers had lasted for six hours. The large audience had been thrilled, had screamed and yelled“ Hurrah” and “WOW” and demanded encores. Now the stage was empty and almost anyone who had attended the show had also left, leaving paper cups, bottles, cans of beer and Coca-Cola, bags of popcorn, confetti, and streamers to clutter up the vast space of the stalls that was a large square.  In the...

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