Scianèl

Scianel!

No, take it easy Scianel. Come on.

We got ragù for today,

what kind of pasta do you want?

When my grandfather says that,

what he really means is that he already decided the menù way before.

But since he doesn't want me to know that he asks me what I want.

He thinks I don't know he wants to cook penne

that he got this morning on sale at Mandalà's grocery?

Otherwise they'll expire.

I'm waiting for you.

I want bow ties.

We don't have bow ties.

Yes we do, just look for them.

Don't be such a pain,

I told you we don't have bow ties.

Did you really look? Check.

We do have bow ties.

But

how did she know it?

She's really strange this granddaughter of mine.

Strange.

I wish it was only my grandfather who considers me strange.

I know what people say about me, behind my back,

but I just don't care.

What can I do if I see and hear things that others can't?

Sure, I feel a little bad when they don't believe me, and that's all the time,

but I can't just stay quiet.

Anyways I say what I say for the pleasure of saying it,

not because I wanna be right at all costs.

I burned myself.

Shit.

Do you think it's different with my friends?

Do you know how to do a wheeley with the scooter, like me?

Sure.

Whenever you want, I'll challenge you and you'll bite the dust.

Who do you think you are, Valentino Rossi?

Get outta here.

Guys, you don't even have scooters,

what challenge are you talking about?

What is it today?

Socks with a hole day?

You could've told me I would've worn mine too.

Guys,

do you also got socks…?

How the hell did she know?

How should I know?

But she's strange, really strange.

The other day she guessed that I had broccolis for lunch.

That's only because you let out a fart that almost killed us all.

How's it going there, I still gotta wait for you?

Not to talk about what my teachers at school say.

Who, Scianel? Such a pain!

Tell me about it, sometimes I don't even know what to answer.

By now I walk with a vocabulary in my pocket,

because every time she sees me

she wants to know the meaning of this word and that word.

Then it seems as if I were the ignorant one.

As if she weren't the one who's all strange.

Okay bye.

Bye.

And I really feel that way, strange.

Is it my fault

if in the clothes people hang out to dry on the balconies

I see a rainbow?

Or if in the smoke of Uncle Tano's stigghiolis

I can smell the grass that the calf ate when it was still alive.

Once Totò went to the sea and found a shell the size of an orange.

His mother told him

that if he put it to his ear he could hear the sound of the sea.

No one heard it.

Not Totò, not Peppe, not even Giulia.

Only me.

I heard the sound of the sardines flapping their fins,

the octopuses clinging to the rocks,

the splashing of the waves when they reach the beach.

I didn't say anything.

I don't know how I did it.

But that time I managed to keep my mouth shut.

It's bad, though, not being able to tell others how I feel.

Sometimes I feel like there are too many colors around

and no one who can play with them together with me.

Nothing, that's the way I am, there's little I can do about it.

Like it or not, I have to learn to live with it.

Ready.

Why do you have that face, Scianel?

It's nothing grandpa,

just that today I feel a little... Weird?

Whatever but we already know that.

But… Scianel,

it's not that you have a stomach ache?

So, Scianel

when you're young, like you

everything seems bigger than it is,

then instead things pass...

It's just girly stuff.

Grandpa… Hey, grandpa what?

What are you, a boy?

Look, forget about it, let's eat.

Come on, give me your plate.

Come on.

Wait, a little bit more.

It's… Enough, enough.

It's good for you, come on.

Thanks.

Ok, do you know what?

I'll eat from here.

Do you not want anymore?

No, that's enough. So then I'll eat from here.

Enjoy.

Enjoy…

She's so cute.

Look, don't get all annoyed now,

go out and buy some bread.

Make sure you get a nice and cooked loaf,

not like the one last time,

that except that it was God's grace,

it wasn't even good enough to feed the dogs.

Are you putting your hand out?

Wow you can really reach out your hand...

Here, one euro...

Wait!

Bring me the change, not like last time,

that you kept fifty cents.

Go buy the bread, don't be annoyed.

Writing, painting, sculpture and sewing workshops for children and youths.

From beginning of June to the end of September! Free enrollment.

I fell in love with Marina.

A brunette girl but... really pretty.

You'd think there'd be one that works of all these lighters,

shit... Grandpa!

What is it? What happened?

What's all the commotion?

Free? What, the bread?

No, it's a workshop for the kids of the neighborhood,

it's free. I wanna do writing.

Wait, no, sculpture.

No, come to think about it I think I'd be good at painting.

Slow down.

Hold your horses, ohh! What are you talking about?

What are these workshops?

Are you sure they're for free?

Look it's written right here. Free.

Free…

'Cause you know… money here… Zip! Squat!

Squat!

What's it about…these… workshops?

Activities with other guys, writing, painting, sewing…

Sewing?

Why Mrs. Teresa she can't teach you to sew?

She's really good you know.

Jeez. I don't wanna sew, it's just an example.

Please, grandpa, please, please!

I get bored staying at home all summer doing nothing.

Who gave it to you?

I found it on the ground.

On the ground.

And what does grandpa always tell you?

That you don't pick up things from the ground.

Because there's needles from drug addicts.

And you can pierce yourself...

For free...

Whatever, I'll check it out.

Thanks, grandpa! Thanks, thanks, thank…

What… thanks, thanks… Did I say yes?

You can go?

No, I said I'll check it out.

Right?

Right.

Thanks grandpa, bye.

What you mean bye, how am I supposed to check it out?

She took the leaflet…

Are we really gonna stay here doing nothing?

What do you wanna do, Scianel?

Stay cool there in the shade.

Cool? But there's forty degrees out here.

Wow, Scianel, you're always complaining.

Guys, I'm bored.

Don't think about it.

Why don't we do a nice treasure hunt?

Yeah, we'll look for your sister.

Scianel, there's no treasures here.

It doesn't have to be money.

We can invent something, no?

If there's no money, I'm not moving from here.

All right, I'm going back home.

You dropped a piece of paper.

Writing and painting workshops.

What's this, a school thing?

Yeah, school, give me that.

Cuz, but don't you ever get bored?

No, I don't get bored.

What bores me is you guys making me stay here,

sitting here and doing nothing.

So why don't you go?

Get outta here. Cut it out, Totò, leave her alone.

You hear what she said, she has to leave now.

Can't believe her.

Painting.

Painting is what I wanna do.