Mr. Filellene swerved onto the shoulder of the road, knocking the kids into the window of his 1958 Siata. "Mi dispiace, ragazzi," he said. "I am a mythology teacher, not a driver."
Luca and Giulia exchanged glances. Thank goodness for that! But they were in a rush.
Finally, they arrived. Everyone got out, walking to the cliff overlooking the Riomaggiore, the first village in the Cinque Terre. Down below, an enormous bubbling whirlpool was already brewing.
"Whoa!" Mr. Filellene fell back, scrubbing his eyes. "I've gotta get this… where's my camera?"
"Look," Giulia said, pointing.
Fishermen on the harbor were getting spooked as their poles were ripped out of their hands, swallowed into the sea. They ran away screaming which was saying a lot, given their age.
Three clueless ships began to dock, slowly being torn from their path by the whirlpool. Patrolmen were waving their arms, screaming dissuasions, but still they came.
"No… no no no no Alberto no," Luca cried, grabbing his head.
"He can't hear you, Luca," Giulia said.
"No no no, get out of there!" he screamed nonetheless, racing down the hill. The teacher and Giulia gave chase.
"We need to get in that water," he said, stumbling over brambles. "To warn your friend."
"Neanche per idea," Giulia said. "That's how Luca got that big gaping wound in his side, remember?"
"Santa Bel Paese."
"Alberto, stop." Luca scrambled onto the harbor, running as far as he could while watching the ships turn and turn. "Alberto, stop! Don't do this… "
Please, God, please please please. Save him.
He stared, detached, as the surface returned to its natural state. The ships were gone… and so was the whirlpool. Luca's legs gave from underneath him.
He heard Giulia and Mr. Filellene catch up to him. Giulia covered her mouth. "Oddio. Oh no."
"All those people." The teacher shook his head. "That's a massacre."
He's a good person. He's a good person.
Giulia knelt down to Luca's level, shaking him. "Luca, Mr. Filellene is right. You've gotta go down there and get him. They're gonna kill him!"
"Absolutely not," Mr. Filellene flip-flopped. "If that boy goes down there now, he'll be blown to smithereens. They're setting up traps all around the Mediterranean, you know."
"Well, what are we supposed to do!"
The teacher sighed, defeated. "I wish I knew."
Looking around, lost, Giulia tried her near-catatonic friend again. "Luca, please," she said in his ear. "Please, I know you love him. You have to do this."
The sound of a torpedo launch finally snapped Luca out of it. He dove into the water, earning the consternation of people at the pier. He found battleships, U-boats and submarines circled around the site of the whirlpool.
The torpedo had exploded into the side of the cliff, and Luca could just make out the tail of his purple friend vanishing around the side of it.
He emerged, soaking wet. "I know where he's headed."
"Good." Giulia frantically wiped him off in case anyone were to see his sea monster form. Meanwhile Mr. Filellene removed his glasses, in a perpetual state of amazement. He loved mythology.
And I know that
When I think of my friend with that look in his eyes
And if they told the truth
He might be here today
. . .
