To browse Academia. Set against the backdrop of a vividly imagined urban landscape, the story intertwines the lives of characters facing their inner demons and external challenges. The prose delves into themes of transformation and emotional resonance, highlighting the interplay between reality and dream. Through rich imagery and character development, the work invites readers to explore the profound connections between personal histories and the environments that shape them.
I assure you I have lost count of all the visits I have made to La Ciotat. And yet, I have never been there. My first visit to La Ciotat, that place I have never been to, was a very long time ago, well over a century ago, on the 6 of January of , to be exact. On that day, that I recall with precision, in spite of the distance, I went, along with dozens of other people, to the town's train station to witness the arrival of a train.
To be precise, I went to witness the arrival of the train. I remember seeing it making the bend, in the distance, and then growing towards me, massive and surprisingly silent, until it halted, right behind me, to my left.
That train and that station were forever immobilized there, attached to the most fragile side of our body. For it was there that my memory preserved them. I remember all those people who came to the end of their journey and went right past without seeing me, turning from passengers to passers-by on a new course that I was not allowed to follow.
I remember this woman in particular, who hurried with a child by the hand and who almost ran me over. She had a hat with flowers on it that day almost every woman had a garden in her hair. I do not know where she went, I soon lost sight of her, and the child, and everyone else who waited with me for the train in the station. I lost them without ever knowing who they were or where they went, but my memory did not loose them. That day I did not fully realize the scope of what I had witnessed on those brief fifty seconds.
