Lena wakes up with a start. She is worried. “That’s enough yourself, Pa. Stop now. You were dreaming.”

Fred comes to his senses. He stops screaming and stays there as if hanging against the glass, lost. Lena looks at him from behind, but now has nothing to say.

28

Several paragliders are circling silently just below the angular peaks of the mountains.

Fred and Mick are on a walk.

Out of the blue, and a little theatrically, as if fishing around for any old subject, Fred says, “I had a very long piss this morning. A powerful one. And while I was having it, I was thinking, ‘Heavens, when’s it going to end? When’s it going to end?’ And it never seemed to end. And I was so happy. I haven’t been that happy for months.”

Mick hides his displeasure. “Great. I’m very happy for you.”

But Fred notices his friend is suffering from what he has said. ‘I’m only joking, Mick. Nothing like that happened.”

“Don’t joke about these things, Fred. The prostate’s a serious thing.”

“But you always fall for it. For sixty years now you’ve believed everything I tell you.”

“I create stories and in order to do so I have to believe in everything. You remember the other day? When you told me you couldn’t remember your parents anymore?”

Fred laughs. “No, I don’t remember.”

“Of course you do, you do remember. You made me think that not only do I not remember my parents, but almost nothing of my childhood. There’s only one thing I do remember.”

“What’s that?”

“The exact moment I learned to ride a bicycle. It may be nothing, but what a joy! A real joy! And this morning for the first time, as if by magic, I also remembered what happened next.”

“You fell off.”

“How the hell did you know that?”

“Because that’s what happens to everyone, Mick. You learn how to do the thing, you feel great, and then you forget to brake.”

“But isn’t that a great metaphor for life?”

“Let’s not draw hasty conclusions, Mick.”

And then a magical thing happens. An eleven-year-old boy is coming down the mountainside in the opposite direction on a mountain bike, pedalling along with amazing skill, and with one wheel raised. Mick and Fred are transfixed, speechless. The boy continues to do the whole stretch on a single wheel and passes them by at top speed, silent as a ghost.

The two friends turn to stare after him, enchanted.

Fred reflects a moment and then says, “You know something, Mick?”

“What’s that?”

“You and me, I don’t think we’ll ever die.”

Mick turns to face his friend. He smiles at him and adds, “Now let’s not draw hasty conclusions, Fred!”

But then something else grabs his attention: he catches sight of the silent couple of sixty-year-old Germans as they are about to enter the thick woodland, dressed in matching green. He makes a sign to Fred, who turns and sees the couple disappearing into the wood as well. Fred has no hesitation. He beckons to Mick.