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to leave. Impossible: Garet-el-Fendis was suspended in the air..."

"Suspended in the air?" Papa repeated and seemed amazed. 

"Yeah. Almost like the horse of the Baron of Munchhausen when the snow melted under the bell tower. In our case it had been the Lagoon going down - and the swift tide here - and Garet-el-Fendis found himself poised on a group of briccole. During the war they cut a lot of wood to make posts, difficult to see when they are at the water's edge. As Garet-el-Fendia creaked higher and higher, we jumped into the sea as a precaution. In the meantime, some nurses came to try to calm the women and only then did we realize that we were close to San Servolo, which by the way is the exact copy of the asylum in Vienna."

"A rather complex situation I would say," observed Papa taking a sip of Bloody Mary. "How did you solve it?"

"A barge passed by, but it did not manage to get the 'two tons and twenty cents' down from the briccole. She went to ask for reinforcements while we, in the water, followed the stages of the battle between the madmen and the nurses, who at a certain moment were about to be overwhelmed by those unleashed furies."

"I suppose you have since avoided San Servolo."

"Of course. The next time we went the other way, towards San Francesco del Deserto. After making sure there were no briccole cut, we dropped anchor and went for a swim. On our return we found Garet-el-Fendis in the middle of a large sandbank. Do you know what sandbanks are?"

"I think so," Papa smiled. "Those islets that absorb water quickly and return it slowly, acting as useful sponges for the lagoons." 

"Exactly. Waiting for the water to return, she was done...