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"'But now it's not enough anymore. I would like other people to listen. I would like others, only a few others like me, to listen.' 

"'Don't just look back. Look ahead. You'll see that one day...'

"'It's day.' Ernesto said, getting up. 'Time to leave.' 

"'When are you coming back?' At each departure his heart was heavy and he no longer knew what to say, and each time he repeated the same question.

"'Soon' replied Ernesto as always.

I look around. In addition to the coffee tables, almost colored flowers open to the sun, tall gray houses, castanets that advanced slowly, puffing smoke. I try to imagine the city of the past, full of trees and carriages and different people.

"'What can I bring you, sir?' Ernesto looked at the waiter and smiled. 'Sir... I am not a gentleman but a poor fellow traveler with my feet more and more swollen, my head more and more empty. A glass of wine, please. White wine.' he said.

"A dark-haired girl passes by, dragging a bored-looking dog. A fast-paced Javone soldier. A blank-looking priest and a man intent on leafing through a booklet of notes. All so different and yet so alike in search of a something that perhaps they will never find, Ernesto thought and suddenly saw Arnoldo in front of him.

"'Ernesto, old sport! How many years!' he said, suffocating him in an embrace. 

"His voice had remained the same, his face had changed little, and yet how different it was! So elegant, so sure, so... 'How many years' Ernesto said. 

"'I'm happy to see you again' Arnoldo said dropping...