"presents" "in co-production with" "a film by" "TABU" "Under the rain and scorching sun, a melancholic creature treks through jungles and arid lands for months." "In the heart of the black continent, neither beasts nor cannibals seem to frighten then intrepid explorer." "Followed by a contingent of men carrying beads fabrics and modern scientific expedition tools." "The group includes in its ranks His Majesty the King of Portugal, or at least his will, as expressed in a royal decree, and He who is above who all creatures call Creator, and whose voice lives in the Bible." "But even if his legs move forward by superior will sovereign or divine the heart, the most insolent muscle of all anatomy, dictates other reasons for the march." "Poor miserable man!" "This whimsical organ rules over both King and the Eternal." "So we here by reveal the true law of this expedition to roam the ends of the world walking away from the land where he saw his beloved wife perish, as if he could ever stop death." "Intrepid he is, but out of desperation." "Taciturn and melancholic, the sad figure wanders desolately over the inhospitable planes." "And by mysteries unknown, he is visited from afar by the one whom his heart begs for, wearing - oh morbid detail!" " the dress that hugged her when she returned to dust." "You may run as far as you can, for as long as you like, but you will not escape your heart." "Then I will die." "You sad and poor soul." "A crocodile awaits its moment, submerged in murky waters." "The intrepid explorer is well aware he will meet his destiny in this river." "His men witness the horror." "The explorer bids farewell to life." "Night falls in the savannah, as will a thousand and one more." "Then and ever since, despite how absurd this may sound to men of reason some swear to have witnessed this ghoulish sight:" "a sad and melancholic crocodile with a lady from days gone by, an inseparable pair united by a mysterious pact never broken by death." "PART ONE." "A LOST PARADISE" "28 December" "Mrs.Pilar" "Mrs. Pilar, I suppose." "Yes.." "And you're Maya!" "Welcome to Lisbon." "No, not Maya." "I am her friend." "I am a friend of Maya." "Maya is my friend." "Maya so sorry." "Maya would not come to Lisbon." "Is she alright?" "Yes, she's alright." "She's fine." "She's okay." "But she asked me to tell you this." "She'd not come to Lisbon." "It's a pity." "And you do have a place to stay?" "Yes I have a place to stay." "I'm with some friends from Poland." "Let's go Maya!" "I have to go now." "Have a nice time in Lisbon." "Hello." "Hi, Miss Aurora." "Yes." "All right." "OK." "Yes, Santa?" "Miss Aurora called from the casino." "She has lost everything." "She has no money for the train." "Remember our conversation a few months ago?" "You told me you wouldn't come back here." "My dear Pilar, this time was different to the others." "Do you have any money left, Aurora?" "No, dear." "All gone." "So it was the same." "No, Pilar." "It was different." "It was from a dream." "From a dream?" "There were monkeys with very hairy arms." "They were all fighting." "Lots of them." "In the kitchen, the living room, the bedroom..." "All biting each other." "I even told them to get out and be friends." "But all they wanted to do was bite." "What at nightmare!" "I had to phone my daughter to ask her to get me a lawyer." "And then I was somewhere else!" "At the house of a friend who died over ten years ago, poor thing." "We were eating toast with pumpkin jam delicious." "And one monkey could speak, but sometimes the monkey was her husband." "Thinking back, her husband was a really hairy man." "When he pulled his sleeves up you could see lots of hair." "Sometimes he was a monkey, sometimes the husband." "I had to phone my daughter, in case she came to visit and saw only the biting monkeys." "To stop her from thinking they had eaten me." "Then again... my daughter hardly ever visits me anyway." "She can't, poor thing." "Especially now she's in Canada." "But you know what dreams are like." "We can't command them..." "So the husband, or the monkey... said he had made a fortune on the machines at the casino, in the old casino, since the new one in rubbish." "The wife replied," ""Lucky at gambling, unlucky in love. "" "And I thought she said that because she was cheating on him." "She was dead, so she was cheating on him with the dead." "Even with some foreign celebrities." "The husband heard this and was very sad." "I took the train with him because I felt sorry for him." "I told him there were other dedicated and honest women." "Like Our Lady." "When the ticket inspector came, the husband pretended to be a monkey and hung from the things that people hold on to." "I had no ticket so the inspector took me to get one, but the ticket machine was a casino betting machine." "I felt anxious in front of it, the collector would say a colour," "I would bet the opposite and always win." "Until I thought maybe he was telling the truth." "And I had to decide if I bet what he said, or the opposite, or take the money." "I woke up before the end and decided I had to come here to see if I was lucky" "I am such a fool:" "people's lives are not like dreams." "But if I hadn't come I'd still be wondering..." "Are you mad at me, Santa?" "What a dismal day." "The forecast was rain." "Nonsense..." "I won't eat all these prawns, Santa." "I'll be alone for dinner, after all." "The Polish girl isn't coming." "They're for you and Miss Aurora." "We've already had dinner." "They'll go to waste." "I've kept lots." "Thank you, Miss Pilar." "How I decided to travel the world:" "I was born in York in 1632 to a good family." "After becoming a rich man, my father retired from business and settled down in this town." "He had married my mother..." "It is thought to be a hideout of the Moors of the Moors and Romans." "This here was a passage to the castle of Torres Novas." "All I'm telling you is not reality but tales." "Incidentally, there is no proof." "But if remains were found, it could be true." "This way." "29 December" "Someone asked if there are bats." "Sure!" "We can't see them but we can check if they're here now." "For 23 years," "I performed my duty respectfully and with care." "I buried 280 corpses." "Any others around, and I'm ready to do my job." "Man, do you talk nothing but nonsense?" "The World War II invasions only strengthened centuries-old Catholicism." "Centuries old?" "Millennia, Pilar, millennia!" "Rather more apostolic than Roman, if you follow..." "Not really." "Look, my dear, losing your guest isn't that bad." "Damn Taizes!" "All happily stuffing themselves With "nata" cakes and smoking joints after singing the psalms!" " How silly" "Even the toughest Pole would soften at my dearest friend Pilar's hospitality." "As for the carrot cake, it won't go to waste." ""A slice is kept for the one who will eat it"." "I must admit, all this climbing has made me hungry." "Not today, I have to finish, my report for the Peace and Justice committee." "I can't focus, I'm too worried about my neighbour's crisis." "You worry about everything." "Sometimes I regret that I haven't stepped on an African mine... just to get your attention." " You didn't even go to war." "Varicose..." "We've lost a soldier and won an artist." "I'm glad." "And your neighbour?" "It makes me sorry to see her all alone." "She must be having a breakdown." "She saw so little of her daughter at Christmas." "She was in Portugal for 3 or 4 days and had only minutes for her mother." "Left her a gift and went to meet her husband's family." "Do you find that acceptable?" "You want to see me dead!" "Ungrateful!" "You wish for my death!" "I'll kill myself right away!" " Come home, madam." "Give me my pills, black woman!" "None left." "If you want pills, get them from your daughter." "How dare you?" "You turned my daughter against me with your witchcraft!" "Pilar!" "Open up, Pilar!" "You are my only friend." "Nobody cares about me..." ""For Pilar"" ""My dear friend, my maid locks me in my bedroom." "I'm sure my daughter doesn't know, or she would fire her and take me to the doctor's so I can get the sleeping pills I need." "I fear my daughter has been irremediably poisoned by this devil worshipper's lies and witchcrafts." "Because she never listens to me and thinks I am mad." "Pilar, I need to see you urgently." "You're the only one I can trust." "Yours." "Aurora"" "Pilarita, we're very concerned." "You must be very sad, missing the little Polish nun's company." "We came to pay you a visit." "Delicious cake!" "It's the only one I can make." " Really good." "Oh, a new painting!" "It's modern... and weird." "It was a gift from my painter friend." "He's a good man but this is not this best." "I thought me might come today, didn't want to disappoint him if it wasn't on the wall." "But as he's not coming..." "Santa, give me another slice." "This will be my dinner." "Have some more, too, you won't have to worry later." "I'm fine, thank you." "I'll do that later, Santa." "I like doing it." "Don't you think Ms Aurora has been more nervous lately?" "She complains she can't sleep..." " She wakes up early." "Ms Aurora is special, has a tendency to exaggerate a lot of imagination." "That's true." "...but I think she's not well." "We should do something." "Madam, I do as I am told." "I think she's having a breakdown." "She needs medication, not a "crazy" tag." "Her daughter is the boss." "But her daughter doesn't care!" "Don't you see that, Santa?" "Excuse me, madam." "I've had a wonderful idea:" "You will make another cake for Santa's birthday." "Have you told Pilar, Santa?" "She's having a party at mine, and even have a few cousins round." "That's much better." "Sometimes people give us presents that don't suit us at all." "They mean well but they don't know our taste." "See this?" "A present from my daughter." "It's very soft and suits me really well." "It has this beluga print, those whales she studies in Canada." "That way she knows I won't forget her." ""PETITION FOR THE APPALLED ECONOMISTS"" ""CAMPAIGN." "HUMAN RIGHTS = LESS POVERTY"" ""ARMS TRAFFICKING, RISE IN DEATHS"" "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." "Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us the wrong we have done as we forgive those who wrong us." "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the devil..." "Amen." "Lord, please watch over Ms Aurora who has been so restless." "Give her some peace." "30 December" "Santa made no mistakes in this dictation." "She has made enormous progress, an example to us all." "I think I know why that is." "Santa told me she has been reading a book." "Isn't that right, Santa?" " Yes." "Which book?" "Robinson Crusoe." "Extraordinary!" "What's the book about?" "This is too much work, Santa." "It'll be the last time." "An old lady like me doesn't need this." "That's life, Ms Aurora." "Have you got any money for me, Santa?" "No, you spent it all at the casino." "You'll have to ask your daughter." "I'm going out." "I won't be long." "You're not pawning that coat, are you?" " What a nerve!" "Your daughter will be angry if you come back without the coat like last time." "Monster!" "I am the prisoner of a monster!" "How is Ms Aurora?" " She's lying down." "Santa, this can't go on." "We'll have to call her daughter." "I need her number." "I'm not allowed to give out her number." "You'll have to ask Ms Aurora." "Is this the way to treat someone?" "Can't you see your mistress needs help?" "Why do you have to mind other people's business?" "Who is it, Santa?" "It's Ms Pilar." "Leave, Santa." "My friends, I'm so glad you're here." "You won't believe what's happening." "They want to see me dead." " Calm down, Ms Aurora." "I can't." "You don't know a thing." "I do but nobody else does." "I don't want to go to hell." "Pilar, I beg you to pray to Saint Anthony!" "You're so kind, like no other." "He will listen to you." "I pray, but he doesn't listen to me." "And I know why." " Ms Aurora..." "You're too good to imagine other people's crimes." "Horrors I am ashamed to confess." "I know I'm paying for them." "This black woman was sent by... because I'm his prisoner." "Santa practices witchcraft against all of us." "Against you too, Pilar, because he's terrible." "But he has nothing against you." "Only against me." "Because I have blood on my hands." "My daughter is also under his spell." "I can smell the fumes in the night but I'm unable to get up." "I am so afraid." "Pray to St Anthony, Pilar, for me and for my daughter." "All is in your hands." "This isn't a matter of faith." "Modern science admits the possibility of this kind of mass phenomenon." "A group of people thinking the same thing, together, at the same time can alter a situation." "It's parapsychological..." "Nothing supernatural." "Assuming somebody will be there." "Lots of people are away for New Year." "Yeah, they only care about the fireworks." "Could I have the green pen, please?" "Green pen, Pilar." "Geographic dispersion is the future." "Small gatherings around the globe at the same time." "It's the law of simultaneity." "Pilar, you gave me the yellow pen." "I need the green one." "Silly me." "My head is in the clouds." "Problems can't be solved in the clouds." ""SHAME ON THE UN"" "We will now proceed..." "Please lower your posters for our minute of silence." "We ask you to light the candle you were given and raise it, when you manage to light it, really high..." "Pray to Saint Anthony, Pilar." "If then you ask for miracles Death, error, all calamities," "Leprosy and demons fly, And health succeeds infirmities." "The sea obeys and fetters break, And lifeless limbs you do restore;" "While treasures lost are found again, When young and old your aid implore." "All dangers vanish at your prayer, And direst need does quickly flee;" "Let those who know your power proclaim, Let Paduans say: there are yours." "To Father, Son may glory be And Holy Ghost eternally." "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name." "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." "31 December" "Hello, Santa." " Hello, Ms Pilar." "Well, happy birthday." " Thank you, Ms Pilar." "I made carrot cake." "Very good." "Shit." " What is it?" "That's the Portuguese lady I should have stayed with." "Hello, do you remember me?" "Yes, of course, I remember you." "Ms. Pilar." "How you' going The Taize meeting?" "Very good." "Yes it's must be." "It's a pity That Maya wouldn't come." "Yes." "I have a little gift for her, a souvenir from Lisbon." "I'd already bought, so it's hurts Even she didn't come." "I do not have her address." "So if could you give it to her Next time when you see her?" "Yes." "I can do that." "I can give her the present." "Are you enjoying Lisbon?" "Yes, it's quite enjoyable." " Making new friends?" " Yes new friends." "Well, I must go." "You're very Kind Lady." "God bless you." "Did you enjoy that?" " Very much." "There'll be more next year." "Have you got your twelve raisins ready?" " I don't like raisins." "Pagan rituals." "Jesus, Marie, Joseph." "Happy New Year." "Happy 2011, Pilar." "You know, I've been thinking of you." "Your company, Pilar, is the ray of light that pierces the darkness of the hole where lives... blind... this devoted friend of yours." "Will this beast deserve such a delicate golden thread?" "No, don't answer." "Does the painting look good on the wall?" "Very good." "Another one?" " Take it." "I painted it thinking of you." "You shouldn't." "Scribbles." "The hand is rough but soul is sensitive." "1 January" "My God, please forgive me for being such a fool sometimes." "I beg you to look after Santa and Aurora's health." "Madam is not feeling well." "Oh, Pilar, you're here?" "Would you like some tea?" "Santa, see if we have some biscuits left." "Don't worry, Ms Aurora, I'm fine." "Oh, my friend!" "I should get up, but I'm so tired." "Africa is very pretty, but this time of year the heat really gets to you." "Ms Aurora, you're at the hospital." " What a nuisance!" "Well, maybe I'll get my pills." "Will you wake me if I fall asleep?" " Don't worry, It won't take long." "Don't just stand there, Santa." "You must check the crocodile regularly." " What crocodile?" "I think you're kidding me sometimes." "How many crocodiles have we got?" "Go check before the cheeky bugger hides in Mr. Ventura's house again!" "It's completely obsessed with him..." "You should get some rest, Ms Aurora." "How can I if the darn crocodile is always trying to get into Gian Luca's house?" "What if he bites his finger off?" "If then you ask for miracles Death, error, all calamities," "Leprosy and demons fly, And health succeeds infirmities." "The sea obeys and fetters break, And lifeless limbs you do restore;" "While treasures lost are found again..." "Hi, Santa." " Hi, Ms Pilar." "Is she here?" " No, visits are over today." "What did the doctor say?" " Nothing to me." "Her daughter?" " Doesn't answer." "You must find this gentleman." "Madam wants to see him." "But you must be quick." "Madam is dying." "Are you a Jehovah's Witness?" "I'm Catholic." " So am I." "Can I help you?" "This may sound weird, but is there a Mr. Ventura here, by any chance?" "That's me." "Gian Luca Ventura?" "That's the old man." "He's in a home." "Is he your father?" "My great-uncle." "He lived here some years ago." "I need to talk to him." "Well, a friend of mine does, she's a friend of your uncle." "Come in." "Make yourself a t home." "The dogs are harmless." "They like children." "Oops!" "But I am not a child..." "But you're kind." "Dogs can see that and so can I." "I didn't know the old man had any friends." "I only heard of him yesterday." "I thought he didn't actually exist." "Yes, he does." "But he's gone bonkers." ""Rising Sun" nursing home" "Gian Luca Ventura." "Yes." "It's me, Santa." "I'm on my way to the hospital with Mr. Ventura" " Yes, I am..." "I wasn't expecting it so early." "3 January" ""In loving memory of my mother"" "Mr. Ventura, will you join us for coffee before you go home?" "She had a farm in Africa..." "Pardon?" "Aurora had a farm in Africa at the foothill of Mount Tabu." "She never met her mother." "She died after giving birth, lamenting the time wasted closed in a bedroom to scape the mosquitoes, read romantic novels and heal a chronic headache." "Her dad, a man of easy wrath, has abandoned a small industrial wool empire in Portugal, because he resented the monarchy." "He settled in Africa, where he was successful again exporting cushions of ostrich feathers worldwide, famous for their softness and elegance." "Had it not been for his gambling addiction," "Aurora would have inherited a fortune." "PART TWO." "PARADISE" "Aurora grew up according to her social status, between private tutors and black servants." "Bur her gracefulness in reciting verses did not stop her from malicious behavior in which some saw devilish influences, others saw whims of a spoiled childhood." "Before his apoplexy, her dad was proud of his daughter's feats, recognizing the traits of a strong temperament." "The father's death made her more of a dreamer and introspective." "Her talent for big game hunting, for which she became famous worldwide, was due to her father's influence." "She was a hunting consultant in the film" ""It Will Never Snow Again over Kilimanjaro", an RKO box office flop that caused the producer to commit suicide." "Aurora didn't care:" "cinema bored her to death." "When hunting elephants, lions and leopards she was truly chasing her father's memory, something she felt ever more present when running through the vast savannah." "This inflexion in Aurora's character benefited her studies." "She studied German at an Anglophone University." "She met her husband at the graduation ball." "The look of this confident posture greatly impressed her, as well as the perfection of his waltz." "The couple set up home on the western slope of Mount Tabu." "The mythical hill was generous to all:" "it offered Aurora's husband the perfect climate for his tea crops, the academics the hope of having found the cradle of humanity, and the natives their indispensable local myths." "The natives saw their ancestors' avenging spirits in the haze that descended from the mountain at dusk." "None of this occupied Aurora's mind, she loved her husband and was happy." "But her taste for adventure was merely dormant, numbed by the extravagant presents that livened up her routine existence." "Allow me to skip the misadventures that led me to leave my father's house in Genoa." "I crossed the South Pacific on a commercial vessel, docked in exotic Far Eastern towns and lived an infamous romance in Paris with a Hungarian countess, unfortunately a married one." "I broke many hearts in my time." "That didn't benefit me nor give me any happiness." "I made easy money and spent it effortlessly." "Ina bohemian night in Lisbon I met Mario, a student priest." "An outsider like me, he was celebrating abandoning the dioceses due to a lack of vocation." "He spoke passionately about his roots in Africa, where he wanted to return." "These stories fuelled me, so I told my new buddy of my firm decision to see his land." "More than its promises of exoticism and an easy life," "Africa opened doors to a new world free of gambling debts and love troubles." "I had barely arrived when I was offered a good office job ina respectable firm, with a schedule from 9 to 5." "Santos e Irmao a small mining company, had a good reputation for labour relations regarding white employees." "My lack of ambition quickly made me the bosses' right-hand man." "Mario, also known as the Priest, the Sheriff, the African and the Boss, was profuse in passions and activities." "His grandfather, the community's pioneer and spiritual leader, had been sent there for life when the colony was mainly a colonial prison." "Mario always wore his grandfather's crucifix around his neck, maybe because he couldn't fulfill the old man's dream of becoming a priest." "His vocal versatility delighted the African youngsters, and Mario, a good cultivator of his ego, founded Mario's Band." "Women were sensitive to this charm and my friend showed a preference for the natives." "He would father a child with one of them an occasionally remembered to take the boy out on a Sunday." "At fifteen, Mario had looked death in the eye." "A tragic expedition to Mount Tabu resulted in the deaths of several youths." "Aurora's husband's crucial intervention saved my friend." "I'm not aware of the exact accident or haw he intervened." "But I believe both held sacred the bond that was born then." "He invented an impressive curriculum and was accepted as an assistant lecturer in the Department of Geography of the Faculty of Humanities of Coimbra." "He never made the journey." "The maps he designed were very beautiful, but, it later proved, hardly scientific." "October" "Despite living next to Aurora's farm we only met months after my arrival." "My neighbors were looking for the small crocodile that had escaped from the lake that Aurora had built on her farm." "I found the animal in my garden and spent part of that evening watching it move in the bathtub." "Aurora was happy when she got the crocodile back." "Since her husband was away on business, she ordered lemonade to be served outside, following the customary prudish etiquette." "To make small talk, I asked about the animal's name." "She replied it had no name yet." "Aurora had many possessions." "but one was very peculiar:" "the house cook... who had been serving the husband's family for decades." "a sage old man of excellent cooking reputation." "He was also a sorcerer and used to read the future in the entrails of the animals he prepared for the pot." "One October day, after the first rains, he confided words from the spirits to the maids" "that Madam was pregnant." "and her end would be bitter and lonely." "But one of the maids betrayed him, and the prophecies reached Aurora's ears." "Furious, she fired him... claiming that she could no longer tolerate such repugnant and heretical rituals." "Time, however, would prove the first prediction right." "Aurora was expecting a baby." "and the husband, who hoped for a vast succession, was happy about his firstborn." "He celebrated the event... and doubled his matrimonial attention." "After her initial euphoria," "Aurora became more reserved." "and wasn't passionate about the subject." "November" "Her husband attributed this to a natural fear of maternity and some harmless, slight bipolarity." "that he had noticed in her from before." "A rare beast, thought to be extinct, was hear for weeks on the hills from where came... echoes of lonely and excruciating growls." "Many chased it without success, but Mario was the one to capture it." "Challenging a second time the scary summit of Mount Tabu, he made a triumphal descent with the caged beast." "A powerful Arab caliph soon bought it, giving my friend the first installment of a vast sum that he would never see in total." "Socialism would put an end to the caliphate." "Ignorant of the revolution, and thinking he would have the money," "Mario accumulated debts and splurged on various whims, including recording a single that would be the band's debut." "This record is today a cult object amongst music lovers due to its rarity and simplicity." "December" "Around Christmas, the crocodile escaped again and Aurora immediately knew where to find it." "We later found the crocodile hidden under a cupboard." "Since that fateful day" "Aurora secretly gave the animal a romantic name:" "Dandy." "The news that Aurora has missed a shot caused quite a stir." "Her shotgun had not fired a stray bullet since her early youth." "January" "It was thought the pregnancy was linked to the incident and that maternity had the power to sweeten her virile nature." "It would be Aurora's last hunt." "Meanwhile there were rumours of revolts and massacres perpetrated by black people elsewhere in the colony." "In the quietness of our community the news sounded exaggerated even unreal." "The confirmation arrived through a military officer carrying out government information sessions." "White folk got excited and organized militias, night patrols and did shooting exercises accompanied by tea and biscuits." "Indifferent to the fate of the Empire," "I saw it as another opportunity to be near her even if her husband's presence caused me a new and growing anxiety." "February" "I wonder, can anyone really understand the moment one goes from desire to love?" "I believe I have already said, my past was hardly deprived of pleasures, especially when socializing with the ladies." "Despite my fiery passions, going from one woman to another had never bothered me, as they all seemed very beautiful." "Aurora irreversibly overturned my nature," "I'm not sure when or for what obscure reason." "I couldn't ignore that Aurora carried the child of another man, her lawful husband, and that being her lover meant committing a colossal foolishness that I could only live to regret." "But in her arms, the future seemed a vague and stupid concept." "We met in secret while the others played their wars." "The risk of being caught was high but schemes to hide illicit affairs were nothing new for me." "The originality here was of a different nature:" "Aurora grew in me as an absolute reality." "March" "My growing discomfort reached its climax at a party in the pool house." "Maybe the lugubrious aura of this place stressed my restlessness." "The parties there owed their reputation to the strange family that lived there." "The lady had run away, leaving son and husband in charge of each other." "The son had been born with feeble nerves, and later returned even more perturbed after a long stay in Marseille, where he got involved with the underworld and specialized in French boxing." "In panic situations he would take flight into another reality and, just like Don Quixote, he'd fight invisible enemies." "The father hid a feral despair under a polished cloak of amiability." "On New Year's Eve, after a bottle of whiskey he'd close the living room door, load a bullet into the drum of a gun, raise it to his temple and challenge life." "He later died as a consequence of this." "His parties often ended with a gun salute, scaring the guests away." "Due to my forbidden love." "I had grown apart from Mario in the last few weeks." "I couldn't tell how he'd react to my secret." "Mario evoked God, he believed Divine Providence had come to my aid." "He showed me a letter from a famous singer from a British colony who liked the band:" "an invitation to perform at a hotel in the capital for a few months." "Two days later I flew out there." "April" ""My dear Lady," "The sweet and ill-fated moments we have lived in the last few weeks make me fear for my future and above all for yours." "The profound emotion I feel when I'm next to you puts me in a new, frightening position." "I can't justify my actions." "My heart begs me not to, but I have made a final decision." "I shall not see you anymore." "I believe this is the only way to stop this horrendous crime." "Conveniently, fate brought the boys and me a three-month contract to play in a famous hotel abroad." "My dear, please think of yourself, your husband and the child growing in your womb." "I bid farewell with eternal sadness, yours forever," "Gian Luca Ventura"" ""Dear Sir," "Your fame made it easy for me to find your address." "Your letter left me with fevers for several days." "The nobility of your attitude brings me even more love for you, something I thought was impossible." "That nobility is, however, my misfortune." "I always thought I was a happy person, but the plenitude I have found in your arms" "makes me the most doomed of women today." "Forget me if you can, because I will always be yours," "Aurora"" ""My sweet and dear Aurora," "It is you who must forget me..." "May ...because I will always be a despicable villain." "I never thought, however, that in so much crookedness my biggest crime would be to fall in love." "I'd be lying if I denied how much I still think of you." "You would be scared by some of the thoughts in my mind." "They are the result of a juvenile rapture with no chance of a future." "I shall therefore silence myself, and I beg you, as I would beg to God if I believed in Him, to write to me no more." "Gian Luca Ventura"" ""My dear Gian Luca," "Those who claim time heals all wounds have never loved as much as I have." "I must confess this monstrosity to you:" "Neither my husband, nor the unborn child, not even God bring me the slightest remorse for our moments together." "If I curse the day I met you it's because it was followed by the one when we separated." "The image you keep of me hardly resembles reality." "My biggest shame, to love one man and carry the offspring of another." "Yours always, Aurora"" ""Gian Luca," "Your lack of reply makes me think you must have forgotten me." "You do as you must and I wish I could say it makes me happy." "I have to exist because the life I carry demands so." "An innocent life, despite my misadventures." "I bid you farewell forever, my dearest friend, yet telling you that, now and forever," "if you are ever to ask me," "I will not hesitate to pull out of my chest a beating heart, which is always yours," "June" "July" "In the following weeks, I left my job and avoided friends." "August" "The mild way in which Mario demanded I end the adventure was not comforting." "I knew him well enough to recognize the gravity of an ultimatum." "We took flight." "Aurora's pregnancy required care, but the proximity of the border made up the risk of a night on the mountain." "We moved into an abandoned house and watched the fire, trying to see in it signs of destiny." "We were taken to a nearby village." "Aurora had entered a state of silence interrupted by cries announcing new contractions." "Labor began after the death of Mario, and continued in a hovel whose entrance was forbidden me, according to the implicit rules of ancient matriarchal pact." "I hoped to wake up in a nightmare anytime absurd." "I am aware that in the course of this story did not hide nor explained my attributes." "But beyond madness samples I still had some awareness." "Knowing that my lover's life was at stake, and that our crime committed forever a common future," "I asked a boy from the village to look for the husband of Aurora." "renounced my project of flight, and I was willing to plead.." "as his wife's kidnapper and murderer Mario." "The idea of spending the rest of my life in prison or being pierced by a bullet from the deceived husband, were good prospects compared with the desperate impasse of my current condition." "It was announced the birth of a child." "The news spread quickly through the village." "The vision of Aurora with her daughter, heartwarming for other eyes, was almost as unbearable as Mario's body lying next to me." "In short, I expected to it whatever." "The next day a mysterious statement be released on Mario's death, which today is taken as one of the determinants factors for the beginning of the colonial war." "The freedom movement admits responsibility for the death of this member of the colonialist militia as an act of war." "This representative of the white occupation was shot in quadrant 45," "Mukange, where he was caught spying on the strategic positions of the African revolutionary forces for the oppressive regime." "Our popular forces will continue the struggle for total freedom of our people and country." "September" "I left Africa and Aurora's life forever two days later, after receiving her final letter." "It was in India, some ten years later," "I learned of the death of her husband." "By one of those strange coincidences that life rarely gives us," "I worked with someone who also knew him." "He was who gave me news of her, and informed me of her return to Lisbon, where she had moved with her daughter." "Some friends also settled in Portugal and made Aurora reach the location of my whereabouts." "There was no answer." "And despite this love, never buried or defeated," "I decided not to look for her." "It is the first time that I share this with someone." "I did his will and destroyed her letter:" ""Gian Luca, my love," "I leave as soon as possible and I leave behind these cursed lands." "and the memory of the horror that I lived in them." "Nothing binds me to this place." "The woman who loved lies dead, buried under the shadow of these impassive mountains." "When God lift me, my secrets will go with my shroud and like them, say nothing," "because the memory of men is limited, and beyond the world, eternal, and no one can escape it." "In those crimes we committed together, his participation is not comparable with mine." "Mr. is foolish, and therefore not realized he spent the last months with a wild unhappy woman, who can remember fondly at the time where there will be treacherous iniquities." "I ask you to make this sad letter ashes, the last I will write and that you won't respond." "And that never can reveal, in my lifetime, the monumental crimes we lived." "Aurora"."