Backward Stories (3)

Chapter 13

- Here she is... it's her! - exclaimed Roberto standing in front of the bench on which he had spent the last three hours.
Little Rossella had been among the first to get off the train, and had walked with determination towards the waiting room in the station, after a moment of disorientation.
Roberto had had no difficulty in recognizing her. She hadn't changed much in nine years, and he generally remembered people's faces very well anyway.
He had a final moment of uncertainty. He turned his face, saw the other two staring at him, then exclaimed - I'm going!
He followed Rossella into the waiting room, trying to recover the short detachment: when he was practically next to her he greeted her trying to be as natural as possible and not to betray any kind of feeling.
The girl was turning around, a bit lost: she had looked around the small room and, not having seen her friend, was about to go back outside.
- Hello!
She recognized his voice, whereupon she turned and started to wave back, but… there was something odd.
Roberto looked a little taller than normal and, no doubt, a little older.
- Hello... - she replied, a bit uncertain. To get over that feeling, she sketched a - how elegant you look! - but it didn't come out very well.
Hearing that voice, Roberto felt a feeling of affection, which he soon realized was double, as it was based on the consolidated friendship that united them in the present and on the fact that he was somehow reliving the times in which they basically had just met.
He quickly shook off these thoughts and tried to start a normal chat with her, waiting to get to the crucial point...
She kept looking at him with some amazement. He was definitely Roberto… but he looked strange. Dressed differently than usual. In some ways, even "better" than she remembered him from the week before. But, on the other hand, it gave off a certain unease...
Roberto replied with a - thank you... you are very nice too - which reinforced the feeling of uneasiness in her. She didn't remember him ever saying anything like this to her in six months.
He tried not to pay attention to all this and to take matters into his own hands.
- So, are you having fun in here? But… you've just arrived, am I right? Since you dropped by last night to leave me this note...
Roberto saw that his friend was a little scared, but admired the fact that she tried not to show herself as such.
Not that he was that much more confident than her anyway.
- Yeah… it was a… a bit strange… - He stopped. He was more or less prepared to tell her everything he had to tell her, without telling her too many things, but… suddenly he didn't come up with any more sensible words. He continued with the most plausible… and most obvious phrase - come on, let me introduce you to my friends.
They went out of the room and found that it was now getting darker. Roberto went to the bench where Sandro and Giorgio were talking.
The two stopped when they saw Roberto and Rossella approaching.
- Meet Sandro... and this one is Giorgio - Roberto said to his friend, introducing the two boys to her. Then he added, trying to sound natural -she's Rossella...
He only had time to see Sandro's gaze full of amazement... and immediately he hastened to add - while you go and do that... that ride you've got to do, I'll take her to... the others in our group...
"Damn", Roberto thought realizing that he was improvising in a very painful way. “We didn't have time to work out a common strategy on this meeting. We talked a lot about us and we completely left out the topic that should have interested us most..."
At that moment Sandro was rummaging through his mental notes to see if the appearance of that girl corresponded with the friend that Roberto had introduced him many years earlier.
It had been at least six months, that he hadn't seen her, and even on that last occasion it wasn't that they had spent much time together: she and Roberto had stopped by his friends', just to say hello, but it was just a quick visit. And anyway, then and there he was unable to associate that young girl with the person her memory brought back to him.
"All quite nice and useful", Roberto thought seeing his expression, "but not in this moment..."
For this reason he had invented that excuse of the "ride" and was literally dragging Rossella away from Beaulard train station. Unfortunately, however, she already had an equally inopportune question to ask.
- But they're older than you, aren't they?
Roberto immediately ventured into a - well... yes... - and soon tried to build up a plausible answer.
- Yes, that is, Sandro is a couple of years older than me... no, if you think about it only one, and Giorgio possibly three or four...
For a moment he felt vaguely happy that Rossella had immediately noticed the difference in age of his friends and not his own. He then tried to change subject.
- I'm glad you came here, d'you know?
- Yes, me too... sure if you'd told me earlier, maybe I could even stay with you until the new year.
Roberto hadn't paid the slightest attention to the fact that she had arrived without bags, nor was he remotely thinking about New Year's Eve. He felt terribly guilty for making so much fun of her friend, and he decided to start telling her everything.
They had almost arrived at the camping, when Roberto realized that “the others” could be around the town… so he decided to walk towards the hamlets located on the mountain above Beaulard.
He was completely panicking. He wanted to make up his mind, to avoid telling Rossella something too much or wrong. There was no chance of introducing the other friends to Rossella, of course, and he hoped she wouldn't ask him any more questions he couldn't answer.
- You're right, I'm sorry... fact is, that some things happened at the last moment...
- That is? Do tell me, come on...
He stopped, turned and stared into her eyes and then asked her - don't you notice something strange about me?
Rossella thought about it for a moment, then replied in the affirmative.
- A little… you look older… a little older than… usual. But what happened to you?
She took on a frightened expression, which frightened Roberto at the same time: it was the exact opposite of what he wanted to achieve.
- What are you hiding from me?
- Wait a minute - he told her, and pulled all the documents he had from his wallet in the hope of making her understand how things were.
- Driver's license? Aren't you turning eighteen in... five months? - Rossella objected looking at the driving license and, immediately after, the identity card.
- Look at the dates... - Roberto added.
- September 20, 1985… June 12, 1992… What is it? Are they part of the New Years's party games?
The frightened expression persisted, even if her words seemed to want to play down. Roberto wasn't convinced that the girl would understand quickly, but he began to explain to her that he was the "future" version of the person she knew, that the three of them had been victims of a strange leap in "time" and so on...
Under the light of one of the street lamps in Puys, Roberto's voice continued in the narration for almost half an hour. Rossella listened carefully: at the end, or rather, when Roberto paused for a long enough interval, she added only one simple "okay..."
There was another pause. Rossella was still holding Roberto's documents in her hand, and now she was examining them again.
"Let's sit down... on that small wall over there," she said, trying to gather ideas.
Then she continued.
- If that's the case... there's much more to this, right? - she said then.
- Yeah, of course... but, as I already told you, I can't tell you about it.
- Of course…
- But, to show you that I'm not lying to you, I can do something else.
- What is that? But look, it's not that I don't believe you... maybe you're just somehow... improvising...
Roberto thought for a moment about what he had done on the evening of December 30th, nine years earlier. He felt confident enough remembering that they hadn't had dinner before 8pm… and that in those late afternoon hours he, his friends, and the circle of friends from the mountain had been wandering around the village.
- Improvising? Well, I take that for a compliment! If I were improvising all of this with you, I'd be a great master of ceremonies... No, definitely no: and then, I repeat, I wouldn't try it with you.
- Yes, but... I mean, everything you're telling me is quite beautiful and interesting, but... I am stuck on the day we wished each other Merry Christmas and all the rest, last week...
- What did you just say? Stuck? That's right, you chose the right word: you were stuck at that moment, but now… come on, let's go back to town. I'll show you the Roberto you know.
Rossella was a bit skeptical. She wasn't incredulous: she trusted Roberto enough and hence what he had said so far looked rather real. However, it remained a certain skepticism towards this alleged "time travel" and the fundamental role that she would take in the lives of those two people.
But when the two passed by a group of friends telling jokes at a crossroads, Rossella had no further doubts.
- Listen carefully to the voices, and then try to watch them in detail… you'll spot me too. I'll turn the other way now.
- But...
She didn't have time to object: they crossed the group and she distinctly saw Roberto and then, despite having just met him, she recognized Sandro, in a slightly younger version.
And there were also Stefania, Francesca...
Their voices were the only concession that Roberto made to his own memories. Then he dismissed the case to devote himself to Rossella again.
- And you did remember exactly that you had been walking this street at this time? - she asked him.
- Well, not with this precision, but roughly, yes...
- I didn't know you had this kind of memory...
- I'd state that I've been developing it in the years that followed, if I have to be honest.
Rossella remained silent for a while, pensive...
- Stuck... You mean that my life... is already written, how to say... and from what you've told me, you know it?
- I'm not even sure what I'm saying... but I think I can't confirm anything. Yes, it would seem that you are here and there at the same time, nine years from now, where we come from and… in all the other places you will be and have been.
- No, okay… don't go any further… I don't want to hear more.
- Me too, I think as you do... and then, even if my life will be influenced by these days spent here, I want at least to avoid yours being too... Maybe tomorrow... or in a few days, you'll gradually forget what I told you and you'll live your life normally...
- Why should I forget? It could be an element that will enrich my life...
“Remarkable, as always”… Roberto thought, while making, with his own head, an affirmative gesture.

In a short time the two had reached the car, where Sandro and Giorgio were waiting for them.
Rossella went up to Sandro and stared at him for a moment. The latter turned to Roberto and asked him if he was all right.
Roberto nodded his head in the affirmative. At which, almost at the same time, Sandro and Rossella exclaimed - is it really you? - and immediately afterwards they laughed.
Roberto explained to Sandro that they had crossed paths with the "others" on the way, at which he couldn't refrain from pointing out that "in the end, he had done that..."
- What did he do? - asked Rossella.
- Nothing... nothing, you'll find it out by yourself in the... months to come - Sandro replied, smiling at Roberto's address.
- That's true…
It was now nine o'clock, and the last train to Turin would soon leave.
The four headed to the station.
- I'm a bit worried about letting you go to Turin alone... - Roberto said, in agreement with the other two.
- No, don't you worry about me, you've got to find your way home. At least I know where to go, while you are still suspended... - Rossella answered.
Then she continued, while Sandro and Giorgio confabulated in a low voice - and then... I certainly arrived home safe and sound, your story does confirm it, right?
- Yes, you're also right... but don't get too involved with theories about time... - Roberto answered, smiling.
They entered the waiting room and placed themselves on two benches facing each other.
Everyone's mood, including the girl, had definitely improved.
- Theories… no, don't worry, Robi… But… by the way, tell me what I am like, in ten years? - Rossella asked, with a hint of typically feminine curiosity. None of the three boys had thought about what to answer if anyone asked these kinds of questions about the future.
- Is that part of the things we're not allowed to say, Robi? - Sandro asked.
- Huh... boh? No, I think it can be said that you are... more or less the same as you are now...
- Physically or as a character? - she urged.
- Both of them, I'd say... is it true, Sandro? Giorgio didn't know you… that is, he won't know you, by that time… we can tell you this… anyway we won't tell you what his surname is!
Sandro confirmed. Meanwhile, he heard the train crossing being activated.
- The train is coming - Giorgio pointed out, suppressing a sudden yawn.
- You don't want to let anything out, I can understand... Okay... - the girl replied. Then she continued: - But how comes, I didn't leave together with you for… where did you say you are going… to Paris?
It was another question they weren't prepared for. Roberto began to answer her, but then he thought he had perceived what the girl was thinking about, since she wasn't taking her eyes off him.
- Sometimes... sometimes things go differently... from how it looks... or how we would like to... - Roberto said, vaguely proud of having found this twist of words to condense their nine years of friendship and affection. He strengthened his mood when he caught Sandro's gaze giving him a nod of approval.
Nobody noticed that Rossella's face was suddenly saddened.

After a while the train was heard and the four stepped out onto the station platform.
The first to take leave of Rossella was Giorgio, followed by Sandro. It was then Roberto's turn, who took her hand and gave her a kiss on her cheek.
They both noticed that the hands clenched very tightly.
Then they broke up.
It wasn't cold that evening.
Even though everything was soon covered with snow, it wasn't cold at all.

 Chapter 14

Immediately after taking Federica home, Roberto drove his car to his own place and arrived there in a few minutes.
"Finally", he thought, "we're back". At that moment he felt above all tired and had a very strong desire to see again his home, his parents, his friends... It crossed his mind that he should've told an incredible story to many people, but then, given the tiredness , dismissed the idea.

* * *

The vacation in Paris had taken place on a regular basis, quite the opposite of the science fiction premise that had seen the three friends mending some tears of their past.

Caught by a sudden revulsion for Beaulard, as soon as Roberto, Sandro and Giorgio realized they had returned to their time, they decided to leave immediately for Paris.
- Let's just go away immediately... - Sandro had said as he had been sure that everything was back to the proper shape. He hadn't even bothered to verify that what had happened in the last few minutes actually meant returning to their time.
After Rossella had vanished, the three had been seized by a moment of panic, then they had gathered courage and, sensing (and hoping) that what Roberto's theory had foreseen was happening, they had gone looking for clues to confirm this feeling. They had done the most obvious thing: they had gone back to the hotel and... it could not be found!
- Luckily we remembered to get our papers back this morning, huh, guys? - said Giorgio, after having checked that he had his ID card with him.
At that point, they entered the pub and sat down at a table. The restaurant was in typical mountain style, furnished in wood: the walls there fitted with some screens and loudspeakers.
- There's a newspaper on that table... or am I wrong? There is a crazy smoke in this place - Sandro said after a few minutes they were there, turning to Roberto who was sitting quite close to the next table. He took the paper, which was indeed a newspaper, and read the date.
- ...December 1993. Well, guys, we're back! - he exclaimed.
Impulse was to immediately order a drink to celebrate, but at that moment Sandro got up and convinced the others to do the same.
- Do you want to leave immediately for Paris? - Giorgio asked him.
- I would say yes... I can't stand it anymore, in here.
- I can understand you - Roberto went on. He made his way to the exit, but then went back to the table where the paper was sitting and reread the date.
- Here it says December 29th, 1993: I though I'd spotted that, but I wasn't sure...
- What do you mean? - Giorgio asked him.
- I don't know if it is from today, this newspaper... but, if so, it means that we came back a day earlier. Today... I mean earlier this afternoon... it was the 30th, wasn't it?
- Yes, I think so... if you don't know, you who never get confused about dates... - said Giorgio.
But in a short time they had the answer to their questions: on one of the screens the opening theme of a night news program was displayed, and date and time stood out on it. It was actually the 29th.
- So, if we leave now, we'll arrive in the morning and we still have time to meet the girls - continued Sandro. Roberto could only hint at a "that's curious..."
The idea had sounded good to all three, so they walked to the car, hoping it was still in its place.
- If the car is still there, it means that everything is in order... that everything is as before - Giorgio had observed.
But Roberto had immediately contradicted him. - It's not so sure. Something could've happened in Turin, at home, to the girls... we can't know until we call. - His mind went back to Federica, and this time he thought about how she must have felt in those days.
- They must have been searching for us in the residence in Paris, not hearing from us. Who knows what a mess it has been... Maybe they haven't even left.
Based upon these considerations, both Sandro and Giorgio agreed that it was better to try and call the girls' homes and, while they were there, their families as well. Of course, immediately after finding the car...

The Golf was actually in its place: just after the start of that dirt road heading to the woods... the only detail was that the thick bushes covering it the previous day had disappeared. "Yes", thought Roberto, "they were the bushes from nine years ago... they'll have cut them down." Paying more attention, he noticed that there was much more snow on the side of the road than he had noticed in those days. All this reinforced him the feeling that everything was back to normal.
They immediately set route for the Frejus tunnel.
In a square in Bardonecchia they stopped at the telephone booths. The first to call were Sandro and Giorgio. Then it was Roberto's turn. "'cause", he thought, "an hour more or less makes no difference: she'll be quarrelling a lot anyway, because I didn't call her... Damn... but what can we tell her... If, at least, we had been back two days earlier..."
Sandro seemed to be discussing quite calmly with the person on the other end of the phone, and the same was for Giorgio.
After a while Sandro hung up the receiver. He turned to his friends with a tone of someone who is about to make a brief summary of the previous episodes. - Well: Laura's mom says they left just before dinner tonight. They had an appointment at the station at eight, and they already had the tickets because Federica went to get them for all three yesterday... or today... I didn't understand exactly...
Roberto was surprised, however pleasantly, to hear this news. Giorgio claimed to have heard the same positive feedback from his mother, a few minutes earlier. Then Sandro went on.
- Our families are fine, as always, and nothing in particular has happened in our absence. Obviously, I have been careful not to say that we are still in Italy like, I think you too, Giò - he said, turning to his friend, who nodded. - We'll think about it when we meet the girls again, what can I say. The most shocking detail is that we have lived in the past three nights and three days, but we have returned to our age today which is the 29th... so we have practically gained a day. What do you think, Roberto?
Roberto was trying to arrange these last details in the context of this crazy story. He interrupted his ruminations at Sandro's question.
- But didn't she ask you anything about our absence? She didn't tell you anything... Who did you talk to?
- I talked to my mother and Laura's mother and... nothing, they just asked me how we were, if everything was okay. No, Laura's mother asked me absolutely nothing in reference to her last days: she's a much calmer and less painful lady than her daughter...
- How strange... - Roberto only said. - So, no one cared, that for three... no, two days we didn't let ourselves show up.
- Well, no, - Giorgio intervened - at Emanuela's they were quite worried and...
- Ah, look, this one at least... It amazes me anyway why we returned a day earlier...
- Well... let's just say it's not important. We will surely find the answers to these questions in some time, right, guys? - Giorgio added. - And now, how about heading to Paris?
Both Sandro and Roberto agreed with him. The three of them walked towards the Golf and after a few minutes they left for their journey.

* * *

As it had been planned in Turin, the journey lasted about eight hours, and was very comfortable. The three boys turned onto the highway just after the Frejus tunnel and drove at full speed throughout the night.
The line-up was the original one again: Roberto at the wheel, Sandro at his side and Giorgio on the back seat. The three boys were feeling rather tired, but no one was sleepy at the moment. The events of the last few days still swirled in their minds, yet no one could find words to comment.
Silence reigned in the car for over two hours. As they approached Lyon, it was the most obvious question to disturb the atmosphere.
- Guys... but did you choose not to have dinner tonight? - Giorgio asked.
His voice drove several decibels over the soft music that was playing from Roberto's car stereo. Roberto and Sandro turned towards their friend at the same time and smiled.
- Do you know you're right? I promise I'll be stopping at the next motorway service - said Roberto.
- But what's the time? Sandro asked, stretching. - Ah, see... it's almost four o'clock... Basically we'll have breakfast rather than dinner.
- It was an experience that I would call remarkable, wasn't it, guys? - Giorgio then pointed out. - Am I wrong, or we all have been thinking about the same thing for hours?
Roberto began to murmur something, then raised his voice and said: - Yeah... I was thinking about everything we did, what we said... In particular, another detail concerning the lady of the hotel came to mind....
He became hesitant. - I mean, but I could also have been conditioned by what happened, that I seem to remember that the lady who welcomed me and Sandro in 1985 acted as if she already knew us... - He then turned to Sandro: - what do you think?
Sandro wasn't very convinced of this possibility. - But... here you are the one who has the most reliable memories, so I defer to you.
While mulling over this idea, Roberto spotted a motorway restaurant and soon he drove the car to its parking place. That thought stood stuck in his mind throughout the whole holiday.

In the early morning the three finally managed to enter the hotel. The thought of having to justify themselves in front of the three girls had been put aside by everyone, even by Giorgio, in comparison with the incredible adventure they had been protagonists of. But now it appeared in its complexity.
They had hoped to arrive at the hotel anyway before the girls, at least to save the appearance: for the rest, each one, in his heart, was working out an acceptable excuse.
However, fate had decided to give them a hand, because Roberto, Sandro and Giorgio actually had time to settle down and freshen up, before a phone call made its way to the room: it was Federica!
Giorgio had answered the phone, because he knew French better and was therefore able to understand the clerk from the hotel who called the room to pass the phone call. Then, realizing that she was his friend's girlfriend, he greeted her happily as usual and tried to appear as natural as possible.
Hearing who was on the other side of the phone, Roberto shivered and became very restless. He had only a few moments to choose mentally, among the myriad excuses formulated during the trip, the most suitable... or, ultimately, he could have told the truth, but he could not... not on the phone, at least.
But fate was kind to him again. After the warm greetings, Federica said to him: - you know, we understood why we couldn't contact you at the hotel... They changed telephone and fax numbers during the holidays, and so... Now, here at the station we have managed to get the new number: how about picking us up here at Gare de Lyon?
Roberto smiled at the unexpected luck. - Ah, we could not imagine that they were going to change numbers right now... How crazy: and we haven't actually noticed. I'm sorry you worried about us... in fact we too were really idiots not to call you... Only... it took us longer than it should to arrive and then we spent the days talking about us... really. I'm sorry, Fede...
- No, don't worry, it was only Laura who made a bit of a mess... - There was a scream in the handset, and Federica's voice drifted away for a moment. She then went on: - here she goes, this is the story of Sandro and Beaulard starting again... it's really heavy, when you get into it.
Roberto smiled, turning to Sandro. - So, we are waiting for you... Hurry up... - Federica continued. And then she added, in a lower tone, - I can't wait to see you again.
Roberto answered the most sincere thing that crossed his mind, that is, - me too... you can't even imagine how much... - and immediately realized that a sentence like that could trigger a whole series of questions that, for the moment, he'd have preferred to avoid. The happiness of having heard from his girlfriend again, however, made him quickly get past this apprehension.
Within three quarters of an hour Roberto and Sandro went to and from the station and so the girls were finally able to settle in the hotel.

In the four days that followed, harmony reigned firmly between the six characters.
Sandro's cold lasted another couple of days, then it went away. It seemed that Laura had initially been infected, but it was just an hint.
The weather wasn't very mild and it often snowed, while the temperature remained permanently around zero degrees. The six friends spent a good deal of their time in the residence and, although the streets of Paris were quite warm and cosy, walking ended up being quite critical.
In particular, for New Year's Eve, they decided to start with the dinner organized by the hotel; they stayed up to the toast and then Roberto suggested the idea of going for a walk outside: even if the hotel wasn't exactly at the heart of the city, a walk among people celebrating would certainly have been pleasant. And so they did, even if after a little over two hours the girls began to point out that cold temperature was becoming unbearable: the boys agreed and soon everyone went back to the room.
A few more days... and the holiday came to an end. In the late afternoon of Monday, Sandro and Laura decided that they would be the couple returning by train, leaving Giorgio and his girlfriend to drive home with Roberto and Federica.

* * *

The fear of losing Federica had made Roberto even more affectionate than usual, and this was much appreciated by the girl. Accompanying her home, after they had brought home Giorgio and Emanuela together, he realized that for the first time he was not going to sleep with her, since he had returned from... 1984. The two stopped for a long time to talk, hugging each other in the warm car. The holiday had gone well, between them but above all between Sandro and Laura, who hadn't been quarreling even once.
Roberto had avoided as much as possible the topic concerning the first two days of their trip, hoping that Federica would refrain from asking him for details and that she would appreciate his attention.
In fact, when he had discovered that no one had been worried about their missed phone calls for a precise choice of Laura, he had praised the willpower of the girls and had thanked the fate that had safeguarded their "mission" like this.
He had then hoped that Federica was not to connect all those little details: their rather vague stories about the first two days, Sandro's changed behavior, certain jokes the three had exchanged with great circumspection.
She had actually noticed several curious and strange things in the behavior of the three boys. But seeing that Roberto felt convinced of the explanations he had given, Federica had chosen not to ask for anything else: she took for granted the positive implications of these changes. “Someday”, she thought, “he'll tell me everything, as always”. She couldn't even imagine what Roberto was eager to tell her.

* * *

There was obviously another person that Roberto wanted to meet, since he had returned from the past. He wanted to see Rossella again and the main difference from others was that he could talk to her about that, now ancient, evening in Beaulard.
"If it is as I believe and if I did understand something about this time travel", he thought, "she should remember that she came to us after finding the note and the discussion with the three of us, who at some point upset her, telling her that we came from the future... A bit like the owner of the hotel... However, these facts could also belong to another reality..." But something was escaping him...
He let a few days pass and then decided to call Rossella. Not knowing what exactly she'd been doing on those holidays, he had chosen to wait until at least 7th or 8th of January. He also felt rather embarrassed, as if he was about to call a person he hardly knew and not his closest friend.
On the other hand the call was quite cordial, just as he hoped.
- Hi, Robi! So, are you back at last?
- Heh, yeah... we're back here. But look, we have been in Turin for almost a week already... And you... you too didn't call... what have you been done, anything interesting?
- I went to the mountains, from 31st to 3rd, in Trentino... with a friend of mine and a part of her group... We had a lot of fun: there were those who skied, those who danced... a really nice group. They avoided me regretting the trip to Paris at all... well, almost at all...
- Ah, I was in fact wondering... - Roberto intervened, with a jokingly annoyed tone.
- Anyway, as you may have noticed... I was not allowed to come with you anyway...
Roberto didn't immediately expect a reference to that story. He was frozen for a moment, then answered his friend. - T-then it really went like this... that night... nine years ago you saw me up in Beaulard and then...
He thought back to that moment. Rossella started talking again, as Roberto realized a thought that previously, inexplicably, had escaped him. It had been a full week for him, but for her, in linear existence, nearly ten years had passed... And so, it had happened for real to her that, at the age of sixteen, she had met her friend, several years older than usual, and that he came from the future... Even Roberto's mnemonic mind began to show signs of uncertainty.
- But you, then... did you always know... that one day I would go on a trip and meet you in the past... and you never said anything to me?
Rossella was about to begin a series of considerations on that matter, but when she saw that Roberto looked angry at having been kept in the dark, she answered firmly: - nothing? Sorry, but I feel a little belittled. You always told me I'm your closest friend... I thought I was worth a little more than nothing. What happened that day was an incredible experience to me... I don't know if you can understand me. Three guys, including one with whom I was beginning to have a fantastic friendship, came to me... to tell me something incredible, basically to ask for help from a girl only in her sixteen. And when you later announced to me that within a few months we would become great friends, I felt in seventh heaven. You gave me a chance to feel really important...
Rossella paused. - But if you mean that I never told you what was awaiting you... well, you'll agree with me that I just could not. It was you who warned me about such issues.
Roberto stood still and listened to his friend's story. She was completely right and he felt really happy to have a friend like her. Yet some things still seemed obscure to him.
- I... I think I owe you a lot, Rossella...
- Don't worry, Robi, you've been were very close to me, when things didn't go well...
- Yes, sure... of course... - he replied, but he had no clear ideas at all. Only one thought managed to pop up from that whirlwind that was currently taking place in Roberto's head. - I'd just like to understand if you actually remember what happened to me last week as an event from 1984... I mean, are you sure it's not a memory that happened to be... how could I say... grafted in a second... time... by some kind of traveler...
- I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to say, Robi... - Rossella interrupted him. - I only know that I remember well that you and your friends told me you came from the future, yes... but this happened nine years ago. And you were exactly as you are now, as I saw you last fall, before Christmas. And above all, all my memories from these years are consistent with what I have been thinking from then until today, until just before you left, ten days ago.
Roberto went no further. There and then, it looked like another one of those tricks due to time, his old enemy. In this case, however, it had served to re-establish the foundations of his friendship with Sandro, and therefore there was no need to investigate further.
Whatever else had been altered in his life by other time travelers, it was fine like this: his best friends and Federica were in their place and this gave him immense happiness.

 Appendix

Feelings you get when inventing a story is extraordinary: facts are invented, a world is created that is exclusively our offspring. And then, there is the weirdness of talking about yourself with another name.

G.Dar 01/07/1991

To the girl who convinced me, with her suggestions, to continue writing this and other stories. To Federica C.

G.Dar 22/1/1995

The book is actually a figment of my imagination... but it drew heavily from my world!
The facts narrated in this story are based upon the relationships between me and some of my friends over the course of ten years of life. In particular I would like to remember Marco P. and Davide D. between 1990 and 1991, and our respective girlfriends from those years.
As for ideas about work, life and "everything", the reference is instead to the following years, between 1992 and 1995.
Almost all theories about time and explanations about events are inspired by "Star Trek", as well as many idioms of the protagonists. There are also clues from "Back to the future".

G.Dar, 28/6/1995

At a certain point I lost sight of the "philosophical" sense of the story... and I dedicated myself more decisively to caring about the descriptions, the situations, the dialogues.
Another thing that seemed difficult to me was describing feelings, and habits, of the female characters.

To Daniela “Federica” T., who when I started writing this story I thought would be the last person I would dedicate it to... and instead I made her become the little heroine of this story.

G.Dar, 15/11/1995