The Visitor: A Winter Tale

By Fabrizio Frosini

A bit of science fiction in a story set in northern British Columbia. In describing 'Paradise Valley', the author had in mind the vast area of the Spatsizi, the Skeenas and Atna Range (with a reference to Shedin Peak, the highest summit there), but for the forests he also had in mind the wonderful forests of Moresby Island (Gwaii Haanas) —a world apart. This is a story for those who love Mistery and Nature.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fabrizio Frosini
• Release date: Oct 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463618189

Fabrizio Frosini

Author and Publisher — Born in Tuscany, Italy, and currently living close to Florence and Vinci, Leonardo's hometown. Doctor in Medicine, specialized in Neurosurgery, with an ancient passion for Poetry, he is the Author of over 2,000 poems published in 20 personal books. Frosini writes in Italian, his native language, and English. He is the founder of the International Association "Poets Unite Worldwide," with which he has published over 50 Anthologies. Among his own books: «The Chinese Gardens - English Poems», «Prelude to the Night», «Anita Quiclotzl & Her Souls - Anita Quiclotzl e le Sue Anime» (Bilingual Ed.) [for the others, see below].~*~Books published as sole Author:(*BE*: Bilingual Editions, English–Italian ; All books have PAPERBACK and EBOOK Editions)– «The Chinese Gardens – English Poems» – English Ed. – (published also in Italian Ed.:– «I Giardini Cinesi» – Edizione Italiana);– «KARUMI – Haiku & Tanka» – Italian Ed.;– «Allo Specchio di Me Stesso» ('In the Mirror of Myself') – Italian Ed.;– «Il Vento e il Fiume» ('The Wind and the River') – Italian Ed.;– «A Chisciotte» ('To Quixote') – Italian Ed.;– «Il Puro, l'Impuro – Kosher/Treyf» ('The pure, the Impure – Kosher / Treyf') – Italian Ed.;– «Frammenti di Memoria – Carmina et Fragmenta» ('Fragments of Memories') – Italian Ed.;– «La Città dei Vivi e dei Morti» ('The City of the Living and the Dead') – Italian Ed.;– «Nella luce confusa del crepuscolo» ('In the fuzzy light of the Twilight') – Italian Ed.;– «Limes —O La Chiave Dei Sogni» ('The Key to Dreams') – Italian Ed.;– «Echi e Rompicapi» ('Puzzles & Echoes') – Italian Ed.;– «Ballate e Altre Cadenze» ('Ballads and Other Cadences') – Italian Ed.;– «Selected Poems – Επιλεγμένα Ποιήματα – Poesie Scelte» – Greek–English–Italian (Αγγλικά, Ελληνικά, Ιταλικά – Greek translation by Dimitrios Galanis);– «Prelude to the Night – English Poems» – English Ed. (published also in Italian Ed.:– «Preludio alla Notte» – Edizione Italiana);– «A Season for Everyone – Tanka Poetry» – English Ed.;– «Evanescence of the Floating World – Haiku» – English Ed.;– «From the Book of Limbo – Dal Libro del Limbo» – *BE*;– «Anita Quiclotzl & Her Souls – Anita Quiclotzl e le Sue Anime» – *BE*.~*~Forthcoming publications:– «Mirror Games — A Tale» – English Edition (also in Italian Ed.:– «Giochi di Specchi — Un Racconto»);– «Il Sentiero della Luna» ('The Moon's Path') – Italian Edition.~*~Anthologies published by Fabrizio Frosini with "Poets Unite Worldwide"(*BE*: Bilingual Editions, English-Italian ; All books both in PAPERBACK and EBOOK)1. Poetry Collections:– 'At The Crossing Of Seven Winds' – English Ed.;– 'Nine Tales Of Creation' – English Ed.;– 'Scattering Dreams & Tales' – English Ed.;– 'We Are The Words – Siamo Parole' – *BE*;– 'Whispers to the World – Sussurri al Mondo" – *BE*;– 'How to write Poetry, A Handbook – Come scrivere Poesie, Manuale'– *BE*;– 'Poetry Against Terror'– English Ed.;– 'Poets Against Inequality'– English Ed.;– 'By Land & By Seas – Poetry for the Refugees' – English Ed.;– 'Voices without veils' – English Ed.;– 'Singing Together – Poems for Christmas' – English Ed.;– 'We All Are Persons – Why Gender Discrimination?' – English Ed.;– 'A Note, a Word, a Brush – Ode to the Arts' – English Ed.;– 'Seasons of the Fleeting World – Writing Haiku' – English Ed.;– 'Our Chains, Our Dreams' [Part One] – English Ed.;– 'Our Chains, Our Dreams' [Part Two] – English Ed.;– 'Our Chains, Our Dreams' [Part Three] – English Ed.;– 'Our Only World – Poetry for Planet Earth' – English Ed.;– 'Time to show up – Poetry for Democracy' – English Ed.;– 'Let's Laugh Together – Poems for Children' – English Ed.;– 'Moments of Lightness – Haiku & Tanka' – English Ed.;– 'United We Stand – Poets Against Terror' – English Ed.;– 'When Love is Bitter' – English Ed.;– 'From an Old Path – Contemporary European Poetry' – English Ed.;– 'Tunes from the Indian Subcontinent – Contemporary Poetry' – English Ed.;– 'Whispering to the Heart – Contemporary African Poetry' – English Ed.;– 'Hues of the World – Contemporary Poetry' – English Ed.;– 'The Sounds of America – Contemporary American Poetry' – English Ed.;– 'Fifty-six Female Voices of Contemporary Poetry' – English Ed.;– 'Homo Homini Lupus: Why To kill a Mockingbird?' – English Ed.;– 'Through Time, Through Space' – English Ed.;– 'Spring Songs' – English Ed.;– 'Summer Arias' – English Ed.;– 'Autumn Lullabies' – English Ed.;– 'Winter Melodies' – English Ed.;– 'The Four Seasons Poetry Concerto' – English Ed.;– 'The Feminine Heart of Poetry' – English Ed.;– 'Geography & Music of Poetry' – English Ed.;– 'Space of the Mind' – English Ed.;– 'From the Past to the Future' – English Ed.;– 'Abstract Life, Abstract Love' – English Ed.;– 'Born on a Full Moon — Senryū' – English Ed.;– 'About Abel & Cain —or The Best & Worst of Human Society' – English Ed.;– 'Poems from a Land of Wonders' – English Ed.;– 'One Step At A Time' – English Ed.;– 'About Love' – English Ed.;– 'The Moon & The Humans' – English Ed.;– 'Glimmers of Light–Guizzi di Luce' – T. Billsborough & F. Frosini – *BE*;– 'The Soprano of Sunlight–Luce di Soprano' – Billsborough, Frosini – *BE*;– 'The Double Door' by Daniel J. Brick & Fabrizio Frosini – English Ed.;2. Other Books (Ebook & Paperback Editions):– 'Essays on the World of Humans' – D.J. Brick & F. Frosini – English Edition.~*~Forthcoming publications:– 'Planet Earth in Danger — Poems' – English Edition;– 'Poetic Fantasies' – English Edition;– 'Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? — The wave of global protest' – English Edition;– 'Short Tales Extravaganza' – English Edition.~*~Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/poetsuniteworldwide/Website address:https://poetsuniteworldwide.org/Blog:https://poetsuniteworldwide.wordpress.com/Twitter username:@fabriziofrosini

Book preview

THE VISITOR

A Winter Tale

Fabrizio Frosini

~*~

The Visitor

A Winter Tale

Fabrizio Frosini

Copyright © 2020 Fabrizio Frosini

Published by Fabrizio Frosini at Smashwords

ISBN: 9780463618189

Cover: image from Pixabay.com, used under Creative Commons CC0

All rights reserved

This book remains the copyrighted property of the Author

This publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

~*~

~*~

with my eyes open

I see what I can of this

world of us — but

when they are shut a whole

universe opens up

Fabrizio Frosini, tanka

(in 'A Season for Everyone', 2019)

THE VISITOR

A WINTER TALE

I. ~ The Guardian of Paradise

II. ~ Spatsizi Plateau

III. ~ An amazing event

IV. ~ The Entity

V. ~ Bonnie's leap

VI. ~ The Hunt

Epilogue

CHAPTER ONE

The Guardian of Paradise

Winter Tale

"And snow crunches in the eyes, innocent, like clean bread"

(Osip Mandelstam) ¹.

In the winter of those eyes

Immutable

Eternal

—In a crystal of time

Trapped

I hang in the balance

Between the here and the afterlife

Waiting for myself

Thomas, from the top of the hill, observed that fairy landscape, so familiar to him. In the absolute whiteness of the snow, only his footprints betrayed perfection.

Although he was no longer young, even that cold morning he had got up at dawn and, braving the freezing temperature, had walked the usual three miles (about 5 km) at a firm pace, in the enchanted silence of the centenary fir forest. Following the path that he himself had traced over the years, he had first gone around the hill, up to the stream —now frozen on the surface— then, climbing to the top of the hill, he had re-approached the stately lodge where he lived. There it was: down there, among the trees, about a thousand feet (300 m) as the crow flies. Beyond the house, a little further south, lay the lake. That was the small segment of the universe that he called home: he had spent the last twenty years there, both in summer and in winter. In fact, he had only left the valley a few times, and always for a few days. The winters, in particular, passed in almost perfect isolation: a sort of five-month long quarantine for him and the few other permanent residents of the estate: a dozen forest keepers (rangers) and workers, plus the immediate families of some of them. Excepting from his main aide and the housekeeper, most days, in truth, Thomas saw very few other human beings. But when someone, usually a stranger, tried to make this situation of exclusion from the world the subject of conversation, he came out with a smile, simply saying he had a special talent for solitude —solitude interrupted only briefly, once a week, when Samuel, the grocer's nephew, from the village about six mile (10 km) away, brought him supplies, as well as the books he occasionally ordered. For nearly fifteen years, the grocer's brother, Noah, had been in charge of the weekly delivery, but since a bad accident made him lame, almost six years earlier, Samuel had taken on the task of home deliveries. In this way, the old hermit, as Samuel jokingly called him, got everything he needed —but in truth he didn't need much for his personal needs.

He had inherited lodge and land from an elderly uncle of his mother —the only relative left: a relative whom neither he nor his mother had ever met. He remembered well his surprise, over thirty years earlier, in receiving the news, through the letter of the executor. Indeed, he had been invited to the reading of the will, but at the time he was abroad, therefore he had taken possession of his new property only the following year. For nearly ten years, only a few times he had been able to travel to that paradise on earth. Then, a late afternoon twenty years earlier, after yet another profound disappointment, he realized that he could not take any more of his fellow men: at that exact moment he made the irrevocable decision to retire to that enchanted little universe. A decision he had never regretted.

But in truth his personal world was by no means small: the estate spanned over forty thousand hectares —about one hundred thousand acres, or around 155 square miles— of pristine forest,