Chapter Text
Isola del mare has always been a topic of conversation for the residents of Portorosso. There was a tower built there a long time ago, but no one knew why. Now the tower is a crumbled tall mess. The elders of the town like to tell stories to the children about how the island was once underwater and was a home to sea monsters. Other people say that the place is haunted and that they can see a light from the top of the tower and someone screaming at night. The fishermen of the town often would ride by it during the day to see if they could see anyone on the island or to catch some fish. But they never saw anything out of the ordinary on the island. And even though the island had many great places that fish would like to hide, they could never catch anything near it.
Giulia was obsessed with this island. She would often talk about it with her father, Massimo, while they ate dinner. But during the day, Giulia was busy delivering fish for her Father’s Pescheria and catching fish with him in the boat when the deliveries were done. When she wasn’t helping her father, she would train for the Portorosso Cup. She didn’t have any friends in town, but she wanted to win so she could make her mark on Portorosso.
But once again, even after training all summer long, she lost the competition. With the competition over, that meant Giulia would have to start packing to move back to Genova with her mother. Massimo loved his daughter and it saddened him to see her go. But he knew that she had to go back to her mother, her friends, and to her school.
After dropping Giulia off at the train station and saying his goodbyes, he went back to his quiet home with his beloved cat, Machiavelli. He sat and ate dinner by himself, listening to the soft breaths of Machiavelli. As he got into bed, he faced the window, took a deep breath, and reminded himself that Giulia would be back soon enough and that he would be getting letters from her in a few days. She loved to send him photos of her adventures at school and of her friends. Her letters were always filled with stories. She had so much to say. But Massimo never really knew how to reply to her. He of course would write back to her, but his letters were short and were always about the Pescheria and the recent news articles from Portorosso.
As he laid in bed, Massimo saw the island that Giulia was so obsessed about. He thought about her big smile every time she talked about it. He recalled the way her red curls bounced up and down when she got excited thinking about the theories of the tower. Massimo loved his daughter so much, but he reminded himself that he needed to get some sleep since he will be doing all of the work at the Pescheria by himself.
Massimo drifted into sleep and dreamed of his daughter making friends in Portorosso and studying hard in the small school here. He dreamed of seeing his wife who lived in Genova moving back to Portorosso. He dreamed of his small family living together under one roof in the small Italian town. But Massimo woke up just before he was about to hug his family in his dream. He looked into the darkness and was reminded that he was alone. He turned to the clock and saw that it was still early in the morning. He laid quietly with the dream lingering in his head. Massimo looked out the window, sighed, and decided that it was time to get the day started. He fixed himself a small cup of espresso and read the giornale from the day before. There was an article about a recent sea monster sighting. Massimo grew up in this small town and heard all of the stories and legends about the sea monsters in the area. He never truly believed the elders in town, but he always had it in the back of his mind. Especially when Giulia was home and would talk about Isola del Mare. Massimo cut the article out of the giornale and pinned it up next to the stove.
After finishing his drink, Massimo gathered his fishing supplies and started to head out to his small boat. He fumbled with the rope to untie the boat for a few minutes since it was hard to see with no sunlight and because he only had one arm. After untying the boat he set off to the sea. He waved good morning to a few of the fishermen that were coming into the harbor from night fishing. As Massimo collected all of his nets he was slowly drifting towards the island. He stood up tall to stretch his back and wiped his hand on his shirt. He thought about the stories and his daughter’s theories for a moment. He looked up and saw the tower’s outline thanks to the small rays of light peeking out from the horizon. As he drifted closer to the island he saw a small flickering light. Massimo rubbed his eyes with his arm thinking he was imagining it. But when he looked up again he saw the light, it was from the top of the old tower. He looked around and knew he had more work to do and would come back later. He didn’t want to be part of the stories that the elders told. At least, not yet. He had work to finish and he wasn’t prepared. As he gathered the last of his nets he looked at the small amount of fish he was able to catch. He sighed and paddled the boat to new areas to try to catch some more fish. By the time he put the last net into the water the sun was in full view. He sat and enjoyed the warmth of the sun on his skin and the way the light glistened in the water. He looked at his beautiful town as the sun lit it up. He looked back towards the island and noticed that there was black smoke drifting in the air above the trees. He wasn’t imagining it! There was a fire on the island!
Massimo made up his mind and paddled towards the island. He was going to find out the truth of the island for Giulia. So that when the letters started to pool in he could have something more interesting to write about for her. He was so close to the island that if he got out of his boat, he could walk right up on the shore. But before he could bring his boat up onto the rocky shore something in the trees caught his eye. It was a little boy!