“Each daybreak for a week, we crept out of our dark basement, towards the magic of the river. In my excitement to follow Elisabetta, I barely slept.

‘You look like a fish with your mouth open like that,’ barked Signora Rossi, exasperated by my constant yawning in class. The other children took to following me, pretending to swim with pouting mouths. For once, their taunting didn’t sting. After being called dumb for my many embarrassing mistakes, and giraffa, on account of my never-ending legs and long neck, ‘pesce’ seemed mild.

‘Ignore them,’ said Elisabetta, linking her arm in mine. They soon shied away when Elisabetta was around, not knowing how to be around the little girl with her otherworldly air, beloved of Sister Beatrice, and Signora Rossi’s star pupil. She was the only person ever with me.”

From ‘Broken Madonna– included in the showcase