The Giant Cloud
A novel in twenty episodes
By Luís Carmelo
(transl. Bernardo Palmeirim)

TWELVETH EPISODE
(Albe put the entire universe on hold...)

I saw in it the time of all or nothing, the zero hour. The exact time when I should crack my inertia, my chill and burden so as to express that decisive move, that unrepeatable gap that would break the weight of hesitation. But as I started, Albe moved faster with an almost pre-Raphaelite serenity and said, “If you think about it, problems begin when you finish your degree. It isn’t just a question of having a job and doing something - it’s mostly a question of motivation, or of having a special calling to follow a career as a lawyer, you see?” And I understood perfectly, and answered back joyfully, and was just about to greet her generous confession with a wise proposal when she left to sit at her parents’ table:
“Will I see you later, at the beach?” Albe put the entire universe on hold, silenced my answer, blushed slightly and, as she turned to face the aquarium by the breakfast room, quickly turned round and said:
“At Avuello, three o’clock. Ok?”
I had done it. Now all I had to do was destroy what remained of boredom and climb the tall ivory tower. Against my hopelessness. Then nothing would be as it was, the stars confessed, as did the sea, and my most secret cloud.
“What cloud?”

(Next episode of The Giant Cloud:“When I went back to that Portugal which still reeked of fado and lost myths, I felt the need to tell my story to no matter whom…”)

Continues

(see here portuguese updated version)