WILD BOAR EYE
A novel in twelve episodes
By Luís Carmelo
(transl. Bernardo Palmeirim)

FIFTH EPISODE
(Almost vitreous this certainty, so unmovable)

Rui switched foots, felt his muscles purr about a remote sprain, placed his hand on his chin and rekindled the by then long dialogue:

“But listen, as we were saying, why didn’t you leave town during those hard times?”
“You know, I worked on this project for about ten years. And no matter how many obstacles appeared before me, I always said to myself that one must attain one’s goals. And… as you must have gathered, I’m pretty stubborn. I may have many flaws, but I persevere.”
“It never occurred to you to bail out?”
“No.”
“Not even when they tried to accuse you of lying in a scientific paper?”
“Much less then. The truth is the vaccine was certainly not in the best interest of a lot of nicely settled people. It would solve a lot; too much. And you can’t begin to imagine what nestled interests are like.”
“But they got what they wanted, right?.. They took advantage of your discoveries and came up with a new vaccine as if they’d made it themselves.”
“This isn’t the end of it, believe me. This story doesn’t end here, you can be sure of that. And she that laughs last, laughs best, I assure you.” She rose her dark glasses with her fingertip, a long fourth crescent shaped fingernail, red, sanguine. Almost vitreous this certainty, so unmovable.

(Next episode of Wild Boar Eye: “And here, in this nothingness near the top of the vast canyon, the only thing left is the big evening star that seems to want to come down and touch the globe’s lonely ceiling with a thread of silk.”)

Continues