Giovanni and The Penguin (EN)

This is Giovanni

This is Giovanni. Giovanni is a middle aged man born in a little southern village in Italy. Dark short beard, bony cheeks, tanned skin, round and small frameless glasses. Giovanni always wears a red wool beanie so people never know if he's actually bald. That adds some mysteriousness to his persona - he seems to enjoy that.

But there's something odd about him. He looks taller than he should. That's because he keeps his gaze way too low for his stature. The reason for that is that Giovanni used to be a bodybuilder for many years. But it all changed one day when he saw a black and white photograph of a penguin in an old furniture magazine. This penguin in particular was used in an ad to announce a new brand of cold lemon-based drinks. He was obsessed with those tuxedo-dressed birds from that very first moment. Hence, he decided to drop everything to become an explorer and see them in real life. He also decided to start drinking lemon-based cold drinks - even if he hated lemon. Almost twenty years have passed since then, and stopping to lift heavy weights has made his body sprout upwards. As if the weights were holding it down. But Giovanni still acts as if he's lower than he is. Maybe that's why he has not yet seen a penguin during these almost last twenty years. If you never raise your sight you might miss anything that's more than three meters away from your feet.

This is The Penguin

This is the penguin. Penguins don't have names so I will just call him penguin. That would be confusing if he was within a group of penguins, as they can be very similar to the human eye. However, in this story this penguin was alone so it is not important. Although if you still feel sad that the penguin does not have a name in this story you may choose one for him - Hugo is a good candidate, he has the face of a penguin called Hugo (in my opinion). However, don't expect me to call him anything else than penguin - that's only for your inner peace.

As most penguins, this penguin had black and white feathers. Very short and stiff, but feathers nonetheless - not fur as many people think. They are birds after all. This penguin was an Adélie penguin. Their beak is covered with black feathers leaving only the orange tip exposed. This species has a particular set of eyes. This penguin had bigger eyes than the average penguin. With a conspicuous white space around a black pitch iris. It's hard to stare at those eyes, there's something evil in them. Like two tiny black holes of concentrated mischievousness waiting for their next victim.

And that's all I can say about this penguin, because there's no more to say. It's just a penguin.

This is The Moment When Giovanni Met The Penguin

It's 1962 and Giovanni had gone out on his morning stroll in the Antarctic. He left the base early. As always, with his red beanie, a cold lemon-based drink and his gaze too low to see anything else than the icy ground.

A seventy-meter tall glacier. This is the place where Giovanni met the penguin. Hugo The penguin was standing close to the edge of the glacier. All alone. Looking at the infinite fog around him, wide eyes fully open, no blinking. Just waiting. Surrounded by the calm and cold morning.

Giovanni was walking on the glacier surface. His gaze too low to even see the sky. And suddenly the penguin appeared in his field of view. He was just standing there, alone. Looking back at him with his big left cartoony eye.

This is when Giovanni froze. It had been almost twenty years but the image on that old furniture magazine was still burned in his mind. And now he was seeing it in real life. He tried touching the penguin but the little creature flinched and stepped back. Giovanni followed him.

Seventy meters is a big fall. Enough to think about your life before you die in the cold water. Giovanni was just happy and even gave a grateful nod to the penguin. Of course, the penguin did not understand it at all and was left confused and unsatisfied.

They both splashed into the freezing water. One of them more gracefully than the other. Giovanni lost his red bennie and the lemon-based drink spilled next to his body.

Three things were discovered that day.

The first one is that penguins should not be trusted.

The second one is that Giovanni was not bald, he had in fact long and healthy dark hair - which sadly make him less mysterious.

The third and last one is that penguins do not like lemon-based drinks - even if they participate in their ad campaigns. Which is not surprising considering the first point.