Read The Human Body for Free Online Page B

you’re one of those southerners who’ve never put on a pair of skis.”
    â€œNo. I ski.”
    â€œGood for you. Of course, I have nothing against southerners. Some of them are good people. But naturally, to call them Alpines is a different story. They’re suited to these rotten deserts. They’re used to it. Me, on the other hand, I’d give my right arm to go back to the mountains and ski all winter long. Ahhh! I tell myself each time, This year I’m devoting all my time to skiing, but then something always gets in the way. Last year my wife tripped on a curb and I found myself having to be her nurse. A depressing experience. From the windows I gazed at the Tofane Mountains with their white blanket of snow, and I would have climbed them on foot just to be able to ski back down. I would have come down on my ass. This year I won’t even see the snow. A waste of time, a waste of life. Especially at your age. Anyway. Are you really sure you want to stay?”
    â€œI’m sure, Colonel.”
    â€œI hope it’s not because of some kind of missionary spirit. They told me about that kid you saved, you know. The opium smoker. Congratulations. A touching story.” He mulls it over. “But we aren’t missionaries, remember that. We’re commandos. We like to play with guns, and preferably use them.”
    â€œIt’s for the money,” Egitto lies.
    The colonel rubs his jaw thoughtfully. “Money is always a good reason.”
    The Little Trees fresheners flutter crazily in front of the air conditioner’s jet, giving off a cloying aroma. Egitto is beginning to feel nauseated.
    Ballesio points to him. “That thing on your face. Will it go away?”
    Egitto sits up straighter in his chair. He pictures the pattern of blotches on his face. It changes every day, like an atmospheric disturbance, and he keeps an eye on it as if he were a meteorologist. By now he knows how each area will behave: the cheeks heal quickly, the skin around the lips is painful, the scaly eyebrows disturb people, the ears are a disaster. “Sometimes it improves. A little. With the sun, for instance.”
    â€œIt doesn’t seem like it. It makes you look like a mess. No offense.”
    Egitto grabs onto his belt. All of a sudden he feels very hot.
    â€œI have a problem too,” Ballesio says. He loosens the collar of his uniform. “Here. Look at this. There are spots, right? They itch like hell. Does your stuff itch?”
    Egitto goes around the desk to examine the colonel’s neck. A slight rash follows the edge of the uniform. Red pustules, tiny as pencil marks. “It’s just a rash. I have some calendula cream.”
    â€œCalendula? What the fuck is that? Don’t you have any cortisone?”
    â€œYou don’t need cortisone.”
    â€œIt makes me feel better right away. Bring me the cortisone. You should try it up there as well, Lieutenant.”
    â€œThanks for the advice, Colonel.”
    He returns to his seat, puts his hands on his knees. The colonel straightens his jacket.
    â€œSo, then, you’ll be staying with us,” he says. “If it were me, they’d have to pay me a ton of money to make me hang around here. Anyway. Your business. A real doctor will come in handy for us. Your colleague Anselmo can barely manage with stitches. I’ll communicate your decision today, Lieutenant.”
    Egitto requests permission to leave.
    â€œOne more thing, Doctor.”
    â€œSir.”
    â€œIs it true what they say about the roses?”
    â€œWhat’s that?”
    â€œThat in the spring the valley is filled with roses.”
    â€œI’ve never seen them, Colonel.”
    Ballesio sighs. “I thought so. Of course. Why should roses grow in such a horrible place?”

Sand
    F or Ietri everything is new and interesting. He studies the strange terrain from the helicopter, the rocky plains interrupted here and there by