"Lugano from the top", seen by Mark, the Forgotten

For my english class we have been asked to choose a name, match it with an adjective that reflects his/her personality, then pick a place we know very well (bedroom, favorite bar, car, ...). Finally, describe in details the place we chose from our character's point of view. Of course, if the adjective is "happy" everything will appear nice and joyful, while if the adjective is "sad" the result will be the opposite.

The setting for my description is "Lugano from the top", Lugano is my hometown in Switzerland and this place is my favorite, on the top of a hill you can see the city, the lake, the mountains, in complete relax. However, my character is Mark, the Forgotten...

There we are: Lugano, Switzerland, seen from the top of the hill at sunset. Everybody says it is the most beautiful spot to be. What it really looks like though, is nothing but a bunch of houses and meaningless buildings set one next to the other, like Domino’s pieces, ready to fold up with the first earthquake. Even those pale lights on the side of the grey and asphalted strip reflect the sadness of this boring town.

         So what is special about this place? The lake? That little pond full of green and smelly water where all you can see on a scuba dive is just some dead bodies of people who decided to do at least one good thing with their lives? Or maybe that huge casino with its sparkling lights, bright enough to scream their hunger, hunger for money; with its loyal customers, heavy smokers driven by the gambling addiction or more likely by the 30 years younger prostitute they met at the nightclub.

         But they say: “You have to get off the car and stand on the top of the hill!”. Okay, let’s stand; but how can you stand on a flat piece of ice? As soon as you put a foot on it you can feel your fingers get shivered and the vision of the city appears even more depressing.

         No people on the streets, no boats on the lake, a little kid cruising around the alleys, all the windows of the buildings are dark as my mind during the last decades of my life, the first one.

         Once the sun has gone, what is left is just a freezing perforating wind in my ears, the ice that penetrated in my bones and an abandoned dog, last soul in the proximity at the research of some food, or maybe of some companion; and in this last case, it's not the only one…

         “The key to immortality is living a life worth of remember” would say B.L., I guess I better go back in the car.

- to be continued -