It was a day like so many in the normal military position of marquee Fracchiossi. He got up early in the morning to be able to prepare and relieve as best he could. After many weeks spent diligently, finally that day he would leave for the much desired ministerial license. The backpack was already almost ready for several days and finally it was time to fix the last things and close it. In his face reflected in the mirror, while shaving that scarce still adolescent hair, he could read the happiness and impatience of getting on a train that would take him, finally, to the side of his heart.
He was rehearsing the words he had been preparing for a few days, words to use with his direct superior to convince him to grant him that early deductible, a great expectation for Fracchiossi, that would allow him to climb the only train available to reach the his country. He had missed it, he would have to wait tomorrow, wasting so precious hours to devote to his loved ones. Also in this period the trains were full of people who left for the summer holidays, and to lose that train meant spending the eve of the mid-August holiday in some station waiting for the connection.
He was ready, neatly divided and stretched impeccably, freshly cut hair, shoes that mirrored the tip of his nose, optimistic smile and pleading eyes. He went up the stairs of the building, saying goodbye to everyone, and standing at attention even in front of the incredulous under-heads he met. He was tense as he waited in the hallway for the moment when his departmental chief could hear him. And the fateful moment arrived.
For good luck he had placed the license already signed in the pocket near his heart, with the photo of all his dear family gathered on display next to it. He was very confident in the officer's understanding and hoped he was in a good mood that morning. When he found himself face to face with the superior, the excitement and the desire to quickly recite everything he had prepared made him stammer, while his heart began to beat fast when he heard the answer to prepare the request, leave it on the answering machine and review. from there to an hour to see if he had been satisfied. For Fracchiossi, the hour passed very slowly, orbiting near the secretariat and peering into the eyes of the quartermasters who came in and out with folders full of sheets from the department head's office, trying to grasp in the folds of their smiles the confirmation or not of the granting his permission.
Punctual like a Swiss watch, after exactly sixty minutes, the Fraccossi Maro shyly entered the voicemail and quietly asked if his permission had been signed. When a sub-hat approached him with a small yellowed piece of paper and gave it to him, Fracchiossi could not believe his eyes. That little yellowed leaflet, where a few lines under his name and hidden by a few stamps a scribble showed that the franchise advance had been granted, represented for Fracchiossi, and indirectly for all his family, the possibility of spending the summer holidays serene is happy. The Fraccossi Mar took the paper quickly, thanked him and greeted everyone, turning a particular look of gratitude to his department head, who in a moment of melancholy for the time passed so quickly and seeing that boy so happy, thought back to when he was a young and carefree sailor full of beautiful hopes and enthusiasm, who was preparing to leave to go home on leave.
For Fracchiossi that was an unforgettable day, for the first time he had spent more than three months away from home, for the first time he was traveling with a big heavy black backpack, with a cap that he had to hold tight so as not to let it fly away from the strong wind marine, for the first time he could turn flaunting pride and safety as if he were a sailor and expert sea dog in the streets of the country who saw him grow up, winking to the girls wearing his best uniform, and for the first time a simple scribble was the most beautiful gift he received.
