11.02.2020 - I know I have been a lucky child. Not because I had a luxurious childhood since I started working with cows when I was just three.
I have been lucky because I had someone who told me the stories of my village: my “Barba”. It may sound strange but this is the name we give to our uncles here in Lusérn.
I still remember how he looked like, sat on is Frau armchair with his rough face signed by the years. I recall his words: “There was a time when bears used to reach the square”. In the tavern, there is a warm light and the noise of the burning fire is the only one you can hear together with the tired and sweet voice of this old man.
That day my father and I should have gone hunting on Mount Portule but it started raining and snowing as if it was mid-winter. Consequently, we decided to take shelter into a natural cavern and there we found two small bears.
My father managed to put them into two big bags and we brought them home. “The circus”…said my father…”The circus will pay money for them”. Those were difficult years and no one could afford to be generous, neither with people nor with animals.
As soon as we freed them in the stall, they hid behind a haymow.
What happened the following nights is simply astonishing. They were huge and screamed as a ship departing from “La Havre” harbor. We saw them going down on the road and stopped right in front of our stall’s door.
They started hitting it violently and the walls started trembling. Two huge bears or better two frightening monsters, two spirits seeking revenge.
We reached the stall from a secret hatch and let out the two small bears. The two beasts picked up their puppies and disappeared right as spirits do. We went on hearing those screams for years and years…
