Neighbor, farmer
Luca is the neighbor who always smells of hay and fresh air. On his small farm he has goats, chickens, a donkey named Berto, and a flock of sheep he knows by name. He rises with the sun and goes to bed with the sun. He speaks slowly, laughs loudly, and always has an apple in his pocket for the children who stop by. Vito and Pino love spending time on his farm — Luca teaches them how to milk a goat, how to care for animals, and why patience is the most important virtue in the countryside.
Pino and Vito jumped out of the car and ran towards Luca's farm. The tall grass glowed yellow-green under the sun, and somewhere in the distance, the bray of the donkey Berto could be heard. "Why does the donkey shout so loudly?" asked Vito, his eyes wide. Pino chuckled as Luca waved from the barn door. "Come on, I'll show you everything!" shouted Luca. But Jole stood frozen under the old fig tree, staring at the approaching goat. "Dad, what about Jole?" Pino asked.
Hana had a peculiar habit. Every time it rained, she would rush into the yard with an empty glass jar and collect rainwater. On the shelves of her room stood more than a hundred jars, each marked with a date and a small label. "Hana, why do you collect rain?" her classmates asked at school, giggling. "It's just water!" But Hana knew something the others did not. Her grandmother Maria, who lived on a village island, had taught her this before she passed away. She had shared with Hana just one sentence — a sentence Hana never repeated to anyone. One day, the worst drought in fifty years struck the town. Parks turned yellow, fountains ran dry, and people waited in long lines for water. That evening, Hana sat on the floor of her room, surrounded by jars, and for the first time opened the oldest one — the jar she had filled with her grandmother on the last day they spent together. When she opened the lid, she caught a scent that stopped her in her tracks...