Looking over Florence with the sun on your back is amazing. The breeze in your hair makes you feel alive. A little imagination makes the experience so much more enjoyable. You’ve heard all the hype about seeing this part of the world, and the hype is justified. You don’t feel the need to take a photo for your social media, for your friends, for your family, or even for yourself. It’s the kind of scene that tastes best when you drink it up right then and there.
The sparrows are chirping in the square down below. There’s the odd honking of a motor-scooter horn. There are busy sounds emanating from the marketplace in a square nearby, and the church bell is about to ring. It’s nearly one o’clock.
“Bong!”
It’s one o’clock now.
The pigeons flutter away. There’s laughter below. Then the siren rings out.
“Whoop, whoop, whoop!”
Yes, it’s one o’clock. Time to take the VIRTUAL reality headset off. Time to return to REAL reality. Does Florence really exist or is it just a fabrication – existing only in the virtual world? The siren is still sounding. The workers must return from their lunch break and plug back into their workstations, and so must you.
The fluorescent lights buzz. The tapping on keyboards resumes. In seven hours you can go to sleep. Then it will all begin again. Don’t cry. Everyone has to do it.
T.
Tandi Tales 