The Day We Meet Again by Miranda Dickinson

Author:Miranda Dickinson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2019-10-02T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

We settle into an easy rhythm after Christmas. Winter nights are simple affairs at the villa – we sit together and chat, listen to music, or read. Occasionally we check our phones but in such lovely surroundings with such fascinating people conversation usually wins our attention.

‘What did you do in Rome, Phoebe?’ Lisabeta asks one evening, when we’re relaxing after dinner.

‘Pretty much everything,’ I laugh. ‘I was there for a while.’

‘I’m definitely visiting Rome before I go back,’ Amanda says. ‘Even if I can only squeeze a weekend in. What was your favourite thing?’

I don’t even have to think about it. ‘It wasn’t in any of the guidebooks, but I think it might change the way I live.’

‘Great pizza?’ Lisabeta asks.

‘No, although the food in Rome was as epic as you imagine. Hang on, I’ll show you.’

Leaving my bemused companions I race up to my room. Tucked in the inside zipped pocket of my bag is a pebble I painted before I left Rome. I painted a snowglobe on one side and Carried in my heart on the reverse. I fetch the paint box Giana gave me, too and head back to my friends.

They love the idea. I knew they would.

‘Why the snowglobe?’ Lisabeta asks.

‘I have a snowglobe at home – back in London. My friends bought it for me the week I moved in.’ I point to the building within the glass dome. ‘That’s Shakespeare’s Globe theatre. It was the first place we visited together because my friend Gabe was playing Orlando in As You Like It. After the performance we went out for food and that’s when they asked me if I’d like to move in with them. So they bought me the snowglobe to remember where it all started – and it’s a play on the name of the theatre, which I think William Shakespeare would have approved of. I was going to bring it with me but it wouldn’t fit in my luggage.’

‘And the words?’

‘It was a day I was really missing my friends. I wanted to mark that, so the snowglobe was the perfect emblem for the love I’ve left behind.’ I stroke the pebble and tell them Giana’s story. ‘The best part of being in Rome was sneaking around the city leaving painted pebbles for people to find. Tiny bits of our lives scattered for strangers to find.’

Lisabeta beams. ‘We could do that here. In the garden. Paint our hopes and dreams for the years to come and leave them there for our future guests to find. And then when people stay, we’ll encourage them to paint a pebble, too and leave it here. It can be like coins in the Trevi Fountain – leave it in our garden to make sure you return.’

So, that’s what we spend our evenings doing. We paint pebbles to nestle between the plants and flowers that will appear in the terrace garden. Each one will have a date painted as part of the design – either a date we want to remember or a date we’re looking forward to.

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