The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes Page #4

onto the ground below,

raining down for the next

unsuspecting floor-foraging ant.

'Three days have passed already.'

'Nothing is as it seems.'

'The Doctor's insect story...

...that woman on the bench, Malvina,

calling out

for someone who isn't there,

yet singing so beautifully.'

'And the strange dreams

that come to me in the night.'

'Perhaps even these automata

are not what they pretend to be.'

Loitering with intent, piano tuner?

I wouldn't be if I had a shoelace.

You don't waste any time

getting under people's feet, do you?

Often, when I lace up my shoes,

I notice only afterwards

that my tongue,

which I'd assumed was inside,

is still hanging outside.

But then, you probably

weren't paying attention.

So, where do you think

my tongue is now?

Who loves me, follows me.

You're not being distracted,

are you, Mr. Felisberto?

No. No, no. On the contrary...

I'm totally absorbed.

It feels like I'm living

in someone else's imagination.

Has she shown you her tongue yet?

She is incorrigible, isn't she,

Mr. Felisberto?

So, I needn't ask...

...if we are on schedule?

You needn't, Doctor.

I thought as much.

Doctor Droz,

are you preparing another automaton?

In a manner of speaking, yes.

Is it an opera?

Let's just say

it's my own small contribution

to the operatic canon.

Then that would explain

the voice I've heard at night.

It is very special,

I believe, to you.

There's no country, no city,

no theatre, no recital,

I have not been to for that voice.

And now it's here.

There is where I hear it from.

What a beautiful soul it must take

to produce a voice like that.

Soul, Mr. Felisberto?

There's a big word.

Ah.

How you compliment me.

My every instinct.

The fourth machine is awaiting you.

There's not much time.

Here. It's me, Felisberto,

the piano tuner.

Be quiet so I can hear.

Adolfo.

All these lights,

these people, the guests.

Tomorrow we marry.

Everyone can hear it in my voice.

The Doctor, he...

I'm sure the Doctor

has your best interests at heart.

They say it's bad luck

to look at each other

on the eve of your wedding.

But that's just superstition.

No, his eyes...

The Doctor...

His eyes...

...following me, burning me.

I was singing and then...

and then I turned towards you.

Towards me?

And the walls slid away.

And then?

I'm neither in this world

nor the next.

Tell me... who I am.

Tell me if I'm me.

The singer.

I saw the piano tuner

with the singer...

...this afternoon, on the bench.

She called him Adolfo.

And did he answer?

Oh, he seemed to love it,

being called Adolfo.

Adolfo!

Do you think

Adolfo's his middle name?

Don Felisberto Adolfo Fernandez.

Adolfo Carino.

No?

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