In this story, I will use the pseudonym Andrea for the protagonist. He is a friend whose modesty is matched only by his generosity. His complete lack of pride, vanity, and envy makes him a truly baroque object of observation for me. As if a form of darkness inherent in our world cannot reach him, despite its repeated efforts.

He confides extremely rarely, because he also possesses that elegance of soul that places as a cardinal value the will not to disturb others with his own difficulties and torments.

The height of his rebellion comes two or three times a month, usually in the late afternoon. After a day of non-stop work, he then declares his sentence: "Let's go have a drink!". Even if alcohol plays no role in liberation, his favorite drink being Coca-Cola, it is always a joyful moment acting as an antidote to a particularly dark period.

It was in this setting, after having placed his beanie on one of the tables at the Dorian, that he told me the story.

Before that, I should point out that Andrea travels a lot and is superbly organized to do so. He only carries the essentials and has never lost anything during a trip.

So we are in a kind of routine, the Geneva-Venice flight then the bus or train, or even both depending on the connections, to reach his beloved Ferrara.

Once through airport customs, he heads for the bus station. The Venetian breeze then reminds him to put on his beanie. It is at this moment that he realizes that he has forgotten it, he who never loses anything, on the plane or during disembarkation. A feeling of panic immediately seizes him. Indeed, when you lose an object, it is always imaginable to retrace your steps. Impossible in this case to do more than a few dozen meters that he quickly covers while frantically smoking a Camel...nothing!

Reader, I can feel you smiling... Such a fuss over a beanie?

What you don't know is that this headgear was the last gift from his mother, who had recently passed away. The protection it offered went beyond utility, it was symbolic, unconditional. As only the benevolence, the attention of a mother for her child can be.

Stricken by the loss, he mechanically retraces his steps towards the bus. Arriving at the foot of the vehicle, he sees a light-colored, woolen object on the ground. The logo is the same! It's his beanie. Very happy, he grabs it and sits down.

He could have stopped there in his contentment, but he tries, during the journey, to reconstruct the events. Indeed, the beanie was resting in a place that he had never reached, and by far...

Easy however to deduce that someone must have found it, perhaps in the line of passport controls, and overtaking Andrea who had briefly turned back on his steps, he had lost it in turn.

Andrea smiled, for he saw there a sign, a marvelous wink from providence. He squeezed the precious beanie in his hands, turning it over and over in contentment, and put it on his head. It no longer hugged him as it had a few hours before. Impossible, he thought! Examining it again, if the brand and color were the same, the size did not match. It was an L while his was an M...