It all began with subtle blue light in the orbit of one of the skulls inside the temple. A precious embroidery, of silver and diamond veins, began to run through it, expanding from the orbit down the jaw and crossing the skull. As if that first transformation had caused something in the others, one by one, each with its own speed, all the skulls began to light up with decorations of different shades of blue, until all the teeth began to chat in unison, as if they hadn’t had the opportunity for a long time.
Each skull was different, depending on how long it had been there, and each obviously had its own personality: there was Zia Prisca, with the skull made of agate streaked with purple and white and the right side of the skull open to a dense interior of amethyst crystals, Great-Uncle Oberto who seems to have been carved out of quartz, with half face exploded in gigantic white crystals, and the procusin Amerigo, a blue agate skull which was missing the entire back, replaced by a candid sea of white crystals.
Grandfather Vito was at the back, almost certainly awake but quiet, hiding dense yellow crystals in the hollow of his dark blue agate mouth, he seemed to meditate like an elderly person on a rocking chair.
<Aaaah, what an effort!> Aunt Prisca rhythmically bangs her teeth, shaking first on one side and then on the other. <So, what have you seen around, guys?> She is chatty and ready to gossip, the woman’s spirit seems to be quivering with the desire to know more.
<Oh, Anna has done her hair, again> says the great-uncle with the air of someone who disapproves and laughs at your choices. <What nonsense! I really don’t understand modern choices, if fashion wants you to fill your head with jam and pull up your hair like if you were a chainsaw>
<Don’t talk to me, Oberto, I went to Polly, the American cousin … usually, they are the ones ahead, yet you should have seen her! She doesn’t even stop at the table to eat, I don’t really know how they do it over there … nobody eats at the dinner table, can you believe it? Where has the familiar spirit gone?> Amerigo introduced himself, snapping his jaw without support.
<Don’t think about it guys, after all, it’s already a long time since they get together, on evenings like this> Prisca replied, making her gaze wander out of an opaque window that she overlooked a large garden. There were people outside, music and dancing, and everyone was on the dance floor dancing and having fun. All the skulls snapped up to the window, looking at the show with the air of someone who would really like to be there. <Ah, modern dance! They look like little more than geese, no grace in those sweaty bodies full of alcohol…> someone mumbles, staring eagerly at the trays full of food on the tables.
<Tsk> Nobody seems to hear the only voice left behind, the one that has never been heard so far. <Fools can’t dance, remember that … We may be wiser, better, but they are the ones who are living their lives to the fullest> Grandpa Vito fell silent again, his mouth wide open like someone snoring, with a splendid view on the crystals that filled it.
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