The magical realism of the story is nicely tucked in the space between being a child and society saying when you stop being a child. Ismene is in the habit of saying ‘Good morning’ and “Goodnight’ to creatures around her. “To Daddy and Mummy. And then only to Mummy after Daddy died. Then only to Bug after Mummy died too. Then only to Bago, after the death of Bug”. But Ismene says neither ‘Good morning’ nor ‘Goodnight’ to Uncle Rutiliano, who took Ismene for wife after her Mummy and Daddy died. Who, or what, Bago is we learn only at the end of the story, but knowing the answer doesn’t really resolve the ambiguity in the story. Bago, a silent and rather unremarkable companion retains the warmth of Ismene’s childhood, even as she transitions into adulthood and into a marriage that was imposed on her. Bago is a placeholder for Ismene’s emotional attachment to an inexistent past, but also a question mark as to where the boundary between the real and the fantastic lies.

First published in English in The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories, ed. Jhumpa Lahiri, Penguin, 2020