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Which led to a sea of pine trees that stretched upwards along a slope.
And then, suddenly, the mountains.
They seemed to burst out of the ground – big, pale, craggy peaks.
Not a whole range of them, mind you – just three massive domes that poked out of the ground, joined by smaller ridges. Then they disappeared again into the sea of pine trees.
The tops of the mountains were rounded off by time and erosion, but there were jagged furrows all over the place.
“Wow,” I whispered, peering out the window like a puppy dog.
“They’re part of the Alps,” Massimo said, “but they only stretch about 60 miles east to west. And they look a lot different because of the minerals they’re made out of. In fact, there are some places where the mountains turn pink at the sunset.”
“Can we see that?” I asked in wonder as I continued to stare through the window.
“…maybe,” Massimo said. “When all this is over with.”
I didn’t believe him.
Once this was all over, he’d drop me off with Nona and never look back.
But for a minute, it was fun to pretend.
30
Massimo
Something came over Lucia when we stepped out of the cabin.
A look of awe filled her face as she slowly turned around and took it all in.
She gazed at everything with quiet intensity – the trees, the ground, the cabin –
And when she saw the mountains, she basically had her palms and nose pressed to the glass the entire time.
It was interesting to realize that things I’d taken for granted my entire life – forests, countryside, mountains – were entirely new to her.
Venice was beautiful, but it was manmade beauty. The most the island had to offer in the way of Nature was some immaculately manicured parks. Very pretty, but kind of sterile.
And there was nothing like the Dolomites.
On a clear day, you could see the mountains from Venice – but they were 100 miles away.
There was a majesty to seeing them up close…
And she was visibly affected by it.
I realized then that she wasn’t just some rich brat only interested in purses and clothes.
She was capable of true wonder and a deep appreciation of Nature.
In those moments, she was –
Well, she was captivating.
Mesmerizing.
Her eyes sparkled…
