ELVIRA TELLS

Angelino: the little angel friend of every child

3rd chapter
December 17, 2017
"Elvira Ruocco has written a beautiful Christmas story dedicated to the little Alfisti of today, tomorrow ... and yesterday. An appointment that will keep us company throughout the month of December. Here is the third chapter. If you missed the second issue click here. Enjoy reading  

ANGELINO: The little angel friend of every child.

"After a few hours of driving, without any break, Miss Speed parked her car in a large garage next to other cars, all in perfect order, it looked as if they were on display in a Museum. She followed the driver into the house and was immediately struck by all the trophies, the cups that made a fine display and by the many photos that portrayed her after a victory, but above all, with her smiling face framed by her thick hair, beside many children on many occasions. In an album opened on a table, dozens and dozens of photos with famous people of culture, medicine and cinema. Under each photo was written, in a clear and precise handwriting, the date and place of the event. Angelino thought that this was an important woman, and very important was her charity work aimed at children, who most of all need help because suffering and physical pain for a child is neither conceivable nor acceptable. The lights of the house surrounded by greenery went off slowly and Angelino fell asleep on that album and dreamed of still being seated on that beautiful red car, to feel the strong smell of the leather of the seats, and to run ....... run on impervious roads next to his driver. At dawn he flew up and left that house momentarily, he had his rounds to do, his little friends to visit and an idea that was starting to run through his head. He flew high over houses and buildings and the life of men from up there seemed far away, every now and then he glided a little to see that row of cars that from above looked like toys, so small they were. Suddenly, passing in front of an open window, he heard the cry of a child, he turned back and went into that room. A child entered at that moment and went with a blinked face and swollen eyes towards an old lady, sitting in an armchair, and held out a notebook to her, resuming his crying. "What happened? A zero?" exclaimed the woman. The child, reinforcing his sobs, affirmed. She picked him up and said: "There, there, what the heck! A little man is ashamed to cry! He'll be quiet now, and Grandma will dry his little eyes, so..., and tell him a nice tale!" The little one smiled at her through his tears and sat in her lap. "Once upon a time...." Do you know why she didn't scold her grandson? Because she had remembered her first zero. She was six years old, and closing her eyes she still saw her classroom again: a clear room, full of desks, with a table at the back for the teacher and an old closet on the right that everyone called, the museum. In there, under lock and key, were all sorts of knick-knacks: balls of wool, wooden cubes and bricks of all colours, clay fruit and cardboard cars, all the work of various generations of schoolchildren. She, in her time, nicknamed the perpetual motion, enjoyed the rare privilege of not having a fixed place: in the morning, when the teacher dictated, she occupied a desk in the first row: in the afternoon, when there were oral examinations, she moved to the last places with the hope of not being questioned.
The cover photo was taken by Sylvia Oberti in Elvira Ruocco's office at the Historical Archives and during her visit.
Since childhood he had detested arithmetic, and the memory of those hours still distressed him. The little boy listened rapturously, and Angelino stared at both of them.... "One morning," resumes grandmother, "I was particularly bored, so I took my pencil butt and began to make squiggles at the bottom of every page of my notebook, little men with round heads and rake hands, little houses, trees, dragons, flowers, until I had filled all the pages of the notebook. How beautiful my drawings seemed to me! But oh alas! The teacher, alarmed by my silence, got up and came to see, took the notebook from me, noticed the disaster, took my pencil and with it drew on the last blank page a terrible zero cut out, which in our school code was equivalent to an infamous punishment". The child's eyes widened, and Angelino let out a: Oh! but it was like a barely audible rustle.... I stared at the red circle," continued the grandmother, "and my heart fell, it seemed to me as if it had ended in that circle. I felt abandoned and infinitely sad, alone, in front of that zero, and I cried all my bitterest tears. When I got home I told everything to my mother, who, instead of scolding me, as I feared, caressed me, fixed my hair and kissed me smiling. All she said was, "It's sad, you see, to hurt and be punished. And in life, always, every fault is followed by punishment. Keep that in mind, my little one." Calmed down, I thought back to those simple words and understood them so clearly that that zero has remained unique in my long career as a schoolgirl, not only that, but it has become a symbol that has helped me greatly in life. Remember, my child, that a zero and a sensible piece of advice, as long as they arrive in time, work miracles: you just have to know how to use them. The child smiled and hugged her. Angelino left them like that, wrapped in that embrace. He started to fly again and thought of that red circle in the notebook and immediately other circles came to mind, those on which the beautiful cars of his pilotess drove through the streets and circuits to win, because each victory was an opportunity to raise funds to dry other tears, very different from those he had seen shed by that much loved and protected child. Angelino felt the strong call to return to his pilot, and resumed flying through clouds and letting the sun warm him up. He arrived just in time to see Miss Speed put on her helmet and get into her beautiful red Alfa. Then he lay down between those seats, breathed in that familiar scent and, together with her, headed for victory.

Story written and created by Elvira Ruocco 

 
Elvira Ruocco, historical memory of Alfa Romeo, thanks to her more than twenty years of experience at the Alfa Romeo Centro di Documentazione Storica, has become part of the Museum team and in the column "Elvira Racconta" she will share curiosities and anecdotes that you may not know or remember. We will retrace the legendary history of Alfa Romeo with her.