Giovanni Martelli and Anna Lollobrigida had been sweethearts since they were teenagers, their families were neighbors. They lived in the port of Napoli. Giovanni and Anna always met, in their youth, at the port. There they would talk about their plans for the future. One day they decided to let their imagination fly...... They swore eternal love and decided to write their names, with the date of their meeting, on a piece of paper that they would later place in a glass bottle. Between an embrace and a furtive kiss they threw the bottle into the sea. As if anticipating future events, they swore an oath.....
Giovanni proposes to Anna that they would do this ritual every year and says:
-If for some reason we have to separate temporarily, promise me, that you will write your name, the city where you are and the date on a piece of paper that you will then throw, into the sea, as we have done today. I will do the same.
Anna, disconcerted, refutes him:
-But why? Are you planning to leave town?
We had decided to get married in three years. In that time we would save the money for the celebration. We have always longed for that, to share such an important moment with our families.
Giovanni, a little sad, answers:
-I don't know, I hear the war is coming. Most likely I will have to join the army.
Anna, hearing this, starts to cry ..... She reacts and says:
-What about our dreams for the future?
-We will keep them intact until we meet again," answers Giovanni.
Anna, distressed, makes him promise to take care of himself, that if that happens, she hopes he will come back alive.
They say goodbye. Each one goes home. A month went by since that promise..... it was 1941.
Giovanni had to enlist in the army, he was already of age. He looks for Anna to say goodbye ..... They meet in his beloved port. There, both remember their future plans and all their unfulfilled desires...... at the time they seal with a long kiss that farewell......
While Giovanni is at the battle front, Anna graduates as a teacher. From time to time she hears from her fiancé. A high general of the army sends her the letters that Giovanni writes daily. That is how her fiancé keeps the flame of her love alive.
Anna continues with her plans, besides she already teaches, for children, in the school of the town. One day one of her students, Enzo, tells her that he would like her to be his mother. She is surprised and asks:
-Enzo, why do you want that? I don't understand.
-Miss Anna, I don't have a mother. My mother died when I was born. My grandmother is the one who is with me, but she is already old and I see her tired. Besides, my father needs a good wife and I need a mother. Do you want to meet him,- answered the boy.
Anna blushes, she doesn't know how to explain to the boy ..... But she thinks......it's better if I tell him the truth. I don't want to encourage such dreams...... She is filled with courage...... She explains that she has a boyfriend and that he will come back to marry her. The bell rings. Anna is saved at that moment from further conversation.... Enzo's teammates call him to play, it was time to rest.
Months went by..... Enzo was still trying to get the teacher to meet his father, a prosperous farmer who had been ruined by the war. Mr. Salvatore Bertolucci, Enzo's father, had studied at the Agricultural School in a nearby town. There he obtained the highest grades, although he was also a sportsman and experienced in art.
Time went by......Anna was surprised that her beloved fiancé did not come back to write...... She asked in town about General Capelli. Nobody wanted to talk. Only the baker tells her:
-Miss Anna the general died in a battle, outside Italy.
Anna gives a cry of pain when she hears the news. The General was the only bridge she had with her fiancé. Thus the communication between the couple was broken. Anna wanted to know the whereabouts of her fiancé, she asked everyone she saw, she did not give up..... she remembered the oath.
Meanwhile, Enzo sees the sadness of the soul in his teacher's eyes. It pains him to see her downcast, he decides to devise a plan. He thought she could cheer up if he invited her to his house. To do so, he would enlist the help of his grandmother Ivonne. His grandmother sent her a written note, inviting her to accompany her one evening, pretending that she was very lonely.
Anna in her distress decided to accept. It would do her good to talk to someone different......The long-awaited evening arrived. Enzo was very excited. At last, his beloved teacher, would come to meet his house and talk to the nonna. The long-awaited day arrived......
Ivonne and Enzo had everything ready for the reception. Although there was not much food, Ivonne managed to offer her some coffee and a sweet prepared by her.
Anna was pleasantly surprised with Ivonne. After talking with her, she felt a little better. It seemed as if a fairy godmother touched her wounded heart and it began to heal. From that moment on Ivonne would be her comfort.
A year passed and nothing was known of Giovanni. Everyone thought he was dead. Anna was devastated, but always remembering the oath...... In spite of her grief, she decided to visit Mrs. Ivonne more frequently. She was her comfort. Time passed. Anna's wounds were healing.
The year was 1945. The war was about to end..... The soldiers began to return, only Giovanni Martelli was missing. Many years later, after the end of the war, it would be known that he was imprisoned in a refugee camp.....
Anna unintentionally fell in love with Salvatore ..... They married in 1947 and moved to another town, Positano. This also had a port that reminded her of her adolescence. In one afternoon and on the sly Anna threw a bottle into the sea with her data, as if she wanted to relive her past.
Giovanni returned to Napoli. There he discovered that Anna had left town, but no one knew where. Giovanni also formed his family. He had two sons. The years went by and the children got married, they always came to visit him to see his grandchildren. He had long since been widowed. He never forgot the oath.....
One weekend he was on the beach in Positano with his grandchildren. One of them saw a bottle in the sea and asked his grandfather to fish for it...... Giovanni obliged and together they pulled out the parchment that held the bottle. Giovanni was speechless with emotion.....
-Grandfather, what's wrong,- asked Lucca.
-Nothing, I'm fine,- answered Giovanni almost breathless.
They returned to the house. Their children were waiting for them to say goodbye. They all left.
Giovanni could not believe it, the parchment was Anna's ...... He decided to look for her at the address written on the parchment.
He arrived in Positano, asked for her and .... she did indeed live there. She was in the hospital taking care of her husband. The doctors gave him a few days to live..... Her dear Enzo understood her and told her:
-Anna you have always been an excellent mother and wife. You have always loved us. My father is about to leave, from one moment to the next, for another life........ Go, talk to Giovanni.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
BROKEN YOUTH DREAMS Copywrite C © 2021 by María del Carmen Sánchez