As storytellers, our hearts take on many forms through our work. Our dear friend, Alessio, started a book called “Life of Chloe” but sadly passed before he could finish his work. As friends and peers, we have taken on the task of finishing his work in the only way we know how- together. We are a collective, friends, artists, lovers, mothers, and fathers and as such we all bring our own experiences to the table every time we tell a story. Alessio loved the mobile community and sought to bring us together to form stronger bonds. The Life of Chloe was a labor of love for Ale and it only seemed fitting to continue his story with ours as his light was snuffed out way too early.
In this article you will find the original chapters that Ale wrote and we are using these as a stepping stone and prologue to the collaborative book Grryo is writing to honor Alessio and his passing.
We do hope you will continue on this journey that Ale started and see the world through Chloe’s eyes.
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The Life of Chloe
Chloe loved a married man…
no plans, no holidays, no random calls just to say Hi, I feel so bad today…
everything had to be pre arranged. All the times.
The calls, the meetings in faraway places, the hidden love.
No room for spontaneity and sharing.
A lot of Past, some Present but no Future…
Chloe amava un uomo sposato…
nessun programma, nessuna vacanza insieme, nessuna chiamata improvvisa solo per dirsi Ciao, Mi sento giù oggi…
Tutto doveva essere preorganizzato. Sempre.
Le chiamate, gli incontri clandestini in posti lontani, l’amore nascosto.
Nessuno spazio per la spontaneità e la condivisione.
Tanto passato, un poco di presente, ma niente futuro…
The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to Burn”…
Chloe thought of her Mum when this sayin got to her Head, she was the one who first suffered from wrong choices in her Life.
“Hey, it’s almost Christmas” Chloe thought
“i HAVE to call her”…
“La cosa più difficile nella vita è decidere quale ponte attraversare e quale distruggere…”
Chloe ripensò a sua mamma quando questa frase le tornò alla mente, proprio lei era stata la prima a soffrire per decisioni sbagliate nella sua vita.
“Hey, è quasi Natale!” Chloe pensò
“devo chiamarla subito…”
“Am i really ready to give up on this?”…Chloe wondered…
“Let’s face the truth, Chloe! He will never accept the idea of starting new again. Not with me”
In that very moment, a chilly breeze blew her hat away.
And she felt devasted as never before…
“sono veramente pronta a rinunciare a tutto questo?”…si chiedeva Chloe…
“affrontiamo la verità, Chloe! Lui non accetterà mai davvero l’idea di ricominciare tutto daccapo di nuovo. Non con me”
In quel preciso momento, una ventata di aria gelida fece volare il suo cappello.
E si sentì devastata come mai le era accaduto…
…Many years passed since that winter day.
Chloe took what was left of her life, and never turned back.
Sometimes, early in the morning, she finds herself staring at the safe eyes of the mountains outside her bedroom window.
Not a noise. No regrets.
Chloe feels warm inside
and holds in her arms the son of that far away man.
And thanks God once more…
…Molti anni trascorsero da quel giorno d’inverno.
Chloe prese quel poco che le era rimasto della sua vita, e non si voltò indietro.
A volte, presto al mattino, si ritrova a fissare quegli occhi sicuri e protettivi, di quelle montagne aldifuori dalla finestra della sua camera da letto.
Nessun rumore. Nessun rimpianto.
Chloe avverte un piacevole calore dal di dentro
e stringe tra le sue braccia il figlio di quell’uomo ormai lontano.
E ringrazia Dio ancora e ancora…
Hello World.
I was born today.
After you tried to kill me all those times before, i can still walk under the rain.
Hello Rain and Thunderstorms. Wash my skin today, because i have no fear to stay here naked under your eyes.
Hello Blacks and hello Whites. Both sides of me are now one, and no one will take the colors away from me again.
Hello Sea. Where would I be without you near?
Hello Death. You tried to win over me, maybe you put baby in the corner, but you missed your chance to beat me down.
Hello Life, i’ve been to my funeral and i watched them all. You taught me where my limits end, and how to rise again. Like a Phoenix.
Hello you.
My name is Chloe. And I was born today, Tuesday 7 august 2012…
August 14, 2012
“start a new day, but not alone…” The radio was playin that song and it was too early in the morning.
When was the last time i woke up with someone who really cared about me?
When was the last time i woke up with someone at all?
When did i open up the window to see the first sun rays of a new day?
When were you here with me the last time?
It feels like forever.
This scar on my ankle is pulsin blood straight to my heart now. It lives there to remind me how evil can transform you, how it spreads fast inside you, like a virus in need of fresh human skin. That scar is your scar, your legacy, your tied knot. It is not hurtin today, must be the sun and my inner peace to let you finally off of my body.
The weather forecast is always wrong with me, they never seem to understand the heavy responsibility of their predictions on my life.
I am addicted to weather. I can smell the rain before you even run for shelter, i can listen to snow falling for hours without uttering a sound, i can see through the fog.
But not today. I will soak up the sun today…
“There is Life, even after a Broken Heart…” (“Broken Heart”, written/performed by White Lion, 1991)
Monday, August 20, 2012
“have you heard from Chloe?”
“No and i miss her. I really thought i would find her yesterday night, at our long awaited reunion dinner… did you speak to her on the phone? Texted her?”
“Tried to call her in the weekend. Phone rang unanswered. All the time…”
One month was just passed in those familiar and close surroundings.
ALL the one lifetime friends did come and say the words. The paths of the childhood were all bypassed with a smile on their lips and a sense of belongin in a dreamy tale.
The elder, the newborns, the classic players and actors in that small Town theatre Set, all of them somehow updated to these new, confused and crisis-full times.
But one thing was still and strong out of the picture.
Time
Nobody seemed to understand how complex and precious that was.
And kept wasting it.
Like a free unlimited bonus earned in some lottery.
And she could not take this anymore.
So she wrote her usual two words to say Goodbye to the friends of her past and decided to take the long walk across the beachline.
The family was in silence, busy in moving and caring of the child. No loss of anything. Focused on their task, at that very moment.
“Thank you!!!” – CHLOE said from the distance.
“You gave me that TIME”…
So Mike called Today
(…more than a feelin…)
So Mike called today. i was lost in the guitar riff singing loud at the entrance of the graveyard. There is nothing more than a rock riff to show my presence in the land of the whispering ones
“Chloe? Chloe?…Hey Amore ci sei? Is this the right number… Are you okay, its…how much… maybe more than…Listen, i know…”
Only in that moment I realized it was him.
Michele.
The voice from the past. The Only One Man who ever made her lunatic head go bump and bump against the Walls.
“Mikey what you want. Why You callin’ me now? Call your Wife. We closed this long ago.”
“YOU closed this”
YES. I waited. I Looked. I Burned. I Closed.
“Call Her. Call Alice. I know she is waiting for this call now.I can Feel it. Call Her Michele.”
Oh, look! There is a Man fading away today. He looks NOT in peace. I have to go and See him.
Wait!
“Ciao Mikey, that man needs my Help”
Chloe moved to sing her song of strength to that Man in Agony! She realized he was a young Father, as soon as he saw a little man playin with a flower just next to him.
She asked him “What is your Name?”, but remained astonished from the answer she got.
They shared an earphone. The guitar riffs were gone.
Chloe got closer and sang to his ear “Sweet Child Of Mine” and the pain went away.
No frills.
An old man.
A long gone small tower down Italian history.
Senza fronzoli. Un uomo anziano Una torre antica in un antico villaggio italiano.
A Sunday spent “with the top rolled down”.
With a friend.
The one friends that count the most. More than relatives.
The cloudy lights and warmth and wind. The serenity of someone who blocks your heavy thoughts.
Who caresses the anxiety?
The meaning of bonding.
In the small and big things of LIFE.
Alfre entered in Chloe’s LIFE from the back door but it really looked like he was with her to stay…
Luci grigie e nuvolose di un cielo e del vento. La serenità di chi blocca i pensieri più pesanti e l’ansia. Il significato di un legame nelle piccole e grandi cose della vita.
Alfre entrava nella vita di CHLOE dalla porta di servizio. Ma tutto faceva pensare ci sarebbe rimasto a lungo…
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