TE23 Double Feature

Loranne Vella

Rocket

to him. Once again, Medusa had raised her head and the serpents were bending and protruding away from her face, sticking out their tongues and uttering their deafening scream. Petrel heard it and instantly knew what next step to take.

rulers were still engaged in their negotiations with the citizens to convince them to leave, voluntarily, the island. While Petrel and Veronica were absorbed in discovering each other intimately, on the same mattress that Petrel had carried downstairs, unaware of what was happening around them, some other two thousand Maltese left the island. Hundreds of others were struggling with the conflict of whether they should give up, like all the others, and start a new life elsewhere, even though, only a few weeks before, they swore that nothing would make them part from their country, that no threat could ever uproot them. There was no need to receive another threat: they started to change their minds. It was enough to have a look around to realize that, whether they stayed or not in their homeland, this island was very different from the Malta they knew. Malta was gone, leaving her children behind, homeless. After all, what where the elements that composed Malta? 53

6.

We can leave Petrel in the arms of Veronica for a while – rest assured that he’s not moving from there, for now. She had played very well the seduction game, and it would take quite long until, through Petrel’s mind, it would pass again the idea of leaving her house. In the meantime, the situation in the country was even more worrying than ever. The Alliance had issued a new list of its terms in relation to Malta and the Maltese who, nevertheless, chose to keep living on the island. The peaceful siege continued. The 52