Christmas Eve n.2052. Ext. Space.
This time I want to invite you to a special trip in the company of Ray Bradbury and his very short story The Gift that I am sure, in this our strange Christmas made up of prohibitions and distances, will be able to give us a little serenity, far from the frenetic madness of certain periods .
Bradbury takes us on a journey into the future with a family that leaves on Christmas Eve on a sparkling rocket: the two parents want to give their son a wonderful party in space and before they leave they buy gifts and the Christmas tree to bring with them. Unfortunately due to the regulations relating to space travel they are forced to leave all this on the ground and their sense of frustration and concern begins to grow dramatically.
Parents will do everything to make their child's wishes come true and, in the end, they will manage to make him happy, even without a tree and traditional gifts, thanks “simply” to the beauty of nature and the universe.
His gift is, in fact, to look through the single porthole of the spacecraft, witnessing with amazement the spectacle of nature and creation that takes place before his eyes, where billions of stars light up and light up like candles. Think of the fact that in our galaxy alone there are four hundred billion stars and in the whole universe there are more than one hundred billion galaxies. Just the thought makes the show truly unique and ignites the wonder.
This short story shows us how science fiction, in which Ray Bradbury excels as a genius (who does not remember his masterpiece Fahrenheit 451!), is the art of the possible rather than the impossible and that it is a way of facing reality rather than a form of escape.
As in all the most beautiful Christmas stories, gifts come from heaven and never like this year do we need to believe it and hope that this is the case. Let us be carried away by wonder.
For this Christmas there is also good news from planet Earth for boys and girls all over the world, the WHO announced it with a video of Dr. Maria Van Kerkohve, epidemiologist at the head of the World Organization of Health. And it is this: Santa Claus can deliver gifts because he is immune to the Covid-19 virus.
This year, more than ever, best wishes to everyone, love and creativity will save us as in the story The Gift. So let's look up at the stars ...
Annalisa Nicastro
Cover image by Carlotta Patrizi
C/O Società Dante Alighieri 
