Fictional Tourist Guide - Isola San Francesco del Deserto

ISOLA

SAN FRANCESCO DEL

DESERTO

Sofie Neudecker

I am the ghost of the great Saint Francis of Assisi who arrived on this ilsand in 1220. I was looking for a quiet and beautiful place far from worldliness where I could meditate in peace after my return from the Fifth Crusade which was a very exciting and stressful time for me.

I am Raffaelo and I am a rat with wings and great magical skills.

When Saint Francis was still alive and lived on this island, we founded a strong friendship. Sometimes, when he needed a break from meditating, he came to see me. We were playing and cuddling and had the best time together. After Francis death in 1233, I started to feel very sad and lonely. Even though the minor friars started to built a convet on the island, staying there wasn’t the same as staying with Francis. So I decided to go traveling and start looking for a new human best friend.

It was the very first time that I was about to leave the home island on which I was born and spent my entire life. I was very excited and nervous to go on this huge journey all by myself.

Venetian Lagoon

45°28’23’’N

MAP OF THE ISLAND

12°25’02’’E

Isola San Francesco del Deserto / Italy 0,04 ha/ 6 inhabitants (30th of August 2020)

0 200 400 500m /-----------/-----------/------/St. Erasmo 0 200 400 600 800 900m /-----------/-----------/-----------/-----------/------/Burano 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200m /-----------/-----------/-----------/-----------/-----------/-----------/Mazzorbo

I flew over the Venetian Lagoon and decided to visit the islands St.Ersmo, Burano and Mazzorbo. Actually, you might think they are not too faraway from the island San Francesco del Deserto, but for a small rat like me it was a huge journey with a large distance. I was observing many people on these islands, but I could’t find anyone who was as nice as Francis used to be.

Sad and disappointed, I finally returned to the home island where I live together with a group of other magical rats.

Mazzorbo

St.Erasmo

Burano Franciscan monastery

0m 50m 100m 150m /--------------/--------------/--------------/

Together with my magical mates, I started a conference in the Church of Francis, which was built to honour our hero

by Antonio di Padova in 1228, the actual year of Franci’s canonization.The other rats missed him as much as I did and really wanted our old friend to come back again.

“Nowadays, there’s only the old, fat monk Severus coming to this church. He is very mean and selfish. When Francis used to come and prey here during the last five years of his life, he always brought me some bread crumbs and a small slice of the old cheese which is traditionally handmade on this island”, the pretty rat Rosalinda sighted. He was such a handsome and caring guy.

Severus, instead, eats all of the cheese and bread by himself and gets rounder and rounder every day.

He only thinks about himself, nobody else matters to him!”

“I also can’t stand him!”, Fruticus, a skinny and bony rat with tatty wings and long front teeth shouted. “Whenever he sees me, he starts punching at me with his walking stick. Francis used to love all living creatures, but fat Severus seems to hate animals.”

“You are absolutely right, Severus is a mean pillock!”, I replied. “But I have a great idea!

Let’s initiate an exchange and put a magic spell on him and this church.

Severus is supposed to turn into a ghost and Francis is supposed to return to earth as a human being. I’m sure, if we all work together, our magical powers will be strong enough. And we will finally be able to share a large slice of cheese again with our beloved Francis!

So on the next Friday, 13th, all of the magical rats met up at midnight and started to fly in circles around the bell tower of the church. I was standing at the top of the roof and shouted a magical spell into the cold night air:

“Commutationem monachorem desideremus...”

“Fine malis salso!”

Out of a sudden, my words were interrupted by a heavy voice speaking an opposite spell which was accompanied by one bright lightning strike coming down from the sky. When it hit next to me into the roof of the bell tower, the oscillation was throwing me off. The entire building collapsed and I got buried under the scree and rock pieces. It was god, who has sent the lightning strike from heaven. Angrily, he spoke to us: “Every human has his time on earth.

And only I have the power to decide about it and to rule over it. You are only tiny rats, who do you think you are?

Francis will stay with me in heaven until the end of all times.

There’s nothing

You can do about it.

For your misbehavoir, I will punish you. You shall never be able to cast out any magic spells again for all times.

Metamorphosis murium aerium ad incipendum est! ”

After his words, a lot of green raindrops started falling down from heaven.

As soon as they touched the bodies of my hairy mates, they turned into cypresses.

Since I was buried under the scree of the demolished church, I was the only one the raindrops didn’t reach.