One fine evening, my family and I were sitting around the large dinner table in the villa we were renting in Gattaiola, Italy. We had just finished an exquisite entrée consisting of fresh caprese made with basil from our own front yard, and traditional gnocci. Given my aversion to food comas, I coaxed my father and friend who had been traveling with me for a month, Donna, into taking a stroll through the windy back country roads we had not yet explored.
Our Villa
Little did I know that Gattaiola, this seemingly peaceful little region located just a few miles outside the enchanting, safe walls of Lucca, houses several wild animals, including....wild boars. Malicious, rogue boars willing to charge a victim if provoked. This minor detail was discovered after our walk.....naturally.
Gattaiola
As we turned off our driveway, heading into the Gattaiolan frontier, I felt my breath being taken away by the spectacular scenery. The moon had risen across the jet black sky, unscathed by light pollution, casting rich luminous rays of white onto the countryside. The light humidity allowed for a cardigan over my sundress to suffice, and we gazed into the endless sky as we walked, listening to my father, the astrophysicist, explain constellations, black holes, and the universe. The narrow road continued winding around hills and through fields, dotted with clouds of lightening bugs to lead the way, and we soon found ourselves walking in silence around a bend between a forest, and a walled villa. Suddenly, we heard a throaty, rumbling growl come from the trees to our left. Given that one could have heard a pin drop it was so quiet, we all jumped a little, and began walking a little faster. Donna and I, being the "girls", were of course a lot more frightened than my adventure-seeking father, and began crafting an exit strategy off the path incase said angry animal were to jump out and attack. Again, the growl sounded closer this time, and we noticed a few branches shaking about 20 feet away. Picked up the pace. Thankfully, we made it through the narrowest part of the path and felt a lot more comfortable upon reaching open land on both sides again. We walked about 100 more feet, laughing nervously about how scary and serious it would have been had that animal jumped out....and we reached a dead end. So much for our plan of finding an alternate route home. Now normally, I live to scare myself, I like the adrenaline rush. This, however, became a bit too real for me when I saw my level-headed father leave the path to find a thick branch for protection. Well, he did find a long branch and broke it into two pieces, providing Donna and himself with one, and leaving me with little more than my bare hands and pitiful shrieks to protect myself. Thank you papa.
In any case, we began walking back and soon entered the narrow bend again, tip toeing as fast as we could in silence, and ready to start sprinting within a moments notice. The grumbling went off again, this time only about 10 feet away, and we saw more branches rustling. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a second, imagining my father being charged and taken down without a chance to defend himself, leaving Donna and I to try and save him from being mangled with no help around us for miles. I opened my eyes, feeling the most vulnerable I have felt in ages, and heard the animal sound like it was foaming at the mouth, as if we had disturbed it's sanctuary. My heart felt like a drum beating fast, pulsating through my whole body. I could feel my adrenaline levels spike, letting off the sensation of a thousand butterflies tickling my stomach. Thankfully, being the unarmed one, I was farthest from the wild beast, and we had finally made it around the bend without the brute eating us alive.
Upon reaching our villa, we later confirmed that wild boars ARE native to the Tuscan region, and pose a threat to the quieter populations. A little late on the research.
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