Chapter 67

“The only child on earth who, instead of falling asleep to a song, stays awake until the end and asks for another one, and another…” he muttered, and sighed deeply. “Done. Do you like that one on TV? The one they put in that cartoon that you like so much, the one about the two alchemist brothers. Do you remember, Mirko?”

“Bratiya?”

“That same one. Bratiya. Siblings.”

“You looked up the lyrics on Google to sing it together.”

Ivan laughed a little, but it was a nervous laugh, almost on the verge of crying. He rocked his son a little and slowly closed his eyes. Rex approached us, but I know that he was not paying attention to us; he was observing the surroundings with his ears pricked and his eyes fixed on things that I would never be able to see. His hazel gaze almost seemed yellow in contrast to the reddish gray of his fur. Thus Ivan’s deep voice reached my ears, singing the verses of a song that sounded sad and cold, in his native language.