Flower Tail

About the book:

Saverio is a dog from the tip of whose tail a flower has bloomed. From then on, many things happen to him: Aunt Sidonia uses him as a flower vase, the lady-friends coming for tea scare him, many people in the street attempt to clip the flower off. His troubles are over only when Laurita comes along. She likes the flower where it is. In his Grammar of Fantasy, Gianni Rodari states that the fantastic binomial triggers the spark of creativity. One word comes across another word that challenges it, forces it to stray from its usual path, and discover its capacity to create new meanings and penetrate unexplored universes. In Cola de flor, this binomial is formed by the words “dog” and “flower”. Even though he barks, skips, talks... the dog, Saverio, is not a mere personification of an animal. He is a character faced up to a new circumstance in his life: a daisy has bloomed on the tip of his tail and he does not know what to do about it.

Excerpt:

ONE WINTER DAY, A DAISY BLOOMED ON THE TIP OF SAVERIO’S TAIL.

IT WAS SUPER NICE TO FEEL LIKE A DOG WHO ENDED IN A FLOWER. UNTIL THE UNTHINKABLE HAPPENED.

“GRRUPIGRRUPI” BARKED SAVERIO, WITH BIG ROUND EYES.

“WHAT DO I DO NOW?” BUT HE DID NOT HAVE MUCH TIME TO THINK ABOUT IT. AUNT SIDONIA STOOD HIM ON A CROCHET TABLE MAT ON THE SIDEBOARD.

“LUCKY ME! TODAY MY FRIENDS ARE COMING FOR TEA, AND I COULDN’T GET FLOWERS TO DECORATE THE HOUSE. SAVERIO, YOU’LL WORK AS A FLOWER VASE THIS AFTERNOON.”

“GRRUPIGRRUPI.” GRUMBLED THE DOGGIE, “I GET SO BORED PLAYING THE FLOWER VASE.”

“STAND STILL, WILL YOU?! AND KEEP YOUR TAIL HIGH AND STIFF SO THAT THE DAISY STICKS OUT!”

AUNT SIDONIA’S FRIENDS ARRIVED. THEY WERE ALL WEARING ELEGANT HATS AND SAID WOW, WAW, WOO.

THEY MADE SO MUCH NOISE THEY SCARED SAVERIO OUT OF HIS WITS AND HE TUCKED HIS TAIL BETWEEN HIS LEGS. JUST AS HE WAS TUCKING IT DEEP, A YOUNG LADY SAW THE FLOWER AND SAID, “WOW, WAW, WOO. I WILL PLUCK THE PETALS OFF THIS DAISY SAYING HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME NOT, TO SEE IF MY LOVE REMEMBERS ME.”     

Translated by Natalia Barry / Edited by Laura Estefanía