by Nicole Maggi
I pressed a hand to my heart, and even though I was exhausted, I beckoned the shift to come. When it did, I soared out over the hillside and away from the farm, leaving my body far behind in the soft light of the Cave. I flew over the quiet streets of Twin Willows, the snowy rooftops of my neighbors and friends, safe in their beds without any inkling of the power that lay just outside their doors. The school sat dark and dormant as I winged over it. The bleachers, where I had spent so many happy lunch hours with Jonah, dripped with icicles big enough to see my reflection in as I went by.
At last I reached the ocean, the place where Maine came to an end and the rest of the world began. I swooped down and touched my talons to the white-crested waves, so constant and eternal. No matter what happened, the sea would always rise and fall. That, at least, I could count on.
I sailed upward, rocketing toward the stars, and let the wind take me where it would. Daybreak would come soon, and I would have to go back—to my body, to my home, to my other life—but for now, the moon, the stars, the night, and the sea were all I needed to let my soul take flight.
Author’s Note
This is a work of fiction. But the Benandanti are real. They were investigated by the Roman Inquisition from the late sixteenth century to the mid-seventeenth century in the Friuli region of Italy. Although many people confessed to having the gift to separate their souls from their bodies, the Inquisition never convicted a single Benandante. They realized that the protection the Benandanti gave to their villages was too valuable to remove.
These investigations are the subject of Carlo Ginzburg’s excellent book The Night Battles, which includes actual transcripts from the Inquisition trials that are fascinating to read. His book was the main source of my research for Winter Falls.
Although I greatly changed the mythology of the Benandanti to suit my story’s purpose, the foundation is built upon the original legend. I encourage my readers to learn more about the real Benandanti by reading Mr. Ginzburg’s book and by visiting my website, www.nicolemaggi.com, which includes a link to the Wikipedia page that inspired Alessia’s journey.
In bocca al lupo.
Bio
Nicole Maggi was born in the suburbs of upstate New York and began writing poems about unicorns and rainbows at a very early age. She detoured into acting, earned a BFA from Emerson College, and moved to NYC, where she performed in lots of off-off-Broadway Shakespeare. After a decade of schlepping groceries on the subway, she and her husband hightailed it to sunny Los Angeles, where they now reside, surrounded by fruit trees, with their young daughter and two oddball cats. She is also the author of the novel Followers and is hard at work on the rest of the Twin Willows Trilogy.