Which town?

During those years of declared conflict, those visiting aspirants who lingered and appeared eager to join the adventure were soon summoned to choose a “side”. “If you are not with us, you are against us”, was the message. Yet, an alternative to these two incompatible causes and their confrontation had somehow constituted, composed of persons who had not been able to support the narrow views of the Society but could not either subscribe to the positions held by S. and his adherents = the “Neutrals”. Harassed and scorned by the latter, propitiated and courted by the former, these very distinct individuals had become, by the force of ostracism, relatively united : it was thus that, when O., the first effective administrator delegated by the central Government, had identified all the protagonists in place, he advised these “neutrals” to form a legal Association naming them as a group, so as to prevent and avoid an eviction. Which they did. And it was only in 1988, when the Act of Parliament was voted confirming the role of the Government and its responsibilities in the destiny of Her town, that an official list of all residents was established including the “neutrals” = the closure of a long corrosive chapter – at times funny or ridicule, often devastating.

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It was as if for those years the psychological terrain of Her city had been taken hostage, or struck with a spell – and one now had to get hold of oneself and recover and restore or find again the movement of a common quest.

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