The polished surfaces of the metallic hook reflect the pale blue and violet shades of the morning atmosphere. The trees on the road are mirrored as elongate dark forms that appear and disappear rhythmically over the lathed ridges of the hook. A golden line of light escapes from the rising sun and glides on the edges of the metallic hardware, giving to its outline a sharp look. The outline of the hook is only interrupted by the ring of a synthetic cargo strap, with which the hook is linked firmly. The overall outline of the hook delineates an “S” shape. However, the two endings of the shape are also bridged by a rotating sprung gate. While locked, this metallic element gives the hook a form that resembles that of a looping infinity sign.

Responding to the slight vibrations of the road, the sun’s thin golden line disappears for an instant, only to come back immediately as a strong light that covers most of the metallic surface, rendering indistinguishable the silhouette of the hook to the bare eye.

***

Trying to reach the dark dashboard inside the cabin, the driver’s sight is still striving to adapt. It is confused by the persisting afterimage of the bright skyline that extends outside the windshield. It is almost like a snapshot of the landscape was frozen in front of the driver and then hastily dragged in order to follow the movement of the driver’s eyes in a dazzled route. Without delay, the cool colours of the early sky that muddle the driver’s eyes give their place to a dissolving radiant stain of generic white. At the same time, the white spot diminishes towards a single point as it freely floats around the spacious cabin. Finally, the temporal ghost image fades away from the retina and the driver’s sight focuses quickly on the gauge-packed board. As by habit, the driver concentrates on the fuel gauge. Protected behind the thin glass, its red pointer seems to be stuck between two short lines that are printed in white over the matte black plastic. The indicator’s movement is agonizingly slow, impossible to be captured by human perception. However, it is true and persistent, driven by basic, still perfectly tuned mechanisms. Directly bound to the consumption of the liquid material.

***

The large wooden reels are stacked in the most efficient way on the long flatbed of the truck. They have been previously submitted to effective procedures of planning and management, carefully choreographed routines of storage and handling. Arranged like circular bricks of an unfinished two-dimensional pyramid, they create two rows of load that looks imposing, but securely fastened.

In order to picture the process by which the heavy copper freight was rolled on these gigantic drums, someone should imagine the beginning of the thick metallic rod sewed through a hole on the wooden flange. Then, ceaselessly wrapped around the inner barrel, coiled up in an overlong spiral that after countless spins eventually ends up to the round tip of the copper rod: a circular section of about eight centimeters diameter on which uncountable etched rays are shining chaotically. Resembling a microscopic instance of a rainy landscape, the shiny etched rays demonstrate the fierce movement that cut the metallic rod apart, separating it from a perpetual production process of heat, gravitational and centripetal forces.

***

There is a breeze coming from the hill on the left. The air current becomes visible as it displaces the thin dust on the bare terrain, blending the different colors of the soil, moving and shaping the low clouds. For ages it has been corroding the harsh earth, contributing to the operations of the temporal water streams and the slow underground tectonic shifts. In a similar way, sturdy paths created by human activity sculpt on the bare hills a network of solitary transportation veins. The air current proceeds through the engraved paths. It runs down the slope. It collides with the vehicles that drive the busy highway adjacent to the hills. It then disperses over the cultivated field that extends on the right of the highway. Staring at the field from a considerate height, one would see how it is partitioned in squared pieces of land, creating a mosaic pattern of green and yellow tiles.

***

Cracks tessellate the asphalt. They are the product of longtime usage and occasional events, possibly affected by construction quality and the special characteristics of the subsoil. They are memory-inscribed signs of wear, episodic information carriers. They could be repaired with a patch. To make the road smooth again.

When the wheel meets the cracks, the vehicle jolts briefly.