That the piccolo man plays the piccolo is not important. Not for us anyway. The piccolo man is the local legend because he listens to the answers of his questions, not because he plays the piccolo.
His voice is much softer and has a much higher pitch when he isn’t addressing a crowd. The piccolo man’s hair hangs down in an ashy, oily sheet and four of his front teeth stick out horizontally.
I tell him I am afraid to die and not afraid to die. He tells me it is all an illusion.
“Sir, teach me more.”
