Rusty woke up quite early for his habits. The Goofy's clock told him it was just eight twenty two. As he saw it he told himself he really could try to sleep another hour. But suddenly an image invaded his mind. 

It was the memory of the nightmare that stopped his sleep. It was a flash of two maybe three seconds. Then it disappeared, but it was enough for him to lose completely any sleeping intention.

He found himself sitting in his bed, awake, with a bad bad mood and the memory of a terrifing nightmare that left no clear images in his mind, but only that agitation. 

So he took his morning shower, shaved and cleaned his teeth and had his breakfast, with orange juice, coffe, honey and plumcakes. 
As usual he looked the sky doing it, from the big window. Cloudy day, again, and windy. This didn't make him happy, and that nightmare. But the time to go had come. 

The clangy noise of the train stopping annoied the two seagulls that took the flight for a quitest place. 
Rusty thought "Well, she's coming out of that train, but are almost six years we don't see us... hope she didn't change too much, or I won't recognise her. Or maybe she will recognise me.". And he absolutely wasn't sure about that either. 

People started exiting, with bags, packs and all their stuff; hundreds of ants they seemed to Rusty. And he was looking for a butterfly. 

"Rusty. Rusty the savage... where is my old friend Rusty the savage?" a voice of a woman was calling loudly. 
Surely was his butterfly, mmh... Gilda, his school mate of the past. 

She was making it easy to meet. Maybe not really unnoticed, but easy. 

"Gilda! How are you? How many years... and finally I can see again you!" Rusty was happy. 

"Rusty. My favourite savage boy of the whole school!" and jumped in his arms.

"Well... You actually don't look really a savage, as you used to." and smiled graciously with her thin lips.

He turned his eyes up for a moment, then looked again toward Gilda: 
"You see, Savage now is just my name, the inheritance of my dad, my grand-dad and all my ancestors. Here you can see Rusty Savage, Rusty "the savage" doesn't exist any longer". 

She put her head over his chest, to hear his heart, and told:
"what a pity. But I will love also Rusty Savage. But the heart beats a little savagely anyway", with a little smile looked up to meet his eyes. 

Two glasses full of ice-tea. A man and a woman seat at that table that have too many things to tell eachother.

"And after S. Francisco I went back to L.A. , for a while. My ex-husband didn't pay the bills, and I went back to the school, and found a job there."

"I tried the challenge of football fields, but it was too tricky. I wasn't able to play so dirty, although everybody did it. And all my friends did it also to me. So I gave up with that world and went away.". 

"Is there the savage died?" asked her softly. 

"Yeah. I always felt that name as a heavy stone on my shoulders. For everybody I just was "the savage". Nobody cared what was really in my mind, and in my heart. From "the savage" you always expect a savage behaviour. And I couldn't stand it any longer." 

Rusty took a deep breath. 

"Also girls and women, as it happened in the college years, isn't it?" and she laughed a little. 

Funny memories of glory days, and nights. 

"Yes. Also them." and a laugh came also from his mouth. 

"And it was hard to stand it also" smiling. 

"Never met the real love? Or almost the illusion of it?" she had started drinking. 

"Not there. Not amongst these women" one hand seized his glass.

"But I always loved one girl. And you should know who she is, if you have a good memory." 

"I know" . And they remained silent for a while. 

Gilda was keeping his eyes to the table, thoughtful. 

"My uncle died three weeks ago. You know Rusty, he was a father and a mother, my whole family. The greatest person in the world." 

"I know. I really admired him. I'm really sorry Gilda". 

"Before dying he told me one thing, telling me it was really important, and to remember it always, for all my life. And to share it with the persons I really love. And that I can believe in.".

Rusty stopped drinking and stared at Gilda. 

"He told me it was the lesson I should never forget. then he said this sentence " Seven plagues for the ones hard at heart. Seven gifts for who believes in love." He called it the 7+7." 

"You decided to share it with me. I really thank you Gilda." and took her hand.
"Don't worry. I felt I had to do it. And there is another thing I must do, before I go back to the station." 

"You already go back! You only stay an afternoon?" 

"Yep. I have to go back. But there is this other thing..." and gave him a little paper with a note.

"It is her number. I should have given you years and years ago. But I was jealous. It was a mistake, my uncle taught me. I hope is not too late, and I think is not."

Rusty took the paper, looked at it, and then put it in a pocket. 
"Gilda... I thank you. Really. What can I do for you?"

"Learn the lesson, the 7+7. And teach it to the ones you love, if you can." Then she stood up, quite rapidly was ready to go.

"Stay seated savage. And finish your drink please. And the last thing I have to tell you. Don't let nightmares spoil also your days over the nights please". And in a second was gone. 

Rusty finished the tea, than put one hand in his pocket to check if the little paper was still there. It was.

Everything was so similar to a dream, all so fast, sudden, unexpected. 

"7+7" he repeated in his mind, "7+7". 

Then stood up and went home. With one hand keeping strongly a little piece of paper.