La Gioconda

#14 Michael's Wing

"Sis, there it is. I found one in the back of the closet [Note28]."

　My sister came into the room again with the picture frame. I looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was almost 4:00 p.m.

"That's been left in place for a long time now, hasn't it?"

"Well, yes. Maybe five or six years. Sis, can you lend me some cellophane tape?"

"Sure."

　I took the tape out of my desk drawer and handed it to my sister.

"Thank you, sister."

　My sister attached two pieces of cellophane tape, each about 5 cm long, to the back side of the right edge of the Mona Lisa sheet, so that they protrude horizontally. She then placed another sheet of Mona Lisa next to the right edge of the earlier sheet of Mona Lisa, carefully aligning the top and bottom of the sheet, and pressed it down from above to make it stick to the cellophane tape.

"Okay, now it's done. If the frame were larger, I could connect more."

"Connect more?"

"Because, you see, if I keep doing this over and over, it will look like a staircase."

"The Mona Lisa staircase !? "

　My sister sometimes says strange things. It's an idea that would normally be considered a bad idea, but it's kind of funny. I felt that this strange idea was pushing me to do something.

　Stairs, or ......, yeah, right. Maybe I should just take it one step at a time, like climbing stairs. If there is something I don't know, then I should just keep searching until I find the answer. I may be scared and intimidated at times, but I still have to take the plunge. Leonardo must have done the same.

　My sister was removing the back of the picture frame by turning the nail on the back of the frame.

"Sis, you said earlier that people can circulate love, right?"

"Yes."

"I think that means we can share love with the animals that live on this earth now."

"Are you talking about Miu? "

　We currently have a male American Shorthair cat. My parents started keeping the cat when I was born, and the name Miu has been passed down regardless of its gender. The current Miu is the third generation. Today, Miu was still nowhere to be seen, as if he was out for a walk somewhere.

"Of course, Miu is included. But it's not just pets like cats and dogs. Everyone has a heart that cares for living things."

"Yes, lua, your idea may be very compatible with the Mona Lisa, because some people actually say that the painting depicts a variety of animals." [Note29] [Note30].

"Oh, really? I see."

　Indeed, my sister may be right. We humans are not the only ones living on this planet. There are so many different kinds of life forms on this planet that we can't even begin to count them. Leonardo may have wanted to convey through this painting that we humans are creatures who can share love with other animals as well.

　At that moment, a book I had read about the history of mankind came to my mind. In that book, it was written that we, Homo sapiens, were able to destroy and conquer other humans, such as Neanderthals, because we acquired certain special abilities [Note31][Note32].

　The special ability that Homo sapiens acquired is called cognitive ability, which allows Homo sapiens to share delusions and fictions [Note31][Note32].