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Star On My Street

Before I proceed any further, I shouldParenthetic'ly pause in my taleFor writing a chapter (also called interlude)Whose hero – though part of the plot –I am glad to inform is notA stray cat (either male or female).  There's no epithet apt to explainThe cat

The Childhood Lane

excerpts II When my younger brother came into the world, the lane was waiting for him at the gate. He didn't know: he was so little! His home back then was a white cradle; mother's palms were the only lane he could walk on; mother's eyes – the only windows

Teodosie The Little

excerpt The Catdog was in a great big huff and, in order to make it more obvious to Teodosie that he was out of sorts, he kept opening and closing the drawers and doors of the cupboards with a loud bang. What is it you are looking for in the cupboard, Teodosie demanded to

Andilandi - Vlad's Journey To The Other Realm

excerpt  THE OTHER REALM To those who may wonder who or what Andilandi can be, I will tell that it is not a child. As I will tell them that it is not the name of a cuddling pet or of some computer game (at least not yet). Andilandi is not even the name of a remarkably

Tales From The Night Of The Milk Sun

excerpt No, I have not forgotten about Fear-of-Darkness. I have certainly not overlooked her, as little Cantemir does with certain commas and full stops when he writes down his homework. Fear-of-Darkness sat before him, sparse and finicky, you would not have believed it.

Whirligig With Wing

excerpt I May the flame of Saint Vitus strike you, bubblehead! and the slaps shot out in pair like two barrels firing in unison. The one to give them was a very upset Simion Mandruta, and the one to receive them was his rascal of a son, Toader, thin like a rake, fair-haired,

Romanians' Childhood: Analyzing A Big Question

How on earth have we survived our childhood? If you were a child in the 60s, 70s or early 80s, how did you manage to survive? From early childhood on we would travel in buses and cars with neither seatbelts nor airbags… a trip in the trailer of a lorry was a remarkable

The Story Of Pacala

Pacala has been a movie hero since as early as 1915. The most recent film, on a much lighter note than the story above, is Pacala's Return, or Pacala 2 (2006), directed by Geo Saizescu (who also directed Pacala, 1974 - click here to see preview), and subject to harsh

Tests

In 1982, with a thorn in my heart and my three-year-old son by the hand, I was calling on our the pediatrician-psychiatrist: in defiance of everyone around me, who did not believe my worries were well-grounded, I wanted to find out why my child was acting so strangely, why

The Child Is Another Soul

In the Balkans full of various mythologies, it is said that nobody can move faster than angels[1] when it comes to passing from one human being to another, thus populating the earth. Yet angelic beings are not among the early manifestations of our national imagery. Romanians

Sfantu Gheorghe, Mon Amour

In the old days, when you went to the doctor, you had to bring him a big fish. Now you have to give him money, the man complains. This would be it. Behind this brief fact, however, there is a long story. In the old days, the man used to bring the fish on the table, the wife

The Danube Delta - Remember

Whenever one talks about the beauties of our country and its tourist potential, the first words on the speaker's lips are: the Danube Delta. Unfailingly accompanied by the phrase biosphere reserve. Sometimes, the fact that it is a wetland of international importance