The Chick
Sandy, listen to your mammy! One spring, a very tired quail – tired since she was coming from far, far away, from Africa – alighted on a plain of green wheat, close to a stand of saplings. After she rested for a few days, she started to gather twigs, dried leaves, straws
Magnanimity
At the break of dawn, the light performs wonders on the pond. Bits of broken mirrors glimmer on the water over here; steel plates glitter over there; treasures of yellow coins lay among the reeds. Rays of gold flow into the water lilies like into floating cups. A silvery
The Alley Boys
excerpt 3. THE INCREDIBLE ADVENTURES OF STING AND STUNG Sting and Stung came into being in a jar of mustard, on the very first morning after I'd dreamt of serpentine road bends and devils. Had it been necessary to invent a realm for them to come forth from – a
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
The Enchanted Grove
Almost sixty years after the first edition, Lizuca – Victor Hugo's Cosette escaping into Lewis Carroll's Wonderland – became the heroine of a fantasy film directed by Gheorghe Naghi (The Enchanted Grove, 1980 - click here to see preview). excerpts II: MISS
The Children's Crusade
excerpt Attention on platform three! Please stand clear of the edge of platform three! The special train is now arriving from Oradea! Attention on platform three! Please stand clear of the edge of platform three! The special holiday train is now arriving from Oradea! The
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
The Grass Sign
Once upon a time … The Witch Moon finished bordering the kitchen curtains with pieces of intricate lace crocheted by herself during the long day hours when she couldn't sleep; she finished putting the preserves in jars – the stars' favorite preserves, the ones
The Boy's Shadow
Morning time. The good-humoured sun, with his ruddy chubby cheeks, stretches out his hand through the room's window and tenderly caresses a boy who's still asleep. The Boy is slowly waking up: he rises on the edge of the bed and he's surprised as he discovers
Bucurita, Daughter Of The Mountains
excerpt MARGICA, PAPARUDA: You could die laughing, that's screamingly funny. Hah, hah, hah! MARGICA: Well, I never! Hah, hah, hah!PAPARUDA: Goodness sakes. . . hah, hah, hah!THE EMPEROR: But what's wrong? Why are you both speaking at the same time… what did
Prince Charming Of A Tear Born
In the days of old, when the people of today were just the project of a distant future, when God Himself trod with His sacred feet the rocky deserts of the earth – in those old times there was a king, gloomy and pensive as the dark midnight, and he was married to a young
One Good Year's Ass And Sure Man's Pass
One day Nassredin the Hajji, down a lane and past a rail,Walking, caught in so much wonder one rich sight, beyond the pale:In a rich man's yard an ass foal gaudily bedecked was, all,Clad in very gaudy harness gold embroidered and preparing for a day's big festival