Nic

The Colored Continent

excerpt AUREL FRECKLE ENTERS ZOOLOGY COUNTRY SUSPECTING NOTHING OF THE UNEXPECTED EVENTS THAT AWAIT FOR HIM THERE.  So, Aurel got out of the car, ready to head for Zoology Country, and Rodica Pencilcase slammed the door of the colored car with all her might, started the

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

The Story Of Ting-A-Ma-Ling, The Softer Feminine Software Designer

Ting-a-ma-Ling, the Softer Feminine Software Designer, tightened her lips slightly. She could not really put up with people talking so cynically about old men, kings or no kings. And Mol-loch's way, with his sheep's eyes and smiles, obnoxiously courting her all

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

Pocket Aliens

excerpt CHAPTER ONE: WHERE LYL AND EVY SHOW UP We like it on Earth because there are pockets here that don't need fuel to get around! said Evy. You mean the people who live on this planet carry small pockets around with them, Lyl completed her sentence. But what is

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,

Petrea The Fool

excerpt What happened, happened; had it not happened, there would be no story to tell. Once, there was a man, who was so rich that he lost count of his riches. He had such a large courtyard that seven times seven carts pulled by oxen could move in circles, and surrounding

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

Like Then: A Memory With M

I was walking through the campus on a sunny September morning, which was calm, fresh, with a deep blue sky, like then. Then, just as now, the dew that fell during the night on the grass sparkled coldly and delicately. The sun was strong and gentle. Through the pure air passed,

Nobody's Angels

excerpts  PROMISES  Those of us who looked after the severely ill, close to their end in hospitals or foster homes made a lot of promises to them. Some asked for the impossible, namely to save them from death, but most of them only wished not to die alone and, above all,