by Eduard Ţone (b. 1970)
excerpt NERO The piano Alfred had found was not brand new but it was, without the shadow of a doubt, the right one for Spartacus the tomcat's room. The one-eyed cat could only be grateful for such a find. He had now recovered his senses and was giving performances for his distinguished friends every evening. Spartacus had eventually learned how to look after himself, he had even learned how to cook and above all when he saw a mouse he could restrain himself from chasing it – although with no little effort.Professor Vergilius had his room upstairs. He had arranged his room to be a classroom, but without the coldness which is common in such places. He had "dressed up" the room in warm colors and comfortable armchairs. His course book about "Education and Fine Manners" was very successful in the locality. Not only had the myriapods from the beach come to join the course; not only those who had come back from the wrecked town, but also a lot of other insects and marine animals. Vergilius couldn't have a moment on his own since he was continuously bombarded with his students' questions, some of them not even strictly related to fine manners. The distinguished professor was even considering opening another school, and for this purpose had already got in touch with other equally distinguished professors and had invited them to teach at his new school. Another room of the house – in the basement – was lodging Lambada, the spider. Happy to be working – eventually! – for visitors, the spider was weaving true works of art. His exhibitions – twice a year – were so famous that they were gathering spiders from other corners of the world. He had been invited to other exhibitions and his works had received many awards. He was no longer aloof and his well-known circumspection had long vanished like smoke. Tonguey, the snail, often visited his friends. He had made friends on the beach with lots of saltwater snails with whom, at some point, he had created the Lonely Snails Club. He had been lucky enough to find there the most gorgeous she-snail from the area, who never left him and with whom he could be seen wherever he was going. Alfred, the donkey, never gave up the building materials he had found on the beach, and built the most fantastic little orange house in the whole world. A little orange house just like the one he had seen – or dreamed about – a long time ago, from his private cloud. At some point he had even built a fence on which white roses were growing. A fence whose gate never had any key. A perfect householder, the donkey was careful to look after all his friends' needs. There was one thing Alfred had forgotten. The day Alfred was to remember his promise made a long time before to Olga, the she-vulture, he was in front of the little orange house together with his four friends and Tonguey's special friend. "Dearest friends, I'm so happy to have you all here, in this house which we built together after our own tastes and needs. I'm pleased you had the courage to follow me into this adventure, although the promises I had made to you seemed to have no real ground at the time. "Tonguey, I'm glad I managed to bring you to the seashore and that you have found the partner you were looking for. You have been so patient. "Professor Vergilius, I'm happy that you can run your courses in comfort and that, very soon, you'll open a new Academy. You are a truly educated creature. "Dear Lambada, you can't possibly imagine how happy it makes me to see the success your exhibitions have. You have been so imaginative. "As for you, Spartacus, the only thing I can say is that I'm most contented that you can look after your own self. There is no delightful owner now to comb you all day long. You have been strong. "As for myself, I'm even more pleased to have you all here and to share all these wonderful things we've got. Perhaps I have been trusting." Alfred the Donkey looked up at the cloudless sky. But, no, there was one tiny weeny fluffy yellowish cloud passing by just above them. Alfred smiled. And, then, suddenly, out of the blue, a vulture came down and landed just next to him. "Good day to you. My name is Nero." Alfred instantly remembered the promise he had made a long time ago to the one who had helped him at the very beginning and had encouraged him to follow his dream. "And a good day to you, too, Nero. I would be most honored if you would like to come into our little orange house. You may be tired and might want something to eat." "How very kind of you! I am indeed extremely tired: I've been flying for months looking for my mother whom I haven't seen since I was very, very little." "You were born in the Cave of the Wishes, isn't it so?" Alfred, the donkey, gently asked him. "Quite so!" answered Nero, surprised. "How do you know?" "Well, I happen to know a number of things. And there is plenty to learn, too." Alfred smiled to him and kept the door open to let Nero inside. When everybody was in the house he remained there, right in the door frame, looked up at the sky and whispered softly: "Olga, Nero is here." LiterNet, 2004 www.liternet.ro
by Eduard Ţone (b. 1970)
by Eduard Ţone (b. 1970)