{"id":1813,"date":"2009-10-05T19:56:07","date_gmt":"2009-10-05T17:56:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/egophobia.ro\/?p=1813"},"modified":"2010-01-22T21:53:25","modified_gmt":"2010-01-22T19:53:25","slug":"chasing-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/?p=1813","title":{"rendered":"Chasing time<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Monica Trif<\/strong>\u00a0 (Romania)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Translation from Romanian\u00a0by Irina Savin<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Edited by Robert Fenhagen<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Adrian rushed from the house, made his way as best he could through the fierce blizzard, took his horse and carriage and set off for the village.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It was blizzard weather, and he could barely see on that Christmas\u00a0 Eve. The single mountain road\u00a0 was hidden between snow-banks.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Adrian Lupescu lived with his wife in the middle of the mountains, far away from the village, far away from the living world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 They knew every cliff, every sound of the trees, and had a small, but beautiful house that seemed welcoming, but with no one to welcome, as their neighbors were the lofty trees and the steep cliffs. Animals were their friends.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The mountains reflected the raw reality of their life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sunset was the time to rest the animals, and sunrise was\u00a0 the tough time when they had to wake up, and restart the household chores.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The crests of the mountains, covered by forests, were the curtains isolating them from the world. And the mountain flowers were basically just weeds\u2013 food for the animals.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, during\u00a0 this winter, the fierce cold was hardening their lives more,\u00a0 and Liliana, his wife, was ill.<\/p>\n

\u2018Who knows if I\u2019m going to find the doctor? It\u2019s Christmas Eve, feasting time, and no one is working tonight.\u2019<\/p>\n

While moving slowly through the snow, Adrian\u2019s thoughts were like a broken canvas, with only fragments of images: trees, snow, and his darling Lilianna lying sick.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 At other times, he would\u00a0 find\u00a0 lost memories;\u00a0 winding memories that would surface and his soul would fill with sadness: how he wished with every bone in his body to someday have the money to buy a grand house for Lilliana.<\/p>\n

\u2018How quickly time flies! So many years!\u2026 We had so many plans, so many dreams\u2026 Nothing accomplished. We didn\u2019t even have time to have a baby. We built a house, we bought land, animals\u2026 How quickly time flies!\u2019<\/p>\n

He stroke the horse now and then, without realizing what he was doing.<\/p>\n

\u2018She was so beautiful when we got married! Light brown hair, green eyes, slender and tall, she was like a may flower. And now\u2026 I don\u2019t even know how she became ill.<\/p>\n

How quickly time flies!\u2019<\/p>\n

Night was falling and the air was still. The horse wasn\u2019t protesting anymore, but moving as fast as it could.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 It was six o\u2019clock already, and they were still so far away from the village.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018After,\u00a0 she\u2019ll get better, we\u2019re going to go for that honey moon I promised, but never had time or money for. And we\u2019re going to visit our relatives.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Maybe we\u2019ll even go to see some cities. We could buy an apartment in the city\u2026 and we could stay there in the winters, closer to the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lost in thought, he wasn\u2019t even feeling the frost that was freezing his feet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Late in the evening, when\u00a0 they arrived at the village hospital, he found only the nurse.\u00a0
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I don\u2019t think that Doc\u2019 will come in for you at this late hour, on Christmas Eve; I don\u2019t even know why you came all this way,\u201d said the nurse harshly. Anyhow, this is the doctor\u2019s address. He lives near by.<\/p>\n

The nurse handed him a piece of paper with the doctor\u2019s address written on it, and Adrian rushed out heading for the doctor\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 An imposing house, the frosted roof and neighboring trees were covered with snow; it was beautiful.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 As he got closer to the door, the scent of sponge cake invaded his frozen nostrils; the feast had begun.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He knocked at the door a few times but nobody answered. The clatter was too loud for anybody to hear the knock, and open the door to him. So he opened the door, entered and still nobody noticed him.<\/p>\n

From the big entrance hall, he could see a massive opened door, a large saloon with all sorts of people, young and older. They were playing jolly songs, laughing and cheerfully chatting. The table was full with cookies and sponge cakes, wine and other drinks, all looking appetizing. For a moment there, Adrian\u2019s thoughts flew to Liliana who was left all alone, couldn\u2019t even get herself a glass of water.<\/p>\n

\u2018I wonder what is she doing now, all alone?\u2019\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

After a few moments, somebody saw him and slowly the music stopped, people started whispering and all gazes were aiming him. A 50 years old tall man, with aristocratic looks, came towards him at the door.<\/p>\n

– Who are you looking for?
\n– Doctor Alexandru Pop.
\n– It\u2019s me, how can I help you?
\n– My wife is sick, and I don\u2019t know what to do, I apologize for disturbing you at this hour and on such a day, but my wife is very sick.
\n– And where is she? Did you take her to the hospital?
\n– No, she\u2019s home. I would like you to come with me to see her.
\n– To your home?! the doctor asked miffed. You should have taken her to the hospital, he added.
\n– But we live far away, on the mountain, it\u2019s too cold, and she can\u2019t even stand on her feet. She would have died freezing on the way!
\n– Don\u2019t worry, maybe it\u2019s nothing serious, I can\u2019t abandon my guests now, but tomorrow morning you can bring her to the hospital.<\/p>\n

The doctor disappeared. Adrian stayed at the door. He couldn\u2019t believe he had come all this way for nothing. Long moments passed and Adrian couldn\u2019t move.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Eventually, annoyed, the doctor came back and asked him:
\n– How did you get here?
\n– By carriage.
\n– Wait a moment, I\u2019ll go get my coat.<\/p>\n

\u00a0In a few minutes, they were on, the way to Adrian\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 The doctor was impatient and was giving Adrian posing superior looks that forbade a single word.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 From time to time, the doctor\u00a0 complained about the fierce cold.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It made for a heavy silence and a gloomy feeling all around, as they traveled.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 The moon looked like a small white dot, and the road back seemed so much longer.<\/p>\n

Finally, it stopped snowing, but it was still bitterly cold.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The house looked empty at that hour, and everything around was painfully silent.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 They entered the house with no one saying a thing, and Adrian led the doctor into the room where he had left Liliana.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 She was lying in bed with her eyes closed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201eMaybe she fell asleep\u201d, said the doctor, as an answer to Adrian\u2019s worried looks.<\/p>\n

Adrian got closer and touched her with fear. As he did, his heart seemed to stop, because she was cold; cold as the frozen mountain outside.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 She didn\u2019t wait for him. Adrian looked at the doctor but now there truly was no need for words.<\/p>\n

\u2018Ohh\u2026 if she could have waited for an hour only\u2026 if I could have had time to look her in the eyes one more time\u2026 if I could have told her that I loved her\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Monica Trif\u00a0 (Romania) Translation from Romanian\u00a0by Irina Savin \u00a0Edited by Robert Fenhagen \u00a0 Adrian rushed from the house, made his way as best he could through the fierce blizzard, took his horse and carriage and set off for the village. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It was blizzard weather, and he could barely see on that Christmas\u00a0 Eve. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[310,22],"tags":[1131,1123,37,362,1116,312],"class_list":["post-1813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-egophobia-24","category-short-story","tag-egophobia-24","tag-english","tag-irina-savin","tag-monica-trif","tag-short-story","tag-translation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6DakB-tf","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1813"}],"version-history":[{"count":41,"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3474,"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1813\/revisions\/3474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}