The Brick Wall: The Magical World of Carpathia

By Radu Olimpiu Gherghel

Young Princess Kayla was loved by all. She lived in a beautiful and magical land called Carpathia, where the men and women lived in harmony with nature. One day, while out exploring the verdant forests of her homeland with her favorite wolf, Shadow, she met a bricklayers son named Manole. The two quickly became the best of friends, and as they grew older, their friendship grew into a love that bound them together for all time. When it was time for Kayla to become queen of her land, Manole joined her as king, and everyone rejoiced at the bright future to come.

But then tragedy struck the peaceful kingdom. Kayla and Manole turned to each other for strength and hope. As her kingdom faded, another rose from a completely new world in a different dimension. In this other land, a young girl named Viorica heard tales of a beautiful young queen, her king, and her devoted wolf. Without any warning, she found herself living in the story she loved so much, as part of the real world of Kaylas kingdom.

The magical and wondrous adventures of Kayla, Manole, and Viorica have been told throughout the years in Carpathia.

But to this day, no one knows if they were just fairy talesor a true story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: May 11, 2015
• ISBN: 9781491761137

Radu Olimpiu Gherghel

Radu Olimpiu Gherghel, an engineer, is a native of Timisoara, Romania, and immigrated to the United States in 1967. He and his wife, Judy, have two children and six grandchildren. They live in Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania. Ths is his third book.

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Copyright © 2015 Radu Olimpiu Gherghel.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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ISBN: 978-1-4917-6114-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-6113-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015902637

iUniverse rev. date: 05/07/2015

CONTENTS

Chapter 1 Place of Magic

Chapter 2 Kayla’s Troubles

Chapter 3 Mysterious Powers

Chapter 4 Viorica’s Wonder

I wrote this book for my granddaughter Kayla; she is the sparkle in my eye. I could sit and listen to her forever or just watch her and Grandma Judy play and hug.

CHAPTER 1

Place of Magic

My name is Viorica, and I have a strange and exciting story to tell you. One summer, I visited my grandmother, Magdalena. She lived in the little village of Orlat on the outskirts of Sibiu, a quite large city.

The village of Orlat, as well as the city of Sibiu, retained the grandeur and magic of its earlier twelfth-century days of German settlers. What made this village mysterious and mesmerizing were the location and its people. Orlat sat in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains of Romania, the Transylvanian plateau. Not many people lived in Orlat—I think about three thousand—and all of them knew my grandmother.

On the way to Grandma’s house, we drove slowly through Orlat with the windows open. Many people sat on benches in front of their homes, waving as we passed by. For them, all so friendly, dressed in old-fashioned clothing, living in very old homes, time just passed by. Was this a magic place? Was this for real? I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

The village of Orlat stood near a large forest, with the Cibin River rolling through town. The breezy wind swiping by made it feel like magic was in the air.

My grandmother’s farm was located outside the village near the forest and the Cibin River. The old-timers of the village said that magic protected Magdalena’s farm, and I think they were right. If you just stood in the middle of the farm, closed your eyes, and just listened as the wind blew, with the river splashing and the birds singing, you could really feel the magic, sensing that you were not alone, that you were one with nature.

What really grabbed my attention and made my mind wander was the forest. As I stood looking at the tall trees with odd-shaped branches, my imagination took over me; I concentrated on finding someone looking back at me or just something moving. The farther I looked into the forest, the darker it got, and the scarier and more peculiar my feelings became.

My father, Petru, and my mother, Ada, left me with Grandma Magdalena for a week because they needed time to fix and paint our house in Sibiu. It was a charming old home, needing urgent repairs from the damage caused by a recent storm. I offered to help, but my parents felt I would extend the duration of the work, which needed to be completed as soon as possible because rainy days were coming.

All during our journey to Grandma’s farm, my father complained to my mother about how much work they had to do. First, the roof was leaking, and then one of the windows was broken, and so on and so on; the list was never ending. Just listening to them made me so happy to get away and see Grandma, which always made me feel so good.

Farm%20House%20Sketch.jpg

We arrived at Grandma’s house in the afternoon. Grandma invited us in for a cool drink. We all sat around the table and talked.

As my parents were in a hurry, their visit was short. Mother, said my father, Petru, Viorica is older now, so she can help you. Give her chores, and she’ll be just fine. We will be back in a week; if you need us, call.

We hugged and kissed