The Icon: Icoana (Romanian)

By Tez Lindrof

Many people go traveling, but extraordinary things happen only to few during that journey. Dan was one of those fortunate people, and starting with that trip to Romania, extraordinary things continued to happen long afterwards . . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Feb 27, 2019
• ISBN: 9781984505040

Tez Lindrof

Up to this book, I have written two other books: one for my Master degree and one for my Doctor degree, both in Engineering. You can now understand how much of a "writer"/author I am!! Nevertheless, facing the events described in this book, I have been totally captivated and virtuously forced to jump out of my skin and write an "ordinary" book for others to read and learn from it. Enjoy it!

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Copyright © 2019 by Tez Lindrof.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 03/28/2019

Xlibris

1-800-455-039

www.Xlibris.com.au

790402

CONTENTS

Australia, 2005

Romania, May 2005.

Australia, July the 26th.

Romania, 26th of July 2005

Romania, July the 27th, 2005.

Romania, 15th of August 2005.

Romania, 17th of August 2005

ISRAEL.15th of August 2005

Israel, 19th of August 2005.

Israel, 28th of August 2005

AUSTRALIA.

Israel, one year later

Updates.

TRANSLATIONS

We’ll meet again

don’t know where

don’t know when

But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day

We’ll Meet Again

We’ll Meet Again

singer Vera Lynn

music Ross Parker

lyrics Hughie Charles

Australia, 2005

As the time for departure was getting closer, Dan was becoming increasingly exited. He’s been preparing this trip for a long time and his anxiety was growing as well, not knowing how things will turn out to be there, in Romania, with friends he hasn’t seen or been in contact for over thirty years….. Neither he, nor anybody else could have anticipated that past events from the time he was growing up there, more than fifty years ago, would come to an unexpected end now, during this trip….

It was already March and Dan was putting in place the final touches of his Doctoral thesis. Times started becoming hectic but exiting: the thesis was going in the right direction after a long period of stagnation and change of supervisors, while the latest details of the trip were being organised and bookings were to follow soon.

Dan booked the trip last November: to start at the end of July – the middle of the peak tourist season in the Northern Hemisphere/Europe – after several failed attempts to book it for the September/October months, well out of season. The trip he booked was quite a complex one and included Romania, Israel, Thailand and Hong Kong and for that reason, he accepted the booking for the July – August months, as the only period Frequent Flyer seats were available. Surprisingly, the itinerary had to include Spain since One World Alliance Dan had frequent flyer points with, through Qantas, had no direct flights between Romania and Israel.

The length of the trip was six weeks; long enough for everything he wanted to do and see in Romania and Israel. That was not the problem. The problem was the budget for the trip. It meant that once again, he’d have to withdraw money from the savings without the possibility of putting it back in the future. Therefore, he will have to think and budget carefully so that he could do everything he wanted to do and see everyone and every place he wanted to see, while the amount of money will be and stay reasonable for his needs and in his wife’s eyes.

He contemplated again on the fact that the wishes of proceeding with two major things soon, before being too late, came to fruition at about the same time.

They were personal things. To one of these things he had been holding on for at least twenty years and he felt too awkward not doing something about it. It culminated with the decision to reveal the vision he has had for such a long time by embarking on doctoral thesis with his idea as a subject.

It was difficult: not from the thesis, but from the income point of view. Without a salary or any other means of support for his idea, and with a minor maintenance job that could stop at any moment, the income he delivered dropped by about 80%.

They were lucky, he thought, that the house has been virtually paid off and Sheerly (his wife) had a low paid part time job that provided as much income as his; they had only modest savings but no debts; the girls were grown up, independent and living away from home,

But the marital relationship was strained, neither of them being used to being at home with the other one for the whole day, week after week, month by month.

On top of that, he had not gained Sheerly’s support for the doctoral work, since she has not been included in the decision making process and being faced with him starting the work for the Doctorate.

On the other hand, to work on his idea NOW for a doctorate was so important for him and the opportunity so tempting that he could not risk trying to convince Sheerly about it and do things against her possible rejection.

The second thing was to do with his age. He always argued that one is as old as one feels and at his age of well over fifty; he was feeling full of energy and virility. That was until lately when he started feeling that he was growing old. He then concluded that his place was now in the first row of fire, amongst those who are supposed to die next.

Probably those urges pushed him to embark on working on his idea and to book a trip to see places and people he had not seen for long time.

Time was running out and though he could theoretically live another fifty years, which would surely not hold for all the people he wanted to see in this trip. They were also on the front line as he was and he wanted to meet them as soon as possible.

He wanted to thank them for being besides him when he needed them most and for their support. He wanted to do this in person. He wanted to see again places from his childhood that made an impression on him and places that he just kept in his memory for no special reason…..

Stories about many of these places he had told his wife and his daughters as part of his story telling sessions around the table on Friday evenings ……

Nevertheless, how could he justify booking a trip of leisure, roots searching and fantasy while his thesis was in disarray to the point of changing supervisors and when his income was so low that he had to take money from the savings for it?

However, he felt that there was no need to justify anything to anybody. It was nobody’s business and as long as Sheerly didn’t object to the money part, it could be fine.

Yes, many things have changed in these four years; with Sheerly as well as with him!!

Sheerly had opposed such a trip three years before; however, she slowly arrived to the conclusion, on her own, that such a trip could be beneficial to both of them and their relationship. By last November, Sheerly was already encouraging Dan to book and seemed exited when he did it.

From the thesis point of view, he had faith that it will end up well and in time. He believed in a continuous improvement in relationship between Sheerly and himself and a successful end to the doctorate before the trip, even if he had to finish up the official things after his return.

It was November then, and a telephone chat with his cousin Vista who suggested not delaying the trip for better times, such as when his income would be grater, or the work on the thesis more defined, made him go ahead the next day and book.

Now, in March, with the thesis going well, the relationship with Sheerly improving all the time, and Sheerly agreeing straight away to the amount of money he’s suggested to take and spend in his trip, the feeling was that everything was working out.

Romania, May 2005.

¹

_ Domnule T…., directorul sectiei de trecerea hotarelor e la telefon pentru dumneavoastra; sa vi-l dau? said the voice of his secretary from the other room.

_ Yes, thank you, Viorica.

_ Good day domnule director general, how are you these days?

_ Bine sefule! How are you? How is the family?

_We are all well, thank you; the kids are growing and my wife has decided to take up a job in her profession, now that the youngest is going to school. Thank you for asking. I would like to have a chat with you on a private and delicate matter. Could we meet in the park sometimes, please?

_ Desigur; how about our bench in Cismigiu in about two hours time?

_ S-a facut; I’ll wait for you there. Thank you.

T had known Alex Dinescu for quite a few years, even before Alex has graduated in Conservation Biology and a major in Philosophy.

That was about ten years ago when he has been asked to suggest a worthwhile candidate who could be promoted quickly through the ranks to a managerial position.

The Romanian Intelligence Agency has been transformed and westernised like most of the other institutions in Romania; the process implied replacing many people who have shown too much dedication to the fallen communist regime, with new, younger people.

At low levels there was no problem of recruiting new people, while at high level the tendency has been to both promote from within the agency as well as from outside it. It took Alex five years to go through the ranks in increasingly senior positions until he became the director of emigration/immigration section. That was two years ago. By then, he had married his sweetheart from high school and had two children.

It was interesting to note that Alex did not want to talk about the matter in his office. Could it be an urgent, personal issue that could not wait?

Cismigiul was quite crowded but that was natural for the afternoon of a hot spring day. The seasonal flowers were there and their aroma was refreshing.

Alex was there waiting for him. On the same bench was also sitting one of the former agency’s employees (Nicolae, he thought was his name) who has retired about five years ago, at about the same time when he took over the helms of the agency…. His retirement was self-initiated as Nicolae was well over sixty-five then. He could have