Flower city adventures

by Răzvan Moica, 6th grade
"Grigore Moisil" Theoretical High School Timișoara

It was a beautiful March morning when nature seemed to come alive again. A young butterfly, as colorful as a painting, strolled through Timisoara.
He seemed at his best on the banks of the Bega, the river that runs through Timisoara. As he was strolling, a boat passed by. It was full of children waving to him. He felt very important. The little butterfly flew a little farther to the Rose Park. It has some beautiful, colorful daffodils that smell as enticing as the pie in Grandma's oven.
The Butterfly was attracted by the noise caused by the playful children in the Children's Park. He went to see what all the hubbub and fuss was about. Arriving at the park, he discovered lots of swings and swings, slides and playgrounds... And lots and lots of children. Slowly, he realized why it was so noisy.
He didn't know the city from there, so he turned towards a huge building with a big tower. That was the Metropolitan Cathedral in Timișoara, in Victoriei Square, where the Timișoara Opera House is.
In the year 2023 Timisoara was the European Capital of Culture, and there was a show at the Opera House about a butterfly who had a very important mission, to rescue a baby duck from a dragon's lair. The butterfly offered to be a knight in the show and the game was on.
The knight was summoned by the king. The king told him that his duckling was on Dragon Mountain, the highest mountain. He is a prisoner of the dragon, hidden in his lair at the top of the mountain. The King promised that if he brought him the duckling in two days, he would reward him and he could live a long life.
The butterfly-horse, delighted with his reward, set off up the mountain. He was just short of the top when suddenly it started pouring down with thunder and lightning. The knight kept going, but a tree was struck by lightning and fell to the ground in flames.
The dragon came out of the lair. He saw the knight and began to roar, shooting out great red flames like blood.
The knight panicked. When his breath caught, he looked to see who was roaring. He saw where the dragon was hiding and it was terrifying. It had a purple color, many huge scales, six legs, and two spiky tails that ended in two powerful maws.
The knight started running at full speed to get to the duckling as fast as possible. When he reached the foot of the mountain, he noticed traps. He had to pass through some notches in the mountain, then some arrows shooting after him, and at the top he had to face the dragon.
He passed the first two hurdles with flying colors, but the fight with the dragon really scared him! Motivated by the King's promise, he came to his senses, gathered up his courage and fought the dragon until he defeated it.
When he entered the den he saw a golden duck laying golden eggs. He led it back to its master. Returning proudly to the palace, he handed the duck to the king, and the king gave the knight his duck and infinite life. Delighted, the knight bowed to the king and left. The show was over. Everyone rose to their feet and began to applaud. "God, what a beautiful life as an artist!" said the butterfly.
Then he was attracted by some beautiful music. He went to see where it came from and found the building where the melody could be heard. It was called "Ion Vidu". There were children playing golden instruments that twinkled like stars in the sky. The butterfly sat for hours listening to the songs. From there he flew up into the sky and saw another big gray church.
Next to the church there was another large building, which had a colorful side. On the front door it said "Liceul Teoretic Grigore Moisil". Behind the school he saw two soccer fields and six basketball courts, a yellow building, equally tall, which he found out was the high school building. The butterfly found an open window and entered the classroom where the Romanian language and literature class was being held. The little butterfly liked the way the class was taught, so he returned every day from eight in the morning until two o'clock.
A little girl noticed the butterfly coming every day and adopted him. She took him to her home and prepared a natural environment for him, with many colorful flowers, with a divine smell, where he lived extremely happy for many years, he just had the years given to him by the emperor. Perhaps even today he still flies among the children of Moisil!

An unexpected visit to Timisoara

Melisa Neniu, class VII
"Grigore Moisil" Theoretical High School Timișoara

It was a sunny day on the planet Aurora in the Andromeda galaxy. Our brave alien, Paxi, was entrusted with his first space mission: an expedition to the planet Jupiter to see if it was habitable. He carefully packed everything he needed for the month-long flight. In his opinion, he packed quite a lot for a one-month trip, but he could never be sure - space exploration is full of surprises.

On the morning of his departure, Paxi woke up very early and headed for their space agency, another kind of NASA. When he walked in, he was surprised by how big and spacious the building was, but also by aliens dressed in space suits ready for launch, spacecraft ready for liftoff, and monitoring systems for every spacecraft on the mission. Under the guidance of the commander-in-chief, Paxi put on his astronaut suit and met the crew that would accompany him. After hours of intense training and preparation, Paxi was ready for launch.

Once in space for the first time, Paxi was fascinated. Most of all, he loved the view before his eyes. He felt like he was in a dream - the stars looked like splashes of light dancing in the distance, comets looked like baseballs thrown with immense force, and meteors seemed like huge balloons ready to burst. After three days in space, Paxi noticed that the spacecraft began to slow down and smoke started coming out. He got scared, and instead of asking the crew for help, he started to push a few buttons because he felt trained. But instead of solving the problem, he stopped the engine altogether and the ship went into freefall.

When he came to, Paxi was already on an unfamiliar planet, in a courtyard full of tiny beings watching him curiously. Slowly, he realized he was on planet Earth, and the beings were children, who, though astonished, smiled at him in a friendly way. He tried to repair his ship, but it was badly damaged. So he contacted the crew, who told him it would take a week to recover it. Determined to take advantage of this unexpected time, Paxi decided to explore the surroundings.

Encouraged by the children, he found out that he was in the city of Timișoara, in a schoolyard, at the Liceul Moisil. With growing curiosity, Paxi set off to explore the city. After a not too long walk, he arrived in Victoriei Square, where he discovered a tall building, the Metropolitan Cathedral, and was impressed by how colorful it was inside. In front of the building he saw many shops and many people, especially children curious to know who he, the interesting creature, was. Although he was visibly different, people looked at him with kindness, which made him feel accepted and at ease.

Paxi walked around the city center until late in the evening, and as the sun set, he noticed the pace of the city slowing down into a quiet atmosphere, perfect for strolling and relaxing. If during the day the city was bustling and very noisy, in the evening it was the complete opposite, people were having fun, sitting on terraces and relaxing after a day's work.

The next day, he headed to Union Square, another jewel of the city. He sat on a terrace, where he ate, according to him, the best pizza he had ever tasted. He wandered around the shops, picking up unusual souvenirs: a fork, a book, a candle - anything he found interesting. But before he got back to his ship, he noticed that there was more noise in the streets this evening because there was a concert. Paxi lost himself in the festive atmosphere and danced along with the townsfolk, feeling, for the first time, as if he belonged here.

On the third day, Paxi woke up much later, because he was tired after the concert, so he went to quieter places: the Children's Park and the Rose Park. In the Children's Park, the little ones were running and playing full of energy, and the Rose Park was full of life and color, with lots of colorful flowers, green trees and people taking lots of photos. In the evening, wandering through the streets, he asked for help from a kind lady who directed him to his ship.

He had already heard about the Botanic Park, but left it for the fourth day. Here he felt free and had a great time. He climbed trees, played with the animals he met and enjoyed all the plants he considered exotic. On the way back to the ship, he met his crew, who had come to pick him up. Although he still wished he could have stayed, his time in Timisoara had filled him with unforgettable memories.

On the way back to Aurora, Paxi couldn't stop talking about the lively, friendly and charming city where she had discovered, perhaps for the first time, what true warmth of friendship really means. The crew promised that he would have the chance to return, and Paxi, his heart full of excitement, was already dreaming of his next adventure on planet Earth, in Timisoara - the city that had welcomed him as one of its own.

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