SECOND PART
- Lila, my girl, Lila, my girl…!
- Yes, madam ! Lila, your girl.
- Do you remember me ? I am Nina from Romania.
- Yes, I remember you.
- Where are you now ?
- I am still at the Army with lady Mary.
- Haven’t they taken you elsewhere ?
- No, they have not taken me elsewhere.
- Do you want to talk ?
- Yes, I want to talk.
- Tell me, what is the color of your eyes ?
- My eyes are green.
- What about your skin ?
- My skin is a kind of dark red, almost brown.
- What did you do on Uraniada ?
- I was very happy on Uraniada. I played with children, I gathered red grass, ate it all day and drank water from the depths.
- What did your parents and your brother do ?
- My parents built ships and houses. My brother played with me and with other older children. He was older than me.
- Do you have other brothers on Uraniada ?
- No. I have no other brothers.
- Do the people from Uraniada know how to laugh ?
- What does "to laugh" mean ?
- It means that you enjoy and open big mouth.
- Oh, yes ! I know how to laugh, lady Mary taught me, I open big mouth and I enjoy.
- Do they listen to music on Uraniada ?
- We do not listen to music on Uraniada as you do here. We have some machines which utter sounds by themselves. We look at them, and they play.
- Do you have animals on Uraniada ?
- There are no animals on Uraniada, only people.
- Do your people wear clothes ?
- We do not wear clothes, it is very warm.
- Where do children come from on Uraniada ?
- On Uraniada, children come from some houses where our mothers go in. Our mothers are very fat when they go in there. When they go out, they have the children by them and they are more thin.
- How are your ships built ?
- All people build flying machines at our place. Everybody there wants to fly. They build all their lives, and want to fly by the machines.
- Do you believe in God, the Creator of the Universe ?
- I do not know what “God” is.
- Do you pray, do you make the cross ?
- We do not make the cross like on Earth. We pray looking at the sky with hands uplifted. We look at the sky, and pray for the better.
- You did not sleep on Uraniada. Then, why do you sleep on Earth ?
- I did not sleep on Uraniada because nobody does. We do not get tired there. The blue and green water give us strength, and we do not need to sleep. Here, on Earth, the air is heavy, weary, and the food tires me very much. That is why people have to rest.
- How old are you ?
- I cannot tell how old I am on Uraniada.
- How do you measure time ?
- We do not measure time. We measure how men grow.
- Do you call yourselves "men" also on Uraniada ?
- We don’t call ourselves "men" on Uraniada, but I use the word from Earth.
- What word do you use instead of "man" ?
- Instead of “man” we use the word "tik-tik" there. "Tin-tik" means "grown-up man" and "tik-tik" means "child".
- Who named you "Lila" ?
- Lady Mary named me "Lila".
- Have you spoken to anybody from Earth as you are speaking to me now ?
- Someone tried once to speak as you do, but I did not understand very well.
- What did you do on the spaceship ? What about your parents, your brother ?
- I stayed beside my mother in the spaceship. As my father watched at the machines and boards, the ship went on or stopped. My mother also watched attentively where my father watched. My brother played with me.
- How many living beings were in your spaceship, four or five ?
- We were four of our family and one more friend, a "tin-tik", who watched the engines like my father did.
- Where do your ships leave to from Uraniada ?
- The ships leave to everywhere. Some come back, bringing "tin-tik" from other places, who do not look like us, but many ships do not come back.
- Did any other spaceship of yours come to Earth ?
- Two more machines came to Earth along with ours. The other two moved away, and did not go down on Earth. One took fire before we reached here.
- What did your ship wanted to do on Earth ?
- Our ship wanted to see what it is on Earth and to take some "tin-tik" with us, to take them to Uraniada.
- Do you want to go back to Uraniada ?
- I want to go back to Uraniada ! The air is heavy here, it makes me feel unwell, and the food is too heavy for the stomach.
- Do you keep contact with those from Uraniada ?
- Yes, I have appealed with my head to a ship from Uraniada, which stays near Earth. They came to see what happened to us. They are afraid to go down on Earth, but I still believe they will come and rescue me.
- Do you want to go back to Uraniada ?
- I do not want to stay here anymore, I do not like being on Earth, I do not have a playing ground as on Uraniada, and I cannot understand too well the people here.
- How did you speak on Uraniada ?
- On Uraniada we spoke with our eyes, here I must speak with my mouth. It is very hard for me and I am tired all the time.
- Have you noticed that your fingers do not look like the humans’ ?
- My fingers do not look like the humans’ fingers, I have noticed, but I do not know why.
- Do you want to tell me more ?
- I want to tell you "Good bye" in my Uraniada language : "TORORON TON TIKI !".
1995