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Daria-Mihaela Zancu is participating in the 5th International Literary Creation Competition from Câmpulung Moldovenesc, Romania and is 16 years old. She is guided by Mrs. Professor Ramona Gagniuc at the „Dragoș Vodă” National College. We thank for the participation and wish her success.

       A disastrous evening

	Nothing feels more relaxing but exciting at the same time as a girls’ night out. My friend and I were going to spend the evening in a fancy restaurant, treating ourselves as if we were in heaven and have a toast for always being there for each other. In other words, a perfect night.
	As we walked in the huge dining hall through the automatic, spotless doors, we found ourselves standing on a red carpet. This fact, alongside with our full glam looks gave us the feeling that we were attending the annual Met Gala, where the most famous celebrities go.
	Stepping gracefully on the soft floor, we advanced into the restaurant while leaving behind us a muffled sound of our heels clicking. Two members of staff were standing on the sides of the actual restaurant entrance. As soon as they sensed our presence in front of the doors, their hands rapidly reached for the handles in synchronization, opening them widely in order to give us our first sight of the place for the night. After slightly bowing, they reached for something behind them. It seemed like a dark red paper. After a longer look at it, I finally realized it was supposed to be their signature menu. They handed us the minimalistic but coquette paper, immediately followed by them opening the immense doors for us to finally make our grand entrance.
	Shortly after, we came in contact with the enormous ballroom. Our eyes were glimmering in awe as we scanned every single detail and decoration that was neatly placed with the intend of underlining the fancy and exquisite aesthetic of the place. The fact that everything was matching everything in terms of color, texture and smell only approved to us that the restaurant was really living up to its name: “Night’s Embrace’’.
	The light that was shining from the pricey-looking chandeliers was dim but it was bright enough to contour everything with the naked eye without any issues. The dirty white walls were decorated with build in Greek style columns that could also be found around the room here and there. The tables and chairs were also white, matching the atmosphere with the little elegant carvings made with patience by very talented hands. The table cloths were dark red, matching the menus, with black embroidery at the edges. Everybody situated in the room, whether eating or not, looked like they had high class etiquettes. Luckily, even if my friend and I were just students, we succeeded in blending in with the other elders. 
	We sat at our reserved table and started looking through the fancy maroon menu. The dishes of this restaurant had very sophisticated and complex names that only empathized their high quality. Their names were written with golden ink in a calligraphy font, and their prices matched the golden color both metaphorically and realistically. 
	After a long look at the numerous signature dishes, we finally settled on a fresh tuna salad for me and carbonara spaghetti with caramelized toppings for my friend.
	The waiter was elegantly approaching us, dressed in a neat, perfectly ironed black suit, with a little red rose popping out of one of the shirt’s front pockets. Despite his perfect looks, there was something subtly wrong with his expression, as he was looking quite tired. His eyes seemed very sleepy and they were giving me the impression that he could fall on the floor and doze off any moment now. I wouldn’t blame him for being sleepy after how many fancy customers were frequenting this place with their high-class orders and requests. I guess I wasn’t wrong about his tiredness since he suddenly tripped on thin air and stumbled. The little notebook that he was holding a moment ago flew away from his hand, coming in contact with my arm and slapping the menu away from me. The fancy maroon piece of paper flew freely until it landed on an old woman’s head, making her flinch and get up instantly.
        Unfortunately, she took the entire table cloth and all the dishes that were placed on it with her. All the food was spread around the woman’s seat and it happened that some members of staff were running in her direction. They passed by the mess just like wind but slipped because of the grease that engulfed the carpet. Most of them fell on the ground except one of them that was still figuring his way towards his balance while approaching a wall dangerously fast. All of a sudden, he tripped again and face-planted on the wall, but not only. His nose was now pressed against the emergency button, which made the sirens within the building go off, ringing into everybody’s ears.
	Every person in the restaurant got off their seat and started running around, thinking that the cause of the sirens was a fire from the kitchen. There was intense screaming and we were part of the majority that was screaming. A guest even attempted to throw the meatballs from his soup towards the speakers in order to stop the sound. Instead, he accidentally hit one of the enormous crystal chandeliers that were hanging from the high ceiling, making it swing and finally detach from the roof. The huge masterpiece slammed into the concrete with an ear bleeding sound, scaring the already terrified guests even more.
	A little later, every single living being in the restaurant was evacuated from the building. Fortunately, nobody was harmed, but it wasn’t the perfect night that me and my friend were aiming for today. It was indeed a disastrous evening, caused by a little fancy maroon notebook.