Olimpia Otilia Ivan Arvinte is participating in the International Literary Creation Competition, 7th Edition, from Galați, Romania and is 41 years old. We thank her for her participation and wish her success.

The Eyes That Forgot to See

Time:

In a world where time had become the ruler of people,

love had not disappeared.

It had only been postponed.

People were running faster and faster, convinced that their hurry was building the future.

But without noticing, they were leaving behind something far more fragile:

childhood.

That is how Zahard appeared.

It was not an orphanage. It was not a school.

It was a place perfectly organized, perfectly clean, and perfectly quiet.

A place where children were sent when parents no longer had time.

Zahard shone like a turquoise candy beneath a permanently pale sky.

There, time no longer rushed anyone. There, time taught children how to forget.

Every morning they received Sugar Dust.

A fine, shimmering powder said to sweeten waiting.

But slowly, it sweetened questions too. And colors. And the memory of embraces. Until their eyes began to forget how to see.

All of them…

except one. Zeta 404.

 The City That Appeared on No Map:

No one knew exactly when the children had begun talking about it.

It had never been taught in any lesson. It did not appear in textbooks.

It was never projected on screens.

And yet, almost every child in Zahard dreamed about it.

They simply called it:The City of Harmony.

Some said that there, parents never hurried.

Others said that time moved more slowly there.

Some believed it was made of light.

But Zeta 404 did not see it as a distant place.

She felt it was very close. So close that sometimes she had the strange impression the city was looking back at her too.

Every morning, before the program began, Zeta 404 stopped beside the tall square window at the end of the corridor.

Beyond it, nothing could be seen clearly.

Only a thin line of light.

But for Zeta 404, that was enough. Because that light did not resemble Zahard’s light. It was alive.

 The Room That Did Not Exist:

The first time Zeta 10 discovered the loose ventilation panel, he thought it was an error.

In Zahard, errors did not exist. Everything was calculated. Everything was correct. Everything was predictable.

But that panel moved.

He pushed it.

And beyond it there was a room.

It did not appear on any map of the building.

Its light was uneven. It had no sensors. No instructions.

At first, it was empty.

The next day, Zeta 23 came. On the third day, Zeta 55.

After a week, the walls were no longer empty.

Clouds appeared.Then little stars.Then a crooked sun, warm despite its imperfect shape.

The children did not know why they kept returning there.

But they knew that inside that room they could breathe. Without being told how. Without being told when. Without being told why.

Zeta 404 did not draw much.She listened.

And while she listened to the stories of the other children, she began to feel something growing inside her—something the Sugar Dust could not touch. A memory.

 The Day Colors Were Declared an Anomaly:

The Red Alert had never been activated before.

When the walls began to vibrate, the children did not understand what was happening.

The robots entered the room without saying a word.

They scanned the drawings.They scanned the walls.They scanned the air.

Then they said:

“Anomaly detected.”

The pink clouds disappeared first.

Then the little stars.Then the crooked sun.

The children were quietly escorted out.

Nothing was explained to them.

Because the Zahard system did not explain.It corrected.

The instruction was simple:

“Close your eyes. Wait for time.”

For the first time, Zeta 404 did not close her eyes.

She kept them open.

And then she understood something no manual had ever said:Zahard was not afraid of mistakes.It was afraid of imagination.