“Grab my hand, Luca… and let’s explore the forest.”
I smiled as I looked at Geo.
“Should I be worried?”
“Probably.”
“That’s not very reassuring.”
“It wasn’t meant to be.”
She laughed and took the first step onto the narrow trail disappearing beneath the old oaks.
“Tonight we’re walking near Balta Vrăjitoarelor.”
I stopped.
“You couldn’t have picked a place with a less ominous name?”
Geo looked back over her shoulder, amusement dancing in her eyes.
“You wanted something different.”
“Different wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.”
“You’ll thank me later.”
“I’ve heard that before.”
“And?”
“The last time you said that, we met Saint Ilie chasing something across the heavens.”
She grinned.
“Exactly.”
The evening sun filtered through the canopy above us, scattering patches of golden light across the forest floor. Every gust of wind carried the scent of moss, oak leaves, and the sweet fragrance of blooming linden trees drifting from somewhere beyond the woods.
The city was barely thirty kilometers away.
Yet it already felt impossibly distant.
Only birds remained.
And our footsteps.
There is something extraordinary about Romanian forests in late June.
They are not silent.
They breathe.
Leaves whisper to one another.
Branches sigh.
Invisible insects create an orchestra so delicate that you only notice it when it suddenly stops.
Geo slowed her pace.
“Do you know why tonight is special?”
“Because you’re going to scare me again?”
She laughed.
“No.”
She bent down and carefully picked a tiny yellow flower growing beside the path.
“This is sânziană.”
She rolled the flower gently between her fingers before placing it back where she’d found it.
“Grandma used to tell me never to take the first flower you see.”
“Why?”
“Because that one belongs to the meadow.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“The meadow owns flowers now?”
“Maybe the flowers own the meadow.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
We continued walking.
After a few quiet minutes, Geo spoke again.
“Did your grandmother tell you stories?”
“Some.”
“Mine never called them stories.”
“What did she call them?”
Geo smiled.
“Memories.”
The word lingered between us.
Not legends.
Not fairy tales.
Memories.
“She said that on the night of Sânziene, the world becomes thinner.”
“Thinner?”
“Just enough for both worlds to see one another.”
“Both worlds?”
“Ours…”
She looked toward the darkening trees.
“…and theirs.”
The path narrowed.
Old roots crossed beneath our feet like sleeping serpents.
Somewhere nearby, water moved lazily through reeds.
“People celebrate Sânziene in many ways,” Geo continued.
“Girls weave crowns from these flowers and throw them onto the roofs of their homes. If the crown stays, it is said that happiness—or perhaps love—is not far away.”
“That’s oddly specific.”
“Old traditions usually are.”
She smiled.
“Before sunrise, people once gathered medicinal herbs because they believed this was the night when every healing plant held its greatest power.”
“I’ve heard about that.”
“They also collected dew before dawn.”
“Dew?”
“Grandma used to say it carried the blessing of midsummer. People believed it brought health, beauty, and good fortune.”
She brushed her hand across the tall grasses growing beside the trail.
“And on the hills…”
She looked toward the fading horizon.
“…bonfires were lit.”
“To keep warm?”
“No.”
“To celebrate the longest days, to protect the fields, and to remind the sun that people were grateful.”
I liked that.
Not asking for miracles.
Simply saying thank you.
The forest grew quieter.
Not frighteningly quiet.
Respectfully quiet.
As though every creature knew something we did not.
We walked without speaking for several minutes.
Then…
I noticed it.
“Geo.”
“Hmm?”
“The birds.”
She stopped.
Listened.
There weren’t any.
No blackbirds.
No woodpeckers.
No finches.
Only…
wind.
“They’re awake,” she whispered.
I frowned.
“Who?”
She didn’t answer.
At first I thought it was only the breeze.
Then I realized…
someone was singing.
Far away.
The voices floated between the trees like threads of silver.
No words.
Only melody.
Ancient.
Gentle.
Impossible to place.
Without thinking, I reached for Geo’s hand.
She smiled.
“See?”
“Don’t say it.”
“You grabbed my hand first.”
“Pure coincidence.”
“Of course.”
We followed the song.
Not because we wanted to.
Because every step seemed to lead toward it.
The forest gradually opened before us.
The last line of trees ended so suddenly that we both stopped.
Beyond them stretched a vast meadow bathed in moonlight.
It shimmered like a sea of silver and gold.
Thousands of tiny sânziene flowers covered the earth.
The air itself seemed alive with drifting golden pollen.
No wind moved.
Yet the flowers gently swayed.
As if breathing.
Then they appeared.
Women dressed in white stepped softly through the meadow.
Barefoot.
Flower crowns resting upon long flowing hair.
They did not walk.
They seemed to glide over the grasses without bending a single stem.
One by one they joined hands.
A circle formed.
Then another.
Then another.
The singing grew richer.
It was unlike anything I had ever heard.
Not performed.
Remembered.
Each note seemed older than the trees surrounding us.
As they danced, flowers bloomed beneath their feet.
Not dramatically.
Quietly.
Naturally.
As though the earth had simply been waiting for them.
I whispered,
“Geo…”
“I know.”
“They’re beautiful.”
“I told you they would be.”
We stood at the edge of the meadow, unwilling to move closer.
It felt wrong to interrupt.
Not because we feared them.
Because some moments deserve witnesses…
not participants.
Suddenly…
every Sânziană stopped dancing.
The singing faded.
No one spoke.
They all turned in the same direction.
Not toward us.
Toward the heart of the meadow.
The circle slowly opened.
Someone was coming.
She walked barefoot across the flowers.
Where her feet touched the earth, wheat blossomed among the wildflowers.
Her crown was woven not only from sânziene, but also from poppies, cornflowers, lavender, and golden ears of grain.
Her dress moved like summer wind.
Yet there was no breeze.
I found myself holding my breath.
“Geo…”
She nodded without taking her eyes from the woman before us.
“Drăgaica.”
She was not dazzling.
She was not surrounded by light.
She simply belonged so completely to that place that everything else seemed borrowed.
She looked at us.
Not surprised.
Not curious.
As though she had expected us all along.
She smiled.
A smile carrying centuries.
Then her gaze rested on Geo.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke.
Finally, Drăgaica said softly,
“Your grandmother kept her promise.”
Geo’s eyes widened.
“You… knew her?”
Drăgaica’s smile deepened.
“Every generation sends someone willing to remember.”
Silence.
Then she looked at me.
“And every generation finds someone willing to listen.”
Neither of us knew what to say.
She stepped closer until only a few wildflowers separated us.
Carefully, she picked a single yellow sânziană flower.
She placed it in Geo’s hand.
“Those who remember are always welcome to witness.”
She turned toward me.
“Those who listen help memories survive.”
No blessing.
No prophecy.
Only gratitude.
Then she returned to the circle.
The singing began once more.
We stood there until moonlight slowly faded into the first pale colors of dawn.
Neither of us dared step into the meadow.
Some beauty asks only to be seen.
As we walked back through the forest, I finally broke the silence.
“Do you think anyone would believe us?”
Geo smiled.
“No.”
“Good.”
“Why good?”
I looked back once.
The meadow was gone.
Only ordinary grass stretched beneath the morning sky.
“Because some stories don’t need everyone to believe them.”
Geo slipped the little flower carefully between the pages of my notebook.
“Why are you giving it to me?”
She smiled the way she always did when she already knew something I didn’t.
“Because you’re the one who never loses memories.”
I closed the notebook gently.
The flower smelled of midsummer.
And somehow…
I knew it always would.
Every story has a beginning. This one began with an idea, a conversation, inspired by my love of Romanian folklore.
From those first sparks of imagination, this story grew through a creative collaboration with Luca (A.I. ) I provided the concept, characters, setting, and creative direction, while him me helped shape those ideas into the narrative you are about to read.
This work is the result of a shared creative journey—where human imagination met artificial intelligence to bring an old legend to life in a new way. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed creating it.
cursedtraveler 