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P. 78
Short story Competition
Ibis Redibis* | Ήξεις αφίξεις
THE WINNER by Μaria Goussia - Rizou | Μαρία Γκούσια - Ρίζου
Ms Maria Goussia - Rizou
is one of the four awarded I was used to flying things. When I was a child I made paper planes and
writers whose short story gave them to my friend to color in any way he liked. We divided the la-
bour. Worked as a team. A whole fleet ready for aerobatics. They took
is published here. | Το off best from the flat roof. Sometimes they got stuck in the neighbor’s
διήγημα της κυρίας Μαρίας garden, sometimes they fell on the tarmac. Some of them would turn
Γκούσια- Ρίζου, που δημο- back and dive onto us, after making a few loops in the air. I still find the best
σιεύεται εδώ, έλαβε το ένα made ones hidden away by my mother as a memento with my exercise books
from first grade.
από τα τέσσερα βραβεία My mother works as a cleaner at the military airport at Elefsina. Just as well.
του διαγωνισμού That’s what she says. And so do we. She holds her bag tight under her arm.
Always the same bag, with its worn edges and faded clasp which used to look
Short Story Competition like gold. The banknotes smell of her sweat and go in and out with difficulty.
Λογοτεχνικός Διαγωνισμός My sister and I don’t have any of our own money yet. She would have liked to
Διηγήματος go away last summer, but there was no money over.
My father doesn’t get paid regularly at work. The printer’s where he works is
As part of its ten-year anniversary celebration going under and his boss is all over the place. Sometimes he gets his wages but
and in cooperation with the literature magazine mostly not. I’ll pay you, with extra, he told them the other day, we’re closing
Diavazo, Athens International Airport organised down, he said yesterday. Tough.
a short story competition entitled “Journeys by The house in Elefsina is a mess. In the room where I sleep with my sister the
Air”, which was completed in June. Well-known plaster looks like over-ripe plums. In the morning, the crack in the ceiling points
Greek authors acted as the judging committee that directly at my forehead. When I asked my father he said don’t worry, it isn’t
assessed the short story entries and the names of affecting the beam. In summer the metal roof turns the porch into an oven and
the winners were announced in an event hosted at the dog runs off yelping to find shade. Yesterday Uncle Nikita came over and
the airport on Tuesday 25 October. Each winner was brought olive oil from his fields and my mother kissed and hugged him when
awarded a trip for two persons. The four awarded he told her it was a present.
short stories will be published by 2board, starting I’m bored at school. At the sit-ins we drank beers and sat around in the
with this issue. | Για την επέτειο των δέκα χρόνων schoolyard till late. One girl told us stories about her travels. Different places.
του, ο ΔΑΑ διοργάνωσε, σε συνεργασία με το πε- I was amazed. So were the others. She had no reason to hang out with us. She
ριοδικό «Διαβάζω», λογοτεχνικό διαγωνισμό διη- just doesn’t want to be like her family. She even likes ancient Greek. That I can
γήματος με θέμα «Ταξίδι στον Αέρα» που ολοκλη- never understand. I sit next to her in exams. She tells me what to write. The rest
ρώθηκε τον Ιούνιο. H απαρτιζόμενη από γνωστούς of the time I yawn and daydream.
Έλληνες λογοτέχνες κριτική επιτροπή αξιολόγησε In term my mother worries that I won’t wake up for school. Sometimes in
τα διηγήματα, και τα ονόματα των νικητών ανακοι- the winter I don’t. A twenty minute trip to go and hear that Oikonomidou
νώθηκαν σε εκδήλωση που πραγματοποιήθηκε στο woman go on about ibis redibis which I can’t even understand. Words in the
αεροδρόμιο την Τρίτη 25 Οκτωβρίου. Οι νικητές κέρ- air. Paper planes.
δισαν από ένα ταξίδι για δύο άτομα, ενώ το 2board My buddy calls her Pythia. When we have her for the first lesson, half of us are
δημοσιεύει τα διηγήματα που βραβεύθηκαν, ξεκι- asleep and the other half are on their mobiles. She doesn’t notice. Sometimes
νώντας από αυτό το τεύχος. I concentrate on ‘ibis’ and at other times on ‘redibis’. Comings and goings.
‘Trippy’ suits me like it suits my dog. I call him that so we match.
When I get to bed I make a bet with myself. I can’t always tell if the planes are
coming or going. But I listen to them and weave airplane trails through the
air with my hand. My father tells me to stop day-dreaming and go and find a
job because soon I’ll be eating scrambled air for breakfast. My mother says it’s
dreams that keep us going whether we’re asleep or awake. My sister wants to
*The Pythian oracle at Delphi in reply to a soldier going to war said: You will depart, return,
not die in battle. Whether the soldier will arrive back alive or not depends on where you put
the second comma. The Latin, ‘ibis redibis’ is in Greek ‘ήξεις αφήξεις’, and is now a common
expression used when things are unclear. Αφίξεις is also the ‘Arrivals’ gate at an airport.
78
Ibis Redibis* | Ήξεις αφίξεις
THE WINNER by Μaria Goussia - Rizou | Μαρία Γκούσια - Ρίζου
Ms Maria Goussia - Rizou
is one of the four awarded I was used to flying things. When I was a child I made paper planes and
writers whose short story gave them to my friend to color in any way he liked. We divided the la-
bour. Worked as a team. A whole fleet ready for aerobatics. They took
is published here. | Το off best from the flat roof. Sometimes they got stuck in the neighbor’s
διήγημα της κυρίας Μαρίας garden, sometimes they fell on the tarmac. Some of them would turn
Γκούσια- Ρίζου, που δημο- back and dive onto us, after making a few loops in the air. I still find the best
σιεύεται εδώ, έλαβε το ένα made ones hidden away by my mother as a memento with my exercise books
from first grade.
από τα τέσσερα βραβεία My mother works as a cleaner at the military airport at Elefsina. Just as well.
του διαγωνισμού That’s what she says. And so do we. She holds her bag tight under her arm.
Always the same bag, with its worn edges and faded clasp which used to look
Short Story Competition like gold. The banknotes smell of her sweat and go in and out with difficulty.
Λογοτεχνικός Διαγωνισμός My sister and I don’t have any of our own money yet. She would have liked to
Διηγήματος go away last summer, but there was no money over.
My father doesn’t get paid regularly at work. The printer’s where he works is
As part of its ten-year anniversary celebration going under and his boss is all over the place. Sometimes he gets his wages but
and in cooperation with the literature magazine mostly not. I’ll pay you, with extra, he told them the other day, we’re closing
Diavazo, Athens International Airport organised down, he said yesterday. Tough.
a short story competition entitled “Journeys by The house in Elefsina is a mess. In the room where I sleep with my sister the
Air”, which was completed in June. Well-known plaster looks like over-ripe plums. In the morning, the crack in the ceiling points
Greek authors acted as the judging committee that directly at my forehead. When I asked my father he said don’t worry, it isn’t
assessed the short story entries and the names of affecting the beam. In summer the metal roof turns the porch into an oven and
the winners were announced in an event hosted at the dog runs off yelping to find shade. Yesterday Uncle Nikita came over and
the airport on Tuesday 25 October. Each winner was brought olive oil from his fields and my mother kissed and hugged him when
awarded a trip for two persons. The four awarded he told her it was a present.
short stories will be published by 2board, starting I’m bored at school. At the sit-ins we drank beers and sat around in the
with this issue. | Για την επέτειο των δέκα χρόνων schoolyard till late. One girl told us stories about her travels. Different places.
του, ο ΔΑΑ διοργάνωσε, σε συνεργασία με το πε- I was amazed. So were the others. She had no reason to hang out with us. She
ριοδικό «Διαβάζω», λογοτεχνικό διαγωνισμό διη- just doesn’t want to be like her family. She even likes ancient Greek. That I can
γήματος με θέμα «Ταξίδι στον Αέρα» που ολοκλη- never understand. I sit next to her in exams. She tells me what to write. The rest
ρώθηκε τον Ιούνιο. H απαρτιζόμενη από γνωστούς of the time I yawn and daydream.
Έλληνες λογοτέχνες κριτική επιτροπή αξιολόγησε In term my mother worries that I won’t wake up for school. Sometimes in
τα διηγήματα, και τα ονόματα των νικητών ανακοι- the winter I don’t. A twenty minute trip to go and hear that Oikonomidou
νώθηκαν σε εκδήλωση που πραγματοποιήθηκε στο woman go on about ibis redibis which I can’t even understand. Words in the
αεροδρόμιο την Τρίτη 25 Οκτωβρίου. Οι νικητές κέρ- air. Paper planes.
δισαν από ένα ταξίδι για δύο άτομα, ενώ το 2board My buddy calls her Pythia. When we have her for the first lesson, half of us are
δημοσιεύει τα διηγήματα που βραβεύθηκαν, ξεκι- asleep and the other half are on their mobiles. She doesn’t notice. Sometimes
νώντας από αυτό το τεύχος. I concentrate on ‘ibis’ and at other times on ‘redibis’. Comings and goings.
‘Trippy’ suits me like it suits my dog. I call him that so we match.
When I get to bed I make a bet with myself. I can’t always tell if the planes are
coming or going. But I listen to them and weave airplane trails through the
air with my hand. My father tells me to stop day-dreaming and go and find a
job because soon I’ll be eating scrambled air for breakfast. My mother says it’s
dreams that keep us going whether we’re asleep or awake. My sister wants to
*The Pythian oracle at Delphi in reply to a soldier going to war said: You will depart, return,
not die in battle. Whether the soldier will arrive back alive or not depends on where you put
the second comma. The Latin, ‘ibis redibis’ is in Greek ‘ήξεις αφήξεις’, and is now a common
expression used when things are unclear. Αφίξεις is also the ‘Arrivals’ gate at an airport.
78
