Notes to the Girl Across the Street
May 5, 1989
Hello … my name is Zoli. I am fourteen. I come from Hungary. I live in a small town called Nyárliget. It means “summer grove.” Your town is Sonnenalm. It means almost the same thing.
I saw you in the window yesterday. You were fixing your hair in the reflection. I was exploring this vacation house, and when I looked across the street, there you were behind the glass. A moment later you came out the front door, took your bicycle and pedaled up the street.
I saw you come home later. Perhaps you were studying somewhere? Your bag of books looked heavy. I wanted to come out to ask if I might help, but I felt rather shy. I watched you struggle with the latch and then you passed by the window inside again. Your hair was windblown, and you stopped to fix it in the reflection.
May 6, 1989
I wanted to ring your doorbell and say hello, but I didn’t have the courage. I worry you would wonder who is this Hungarian boy, approaching you from the rented house across the street. My spoken German isn’t so good. It is easier to write. I can look up the right words, and I have more time to think.
My family has come to Sonnenalm for the summer, my first time outside of Hungary. My father is a winemaker. He is here to make business connections now that the border is open.
There is a lake near my town, half in Hungary, half in Austria. Sometimes before when I swam I wondered if I had drifted across the border, something that was forbidden. Now the border is open, it doesn’t matter anymore. Last week I floated on my back in the water and looked up at the sky; the same sky over Hungary and Austria.
May 7, 1989
This morning I saw you again. You fixed your hair and left on your bicycle again. I plucked up my courage and crossed the street to look at your mailbox. Your last name (Rosenbaum) I already knew what it means, and I didn’t have to look it up. My last name is Almási which means “of apples.”
May 8, 1989
Today I wrote a short poem. Perhaps you will like it:
To make apple pie
The apples must change
The skin dissolves
Soon they are soft and sweet
May 9, 1989
Tomorrow we will return to Hungary. Have you read my letters? Would you like to be a letter friend with me? I will write my address on the back of this paper. Perhaps someday you will visit Hungary.
June 1, 1990
Hello, Zoli! My name is Marta, the girl from Sonnenalm. Thank you for your letters. I read them many times. Finally, I have the courage to write you. My classmates and I will take a trip to Hungary next week, to Sopron, for a summer school camp. I think this is near to your village.
If you have time, please meet me in Sopron next week. My village has a summer festival for the rose (like my name) and I have brought you a small jar of rose jam. I would like to give it to you as a present.
I wrote you a poem:
To make rose jam
Stir rose petals and sugar carefully
Soon they are friends with no borders
Like us
Mini-interview with Zary Fekete
HFR: Can you share a moment that has shaped you as a writer (or continues to)?
ZF: I entered recovery for alcohol abuse six years ago. The writing process was a very helpful way of processing my addiction experience. It was the first time I attempted to channel my thoughts through the written word. The more I did it the more helpful it was and the more I enjoyed it.
HFR: What are you reading?
ZF: I have a fairly regimented reading process. I am an early-bird (often waking up around 5 or 6) and I try to have fifty pages read before breakfast. I am currently reading a biography about the philosopher Derek Parfit by David Edmonds. I am also reading Basho’s haiku diary Narrow Road to a Far Province. Before those two books I finished Norman Mailer’s The Executioner’s Song and The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith. Additionally I almost always include some Bible reading in my daily schedule.
HFR: Can you tell us what prompted “Notes to the Girl Across the Street”?
ZF: Something very similar to this happened to me during my childhood. I was twelve when my family briefly visited Austria around the time the Iron Curtain came down. I glimpsed a girl who lived in the house across the street from our rented house. Unlike the boy in the story I did not write notes to her, but I often wondered what it would have been like to meet her.
HFR: What’s next? What are you working on?
ZF: My debut novella Words on the Page came out in April from DarkWinter Lit Press. I have another short novel being evaluated by a publisher. I also have two collections of short stories coming out this year. And I have a number of short stories in various stages of editing and being submitted to various journals. All in all a good busy year so far:)
HFR: Take the floor. Be political. Be fanatical. Be anything. What do you want to share?
ZF: I have been trying to spend more time striving to understand people rather than leaping to judgment. It is easier said than done, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t worth the effort.
Zary Fekete grew up in Hungary. He has a debut novella coming out in early 2024 with DarkWinter Lit Press in addition to two short story collections later in 2024. He enjoys books, podcasts, and many many many films. He currently lives in Minnesota with his wife and two sons. Twitter and Instagram: @ZaryFekete.
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