L'âge d'or

The story opens on a blindingly bright day that feels like an alchemical miracle, where every passerby seems a prospector searching for hidden treasure. A centuries‑old house perched on a hill, its corn‑coloured façade and pink‑scaled roof, watches the scene like an ancient matriarch, its blue windows reflecting a world that shifts between reality and distorted mirrors.

Inside, the narrator meets a lively troupe of young people, each compared to a specific plant or tree, hinting at the delicate connections that bind them. Among them are the charismatic Frédéric, likened to a pine, the wistful Eudes, a trembling autumn poplar, and a fragrant young woman who mirrors Eudes’ essence. Their interactions form a warm, almost ceremonial circle of friendship where jealousy and bitterness have no place, creating a fleeting sense of an idyllic “golden age.”

Through lyrical prose and vivid images, the novella invites listeners to linger in this luminous moment, feeling both the beauty of youthful communion and the underlying yearning that hints at deeper currents yet to surface.