Life is unfair, Sabina, her mother grumbled discontentedly. You can get a splinter even when floating on clouds or when walking through a blooming field, let alone when caressing a heart. Do you think that just because he shows you som' smile and tosses som' sweet words your way it means everything is milk and honey? I reckon you need a good whoopin'. You better get your hands dirty and shuck that corn faster, \'cause fowl doesn't care for your hazy dreams. Whether it's Gheorghe or someone else, it's the same dough to knead, the same bread to eat.
Cami Neagu
Yuki wore her white dress every Saturday. It was as white as the freshly fallen snow on the mountain peaks. She only wore it in the springtime, when walking through the park, sheltered by the canopy of the old cherry trees, bent under the weight of their massive branches. They were in full bloom, and their fragrance clung to her ankles. Her barefoot soles stepped on the grass, yet untouched by the morning dew. On her way back home, the rosy veil of cherry blossoms clung to her dress like a passionate kiss. A splinter of a girl. Grandpa, don't read the tale about the fairies, today I am a princess. See?
Monica Steta
Come to the café at 12, I've got something to tell you, says Vio, hanging up the phone without a single greeting. I wait for her thrilled. She arrives scarcely breathing. I'm done with Nelu. How come? She huffs. He gave me a dildo as a gift. On the note inside the box, he wrote the following: \'For the nights I can't be with you. I carved it based on your favourite model'. How sweet of him, I say, trying a reassuring approach. Really? My gynaecologist didn't agree with that. He said, \'Ma'am I think he used softwood. It's a disaster down there'.
(Translated by Marian-Cătălin Niculăescu / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year I / Corrected by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)
Versiunea în română a acestui text se poate citi aici, în rubrica Ficțiuni Reale.