Splinter

Carmen-Ecaterina Ciobâcă
Some fresh air would do you good he said. Having dinner at a restaurant with that lovely couple, the last of their friends. Words, vanity, trivialities. Upon hearing the news, she hid behind her mask of hypocrisy, cracking a smile. The sense of evil was rising through her body like a foul sap. At home she yanked herself out of his arms, threw herself screaming on the carpet. She hated every single one of them, hated herself. It seemed as if the abyss were consuming her with gluttonous bites. Towards morning, she got up. Yes, mother, I've inherited your darkness, said the figure in the mirror. It's only that I'm barren. Like any other splinter.

Laura Stanciu
Twiggy lives in the village of Cinderville. If you happen to see his back when walking down the road, you can't tell him apart from a mighty man. But when you meet him face to face, it becomes clear that the name fits him like a glove. His cheeks are hollow, his eyes sunken in their sockets, his mouth like a blackberry. The eight-year-old boy is the fool of the class. Frail like a splinter, with a soft voice, he almost sounds like he's begging for his classmates' scorn. His father stands by his side, encouraging him: Don't worry, son. The twig doesn't fall far from the tree. But little Twiggy wants to reach further, so he practices plunging in the courtyard daily.
 
 Cristina Caliman
He was madly in love. He did everything in his power to fetch Carla from the airport. On their way back, all he could think about was sex, he was totally dumbstruck. He stopped the car in a forest. They got lost through the trees, and eventually he pinned her against one. She was quivering, full of excitement. He passionately kissed her lips, lifting her skirt. He dropped his pants and leaned against the tree, using his hands for support when penetrating her. Trumpets echoed in his mind, heralding the approaching orgasm. A splinter pierced his finger. The sharp pain in his left ring finger reminded him he was married.

(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)