I Won The Nobel Prize

Daniel Onofrei
It's been an uphill battle. Full of meaningless twists and turns, of sudden obstacles, of small incidents that brought us back to where we had started. The hardest battle was with our parents who actively, militantly voiced their disagreement. Mine, at least, didn't seem to care about my happiness. Strangely, friends and even school colleagues had something to comment on. But here I am, victorious. I finally have the long-awaited paper in my hand with our names on it: the divorce.
 
 Răzvan Drăgoi
I didn't invent anything. I haven't done anything remarkable in any field. I have no research. I haven't applied in practice any of any theoretical issues that I would have focused on. I haven't given the world anything memorable. I've been mediocre, always. Work, traffic, home, shopping, a holiday or a night out with friends, nothing out of the ordinary. I claim the Nobel Prize for sociology, because I represent, by far, the largest group of people on Earth. Thank you.

Denisse Oana Rădoi
Applause. Thousands of pairs of frantic clapping. Curious eyes on me. Photographs, flashes, spotlights. It gets quiet. I walk to the stage, gently lift my train dress and take the microphone. My voice trembles but it resonates with the thousands of strained eardrums. Thank you to the Academy, I swallow, at which point cheers erupt from the hall with my name. The cheers become more insistent and noisier until they merge into one voice, my mother's. Denisaaa, wake up.

(Translated by Andreea Cristina Moise / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year I / Corrected by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)