Irinuca is a devoted mother, she has five kittens, found abandoned in the barn. No one can tell her what to do, where to go, because she's busy above her head with them. Her parents are after her with lined and squared notebooks, hoping she'll get to work. The boy next door, Răducu, brings her lessons and just when she's playing with the pusses, he runs away to practice the letter R, since it's harder. Very well, let him go, she won't even show him where the priest's horses come to smell the flowers, because daddy has mown the grass, this is to be known, and only she will play with the little bugs.
Adina Vîlcu
Good night, baby, said I to Ana after I turned out the light. Being a single mother isn't easy, but she makes it so. Mommy, did you lock the door? Yes, baby. And did you close all the windows? Yes, I did. Even the one in the bathroom? Not that one. Why do you ask? Today my gym teacher said he could help me get out of homework. He said to leave the bathroom window open, he'll come and make it all go away. I can't wait to have more playtime. I turn on the light. All I can hear is my heartbeat. Then, footsteps down the hall.
Andrei Lămureanu
I don't want to, she screamed, with all her might. And they were holding her, you see. So hard that Mummy and Daddy stared into the ground, in shame. Even Grandma, who was usually a bit hard of hearing, gave horrified looks to the passers-by who gawked at them. She had been crying for 10 minutes, incessantly, repeating the same litany: I Don't Want Homework. Shee uttered this haltingly, her hands crossed firmly over her small chest. I always want to be on vacation and watch cartoons. Hey, baby, smiled an odd moustached gentleman, you're going to be prime minister at the very least.
(Translated by Diana Caragea / 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.