I was charmed by her somewhat absent-minded, yet rushed way of shopping around. She entered, tried on, left. In the shoe store she picked a sandal, tried it on, asked for the second, and left them on the floor until the clerks forgot she was there. Then she grabbed the box and fled. The clerks quickly caught on, also that one of the sandals remained on the floor. She'd fled with only one of them. I stepped up to them and said, my girlfriend had had an emergency. She'd left me to pay. When I crossed the threshold with the sandal in hand, I was certain I'd stay together with her.
Daniel Onofrei
Nephew, listen up. This bit about finding your other half is serious business. You see, I'ma fisherman. I went fishing with my father. I learned a few things. First, you need to bait the place. You need to create a situation. You go to university. Then you look for a good, well-paid workplace. After finding one, you need to establish yourself in your role. And this takes time. Then you need a house, right? To have a place where to raise the kids. It's not that simple. But you, sir, are seventy. Have you found your other half? Not yet, nephew. But I'mkeepin' my eye on that doll.
Ruxandra Donose
Such a good man your grandpa was. Not once did he hit me. But I also treated him all my life like a king. Grandma raises her forefinger towards the absolute importance, then, with a contrasting gesture, wipes her mouth with her palm. When he went to Heaven, she continued, he asked me to walk out of the room, he couldn't leave with me there. I said my goodbyes and left. Grandma's eyes begin to shine. I glance at the bed in which she'd slept with her other half for 70 years and 9 kids. A world together, but in death and in life you enter alone.
(Translated by Ioana Ștefan / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year II / Corrected by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)
Versiunea în română a acestui text se poate citi aici, în rubrica Ficțiuni Reale.