The old man had short sparse hair and a perfect haircut. The young man asked him one more time if he wanted a haircut, so he confirmed. Both of them remained silent, as the sharp blades were doing their job. When he was done, the old man didn't stand up, but his eyes were captivated by the yellowed picture from the mirror frame. My grandma, the hairdresser whispered. She's long gone. I never knew anything about him. I was told he diedyoung, but my guess is he ran to the U.S. An adventurer, He probably died there. He's not dead, gasped the old man as he kissed the photo.
Ana Maria Dobre-Nir
She had been searching the entire room. Her hands were shaking and a few drops of sweat appeared on her forehead. When the nurse who was in charge of her part of the hospital opened the door, she found her crying, and the whole room was turned upside-down. Did something happen, miss? She didn't respond. She kept looking and mumbling something incomprehensible. Then her face lighted up suddenly. She was holding and kissing a photograph. He's my boyfriend, she told the nurse. But when she asked her when they had met, she had already forgotten him.
Monica Bologa
Mom, I think I'm in love, my kid told me when he returned from his father whom I divorced a year ago. Who's the girl?, I asked him curiously. She's the most beautiful girl in the world, mom. I found her at dad's place as I was searching for a pencil. I stole the photo, but I want it to be our secret, mom, ok? Tomorrow I'll show it to Vlad. Do you want to see it too? When I saw it I became speechless. A long-haired woman, laying naked on the grass. At night, I took the photo am tore it into pieces. It was me back in my long-hair era.
(Translated by Cristina-Andreea Dobre / 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.