When he added acad.[1] next to the titles of Prof. D.Sc., for the complete dictionary of the language, he finally felt a sense of fulfilment, that the time had come to give himself a treat. In the desk drawer at the academy he found a nude photo. He smiled and read the address. In the pink room she asked him with a smile: What? Please, I'd like to feel concupiscence, debauchery, sensuality, Eros, Epicureanism, eroticism, jouissance, lasciviousness, libidinousness, salaciousness, sybaritism, voluptuousness. I understand what you want but won't you feel degradation, decline, depravity? I don't know, do you think it'll be bad for me?
[1] abbreviation of academician, honorific title used to denote a full member of a national academy; roughly equivalent to the British honour of \'Fellow of the Royal Society'.
All I need not to be afraid to walk down the street by myself is a leather jacket. I'll leave you all the furniture, I'm good enough as a closet full of skeletons. Keep your shadow that smells of vetiver and tobacco. I'll leave you the ring and all of Bittman's stupid music too. I don't want the TV, I've got enough movies in my head. We're not splitting the cat in half, although we should have done that a long time ago. Did I forget that black lace two-piece? I could have been beautiful but you didn't have your eye on the right drawer. Should I make you an appointment for an eye exam?
Cristina Crețu
I entered Mrs. R's apartment meekly. I had come to tell her that I had restored the grave in the Sf. Vineri cemetery. In the living room, some old photographs were lying on the oval table. I stopped my wandering gaze on one of them: a man with his chest covered in medals. It's my father, the lady guessed my question. He fought in the war. He left me the house. My mother threw me out. I grew up in an orphanage until I was fourteen. I found the photo in a drawer. I had a strange feeling: the sky had become round like a balloon and I was suffocating.
(Translated by Bogdan Nicola / 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.