Since she got a phone as a gift, Luiza has started to neglect her toys. Feeling abandoned, Cocolino the teddy bear decided to leave her, even if he knew nothing about the outside world. One day, he went out the door with a pout. The little girl didn't even notice that her favorite friend was missing from the shelf. That evening, before going to bed, she went to the kitchen to get some milk, since she was thirsty and not that tired. When she opened the fridge, the teddy bear was curled up next to some container. He got the wrong door.
Ionuț Morariu
They say the world is a jungle. It's possible. All I know for sure is that this orphanage is hell on earth. Yes, the dangers are everywhere. Even outside, you can always get hit by a car. However, here the accident is guaranteed. Every single day. A tiger stalking from the shadows is less fierce than Ana, the caretaker. Or Nelu, the security guard. It's good for the world to know the face of the demons, but the tongue refuses to articulate. The new counselor shoved a teddy bear in my hands. I hate toys. This moron doesn't know that we're the toys here.
Ana Maria Dobre-Nir
Only the teddy bear reminded her of the life she had lived, and the dream that kept repeating. The therapist was telling her that those things didn't actually happen and it was all her imagination. She didn't believe him. She could remember everything so clearly, that house, her room, the toy shelf. The warm touch of that woman. The walks in the park. While they, the ones she called her parents, had never been anything but strangers to her. Today she started a new treatment. She was certain that this, too, would fail. Luckily it made her sleep deeper and dream.
(Translated by Adriana-Maria Botea / 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.