Hold on, Rabbit! Wait for me! yelled Alice as she saw the big-eared plushie vanish behind a gate. She followed him but found herself in front of several identical gates. She couldn't tell which one he took. She found a dice that didn't exist in her pocket and let chance decide. A bizarre land waited beyond the gate. A strange little man with his clothes on the wrong way approached her. Make a wish. I would like a glass of water, I'm really thirsty. She found herself holding a chunk of salt while the little man giggled. You're in the land of twisted wishes.
Gabriela Marinescu
Every time you move, I'm carrying the cardboard luggage you inherited from your grandma. You've never opened it, it isn't that heavy, what do you keep under lock and key? My childhood tear wipers. Every time my parents came home from working abroad they bought me a small stuffed animal from the corner shop. Look what we got you from France, Belgium, Italy, Spain. They would tell me that this time they'd stay, only to be gone in a couple of months. That's where I locked up their lies. The plushies still have their tags, they'll be the pillows of their caskets.
Laura Stanciu
Radu entered his parents' room, ball in hand, as he does every day. Daddy, when are we going to play football again? It's been a month. After an accident, Radu's father had a leg amputated. How long until it grows back? My teeth grew back fast. It takes longer for me, but we will play together again, his dad said. Wait, I thought of something. After a couple of minutes, Radu came back with a plush leg, from a brown teddy bear and laid it on the bed. Look, it's from Benny, since he already had four of them.
(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.