I don't know how you or others are, yet it's clear that I have difficulties in informing myself, but when I think of my parents' house, of the traditional Halouin at Bojdeucă[1] where the old woman Cloanța[2] used to make apple crumble or when uncle Michael came from French men, from Periș[3] and baked tarts tatin[4] with caramelized pears on the hearth, and the pumpkins would burst with envy in the garden, my heart still leaps with fear and the memory of the tree that gave different fruits every season and once every 4 years, the special tutti frutti came in.
[1] Bojdeucă means a small, shabby peasant house.
[2] Baba Cloanța (old woman Cloanța) is an old witch living on the outskirts of the village. The character is inspired by the Carphatian folklore.
[3] Periș is a commune in the far northwestern corner of Ilfov county in Romania.
[4] The tart Tatin, named after the Tatin sisters who invented it, is a pastry in which the fruit is caramelized in butter and sugar before the tart is baked.
Dan Banu
I come here all day because it's beautiful. It's like a special park. And I'm between people one and one. Here sits Mr. Eminescu, over there Mr. Sadoveanu. I'll still come here when I'm dead. God doesn't laugh. He'll take us to the furnace alone. But I talked to Sisu Groparu, let him take the ashes, make a hole between the graves, and shake them into the ground. He grabbed an apple from an alms basket, rubbedit against his dirty overalls and took a bite. He spitted and showed me the worm. He carefully buried the apple and the worm and bit off a pear.
Cecilia Fofiu
After many failed attempts, the MirsenOpions return to Earth, propitious to beam down from Mirsa in search of resources. Curious and invisible, they scatter among the inhabitants, now learning to feed in the oxygenated atmosphere. They swallow the Earthlings' food, telepathically consulting each other about efficiency. Being vegetarians, they determine to feed on vegetables and fruit. They wander about searching everywhere. Signal, attention, toxic food. At the National Museum of Art, an opion is delirious after munching on Aman's Fruit Basket.
(Translated by Florina Șamata / 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.