Ana Maria Vaida
That's 62.20 lei. I put on my handy glasses that are hung around my neck with a red string. I unzip my purse and rummage for my wallet. I am a little embarrassed to keep the cashier waiting. Out of the corner of my eye I see that she's already on her phone, so I calm down. I hand her a one hundred bill. Do you have twenty cents? Of course, I always carry a purse for change. Once again, I rummage into the depths of my purse. I separate the edges to get a better look, there is no trace of the purse. This time I don't have it, it seems I have left it at home.
Julia Sandu
Today is my birthday, and the prophecy of a fortune cookie directs me to a room where my life is basically a spectacle of objects. From my baby christening gown, my first earrings made from Grandpa Lazăr's silver coin to my bridal veil, my worn down heels and a framed poster of Alain Delon's face from Plein Soleil, my first teenage love. And just like that, today my eyes stare uncomfortably at the shelf full of jars of rheumatism ointments and tomorrow I am sure I will turn the music down to see better while parking.
Gheorghiță Mircea
Goguță Bozan was the crane operator of the Steel mill, being the one loading the scrap metal. Goguță was self-taught, between two batches he would be reading. He had gone through Critique of Pure Reason and Phenomenology, and Relativity did not oppose any difficulty for him either. Average people didn't understand why he was gathering scrap iron with his electromagnet into a huge pyramid on which he placed his cabin. He knew that time passed slower near large masses. But from the day he retired, Goguță feared that he would grow old. He went on a trip to Egypt and Goguță disappeared at the Great Pyramids.
(Translated by Andreea Cuprian / 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.