At birth, they threw dirt and flower crowns to welcome me. Two condors circled around the chandelier in the room, and a vulture black as a crow walked with its hands behind its back under the bed. They whispered: won't this one grow old already? But I, from my mother's womb, told them: There's no time to grow old, there's so much to do ahead. I was already speaking seven languages unknown on Earth. Necrophages pecked the flesh under my nails with ibis beaks. That's when the fates understood they were late.
Ruxandra Comșa
I became invisible. The day had come, I thought to myself, and I made a large koliva. I doled it out to my ex-boyfriends. It was invigorating. Some seemed to have a little left to live and then goodbye. I organized my life. I exchanged short, low-cut dresses for clothes befitting an old woman. I put on horn-rimmed glasses. Then I presented myself at the door of a luxurious nursing home. Good afternoon, perhaps the seniors would like someone to read to them. I'm offering pro bono services. I've just inherited a charming old man. I bought a second skin, I shine. You can look at the sun.
Magdalena Daminescu
It was one of the happiest days of my life. I held my first nephew in my arms in a hospital in NY. I had become a grandmother. When the nurse came out of the delivery room and walked towards me, I reached out my hands, and she handed me the baby. I looked at his tiny, red face, a pleasant warmth embraced my heart, and tears of joy streamed down my cheeks without my consent. My legs became weak, and overwhelmed, I handed him to his father. My only regret was that my husband wasn't there; the joy would have been complete.
(Translated by Laurențiu-Gabriel Niculae / 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.