He's blue, short-winded. I can't feel my fingers. Any stop would be fatal. It's already getting dark, who knows if we'll live to see the morning. There's not a living soul around. Our faces have dried out, as have our hopes.He is leaving a trail of blood behind, barely dragging the foot he's hurt in the trap. Come on, keep going. I'm sure we've been here before, but I dare not tell him. How could I? I can't do it anymore, Silvi. We drop in the snow. He grinds his teeth in pain, putting his head in my lap and shuddering. Hold me like this for a while. He's silent, I am crying out. I see a chalet. Too late.
Ruxandra Comșa
Hi. I'm the fox. Today I'm going to bring it to an end. The big bad wolf. Big-haired and rat-faced, the wolf won't leave me alone. He's filled the forest with rumors and started this silly trend, saying "Hallelujah, hallelujah, if the tree doesn't have acorns and mushrooms you'll get fined". The wolf is the great mayor. I pass by his den and say, catch me if you can. He says, you're crazy, you want me to maul you? And here I make him go up and up, up to the top. The first paw scratches me, the second one makes my head whiz, the third one won't come cause I bite off his.... The blood starts spurting. Good-bye.
Carmen Tot
Till the rain takes us, we swore. And it did, but the Refuge stopped us from slipping. I've got blueberries, said the old man in the doorway. He had waist-long hair and a beard. I felt you were close. The warmth lulled us to sleep, when the door buzzed as bitten by gunshot. Then you could hear beast howls and man howls. We kept watch without questioning anyone but only ourselves. The next day we awoke on the rock, any trace of the refuge was gone and the bear was just leaving. He had brought us dreams and blueberries. And maybe he thought we'd be on his side. Everything lives only as long as the dream wills it.
(Translated by Florina Georgiana Țîncu / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year I / Corrected by prof dr. Nadina Vișan, Edited by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)
Versiunea în română a acestui text se poate citi aici, în rubrica Ficțiuni Reale.