He watched her with a smile. I'll be back for you, I know for sure it'll be fine. She believed him and prayed the entire night he snuck across the border. She kept praying in the following months, hopeful in her heart. She prayed in the following years, dejected. The years passed, and she couldn't build a connection with another man, waiting for a sign and writing Akathist for the church. He returned one day, as promised. Married and with children, he'd come to show them his birth city.
Ruxandra Donose
He'd recently, unexpectedly ran into her again, and the brightness of her gaze had instantly made him forget how miserable he'd felt to be dumped. From the first smile, through their intertwined words they found their way back to the familiar, intoxicating dance of thoughts and bodies. I'll never leave you again, she said, my life without you is hollow, you bring me joy and purpose. It took less than last time for the words to lose their spark and she left him again. For the man who offered her a life with neither purpose nor joy, but was much more convenient.
Laura Bercean
are actually little. To be able to play detective again in the attic. To reread At Medeleni, but it's for the first time and I'm a kid again. To go to a game with Dad once more; then to a concert. To go fishing with the whole gang of airheadsand sleep in a van. To hear one more time that Happy Birthday, sung when I turned 7 by so many voices that today only echo in my memories. To pet all my dogs buried under the garden flowers. And especially to enjoy a quiet coffee with her, my Dida.
(Translated by Ioana Ștefan / 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.