Every morning, on my way to school, I fell asleep in the backseat. The scent of gas helped me dream sweet dreams. In front of me were my two parents who loved each other, and you could see that in my dad's careful driving and in the songs mom looked up on the radio. I never anticipated our lives changing, but then the first engine issues surfaced. At the same time, the fights began, and I became my favourite hero, The Invisible Man. I knew they'd divorce when Dad sold the Dacia and got a Wartburg.
Dan Banu
Tarabostes, someone knocks at the gate. And what does he want? I don't get it, because he only knows the words "barză", "varză", "viezure" and "mânz[1]", nothing else, it's like he's appeared out of thin air. Does he brandish his blade, give his shield a shake? No. He's brandishing a plastic horn whose stopper is tied with a rope around his neck. He sticks his fingers in his mouth and rubs his tummy. This is a riddle I can't make sense of, Decebalus yells. Kill him. Master, the stranger wants to know the secrets of wine, Scorilo asserts, coming out from behind the curtains. I say we share it with him, he should be allowed this little happiness.
[1] Translated, the Romanian words mean stork, cabbage, badger, colt. There are very few words in Romanian of possible Dacian origin, and these are some of them, so holding a dialogue with only etymologically relevant words would be impossible in Romanian, as the Dacian visitor tries.
Cecilia Fofiu
The rolling hills are brought to life by our presence, a few hundred people dressed in black shorts, white shirts and sneakers, our uniform for PE classes. The trail is bounded by wooden red cones stuck along the dirt road. The sun is already up when they give the signal for the 1.500 meters run in the Daciada[1] competition. After the boys run, it's time for us girls. I hope to equal the Olympic runner Maricica Puică. I give it my all, I sometimes jostle the others and, beat, I come in last.
[1] Daciada was a multi-sport competition that took place every two years in the Socialist Republic of Romania.
(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.