I had been to Obor market, to eat some grilled minced meat rolls. My fellow citizens told me that if I ever got to the capital, I had to stop by. From the train station, I took a taxi, like a nobleman, to the market. On the way back, I only had money left for that train that goes underground. I get off at the first station and board the first train. Inside, we were all like sardines in a can. It must have been half an hour when I got off. I look up and see New Times. I say to myself in bewilderment, I've travelled back in time.
Adina Drag
It was dark. It passes by the former neighbourhood gas station. On the pavement, a meter away from him, a thin, transparent soul sighs and moans. I've always lived in tomorrow's world, and tomorrow didn't care that I didn't live. Help me, bro, give me some of your light. Just then, a few other faded souls pass by in fright. God leaves them with the impression that they keep getting closer, and His nearness turns their world upside down, for in their heads, God was not part of the world. Sorrow. It crosses.
Aurelian Țolescu
Yes, new times, new habits, bad consequences. Children can do arithmetic only with their mobile phones, write compositions only with AI, graduate from college knowing the name of the University, finish Electronics knowing the symbol of the transient. It's all IT, Mechatronics and Robotics, technological evolution. Unfortunately, we have regressed intellectually, socially, and emotionally. These times throw us far back, until we relearn the desire for knowledge, kindness, and common sense.
(Translated by Florina Șamata / 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.