New Times

Siranuș Hakobian
Same old story, with very little difference. In the old days, girls always stayed on their best behavior before marriage. Granny, behind the hayloft, wouldn't let grandpa touch her for the world. Mama, good-natured too, loved Papa just a little, playfully, enough for a wonderful result, which was me, which moved the wedding up a little. I was well-behaved before marriage too, only had about three boyfriends, because I always liked to have a choice. My daughter is also well behaved: she's had one boyfriend and only two girlfriends.
 
 George Dometi
I kneel down and I am struck by the thought that the parents of our parents were so lucky to have been able to take it out on us for their failures. Any unripe wheat, any unsown corn, any pitchfork of hay missing the stack, they had the same methods of raising us: beating, humiliation, insults. We have compassion, failure and understanding. A father told me yesterday: We have a chance of withstanding the world's hardest weather, you'll end up being pussies. Is it possible for me to dream of a peaceful and good world dressed in rags?

Ramona Ungureanu
When I caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye of Florin F looking through condoms at the checkout, pretending not to see me, I was reminded of my youth when my hormones were running around with strings of long white beads around their necks and dancing all over the place. But I didn't like Florin F, even though he used to play the guitar really well and I strung him along for a few months. But I liked Marcel who didn't even know I existed, because my beads didn't even reach him. How are you doing? Fine, I'm looking for denture glue, you?

(Translated by Anca Maria Florea / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year II / Corrected by prof. dr. Nadina Vișan, Edited by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)