He came every day. He politely greeted the old man who was busy behind the counter, then he slowly started wandering among the shelves. Occasionally he stopped, took out a book, gently caressed its pages, then put it back and continued on his way. Often times, the old man forgot about his presence, getting startled whenever he bid farewell. That day followed the same ritual. Before leaving, he approached the counter and, with a gaze that seemed to pass right through the old librarian, he asked: do you have any books written in Braille?
Aurelian Țolescu
Back in '95 we had a technical library like no other in the country. The majority of its books were foreign and held the secrets of the new digital technologies. The librarian retired and her place was taken by a stunning girl whose face and body enticed us to be avid readers. We would always make our way to the library to read technical articles and spy on her curves out of the corners of our eyes. Then a man with a lack of vision suggested digitizing the library so it could be accessed from the office. The librarian became an HR expert.
Cecilia Fofiu
She didn't want to card wool or comb hemp. She didn't like spinning yarn or untangling spindles. She roamed through the orchard and the forest with her dogs on her tail. In the attic, there were bundles of dried plants, with brown fluffy pages, like quinces. She read in the apple or in the hazelnut tree swing. Then she read again and imagined a different ending. This time she won't throw herself under the train and he won't drink poison. On the day when, out of curiosity, she approached a cart with shelves on wheels, she found new prints. Today, she happily borrows books on mountain roads from the bookmobile.
(Translated by Laurențiu-Gabriel Niculae / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year I / Corrected by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)
Versiunea în română a acestui text se poate citi aici, în rubrica Ficțiuni Reale.