If school had not been for free how could I have ever adjusted to adult life? That's how I quickly got the hang of it. The form teacher is the boss here. Recess, take 5. Nibbles, snack. Lunch, lunch break. My classmates, my team. We don't talk, we are brainstorming. Deadlines, not exams. Parent-teacher meetings, only without parents. You know what I'm talking about. Camp is team building. The dorm is a residence. We all bough apartments here. It looks nice when it snows and it covers the construction site in the front of the building. I'm a lucky guy. In 30 years these 30 square meters will be mine.
Siranuș Hakobian
There was no one better in the guild: she had stolen, lied, and scammed everyone. All she left behind was tears and curses, but she didn't care as long as her fortune kept growing. When the time came for her to give birth, she prayed during the throes of child birth for a healthy baby. But the curses hit her where it hurt, and the child came into the world deformed and spiritually weak. Why must an innocent person pay my debts? the woman wondered within her prison of despair, foolishly hoping for a statute of limitations.
Alexandra Buhudini
I stepped on to the Giulești stadium heart jumping out of my chest in the form of a football. I held his hand tightly, and my breath matched the cherry red of the supporters' drums. The turf? A cage covered in cheers. After 90 minutes my idols would emerge, their punishment served, but the spikes promised more turf ballet. Pops, why do they kiss the ball after they score? Because it's their duty. In fact, the ball is our hearts, and they kiss it because their spikes' wings are cherry red, like our blood.
(Translated by Ana-Maria Batog / 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)
Versiunea în română a acestui text se poate citi aici, în rubrica Ficțiuni Reale.