When I would get money from relatives, my father would make it clear what I could spend it on. He would also give me the sweets by the portion. I would only ride my bike after milking the cow. Then, when I came of age, I got a big piece of land from Grandpa. Dad made me grow potatoes on it. To spite him, I planted dandelions on the last plot by the creek. I knew I'd be beaten up, so I ran out into the world to make a living. Now I'm the manager of a place full of flowers. A kindergarten called At the Dandelions.
Laura Stanciu
Come on, you fool, let's go to the gym and pump some iron. Forget that damn book, you've gone soft. You need muscle. Girls don't ask you about Proust. Summer's coming and you're still carrying that brick in your backpack. It's not the same, Dan. It's the fourth volume. Man, you better work on your forearms with it. You'll ruin your eyes. You've been carrying this tome for two years. You're as dumb as Macron. You're in love with a museum piece. Did he find it? Did he find the time? He lost it like you, you fool, I swear. Even the French teachers didn't read it.
Alina Nedelcu
Everyone criticized me for having a baby after 40, for being an old mother. That I was living my life. That I don't die sooner, that I don't go after him. They criticized me for still having the energy to walk the streets at the age of 70. This crazy old lady, she took up dancing at her age. How colorful she dresses, no more black? I still stubbornly lived and enjoyed it. At the last minute, I found love. Not the wild, juvenile kind. Love as calm as a mountain lake, when the wind's not blowing. I don't want to die while I'm still alive.
(Translated by Andreea Cristina Moise / 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.