Iulia Biro
She sat like this for almost a month, one foot here and the other in the Ground. Everything was ready, she seemed at peace, she said her goodbyes, she apologized for everything and told everyone she loved them, she did everything we thought she would in these moments of weakness. And still, she clung to this life, passed to the other side, and then came back. She only got through with it after they had finished reading from the book she had started at the hospital, the last book of her favorite writer. She opened her eyes. She smiled. I'm ready, she said. Thank you. Lots of love. And off she was.
Mădălina Angelescu
We were like two actors in a move. Scene by scene, we approached each other from different directions. I had time to notice your deep dark circles, your messy hair and the two open buttons on your used-to-be-white shirt. It wasn't eight o'clock in the morning, but you looked like you hadn't slept all night. The thought of us might have disturbed your peace. Our elbows touched. The traffic light was still green, but it flickered. Alarm. I turned on my feet, I took you by your hand and we crossed the street towards where you were going. I took that decision for us.
Adina Colțea
They crossed each other without knowing what they were after. They crossed and got lost in groups of nameless people. They never touched each other, not even with their eyes, that is until one day, when they happened to be on the same side of the street, waiting for the same green light of the same traffic signal. Don't let them burry our light, she whispered with her eyes closed. He laughed and took her hand right when her eyes turned green. The cars stopped, time stopped. Only they were threading, the two of them, only on the white stripes.
(Translated by Laurențiu-Gabriel Niculae / 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.