and there you will find me. Don't think I'm pig if I serve you swill. Don't think I'm a donkey if I am stubborn. Don't think I'm a lounge lizard if I have more than one girlfriend. Don't think I'm a snake if I open up. Don't think I'm hyena if you reveal your soul to me. Don't think I'm a cat if I enter your house. Don't think I'm a rat if I chew on my words. Don't think I'm a fox if I praise your so-called masterpiece. That's what the little baby chameleon thought.
Siranuș Hakobian
I don't live far from the end of the world: I would say there is a distance of about three kilometres, although others say it's only three metres. Nonetheless, I walk three- four times a day, everyday, to the end of the world and back, careful not to break my neck. The most unpleasant is walking in the morning. It takes me a good few minutes to compose myself, gather my thoughts and control the trembling of my limbs. But I walk slowly, carefully not to trip over my slippers. My daughter has made it clear that if I am not able to walk on my own to the bathroom, she will put me in a nursing home.
Adina Drag
I saw him sitting down at a table immersed in semidarkness, at the very back of the narrow tavern. My attention was immediately drawn to the old devil waiting for him. He had long, greasy hair and a grin that sent shivers down my spine. From a filthy speaker, a song struggled to break through the thick smoke. It was clear from the way the devil was squinting his eyes and stirring his drink that Ulf was playing with fire. When he got back to the table, he was three times older. He tricked me, he said, and he smiled bitterly at me from somewhere at the end of the world.
(Translated by Adina-Lorena Dulamă / 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.