I know, but I don't want to remember. What I've done is a great sin, but maybe not so great, since I find myself HERE, before Him. Everything about Him is white: His hair, His beard, His robe, the throne He sits upon. At His feet, a grieving woman. I think it's the Blessed Virgin. Next to her, a man with a stethoscope around his neck. I try to peel away the bandages from my ears to decipher their whispers: Doctor, I know I've sinned again, but it's just impossible for me to stop when I see the subway coming into the station.
Florina Hegedüs
I know you're only waiting for me, even though those enticing carvings on the building across the street are tempting. You're holding up well; your skin is like iron stone. You're always looking sharp. Don't stare off into space, looking sad. I read your poems night after night. My love is with you in time. Let the world say what it will about me; I worry about one thing - they're going to renovate the park. They'll move you. Come on, get down and let's run away. Look, I brought the dreams with me. I know how to handle them. Oh, you are so slow. Fine, I'll climb up on the pedestal to help you before the people in white come to ask what I'm doing here. Can I kiss you?
Gabriel Rusu
God is a dictator, and I am the victim of his oppressive regime. I haven't harmed anyone. I only defended my point of view when I demanded that Heaven benefit from free elections. Change is the foundation of progress. We needed a contemporary vision to bring prosperity to Eden. As a reward, the voices agreed with me, and then declared me persona non grata, following a public trial with 666 charges against me. I am Lucifer, the first dissident, exiled for life from Paradise.
(Translated by Marian-Cătălin Niculăescu / 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.