Colorful balloons floated in the air, garlands of flowers hung from the ceiling, a mountain of toys ready for fun, the walls adorned with fairy-tale characters. In the center, the party table set. On each plate a golden wreath and an enchanted mask waited to be worn by kiddos. The room was a fairytale. Only in one corner a sad clown was holding a little chubby boy on his knees. Through the lenses of his glasses round eyes stared at the door. They waited. And time was measured by the tears on his cheeks.
Mirela A. Nica
Hello, my opposite. It's good to know when to stop. All I've done so far is give you ammunition. In my dream, I fed my worst fear, I fed a rat. That's what I am in the Chinese zodiac. Here I have the god of War behind me and you want me to forget, forgive, move on. Over what, God, forgive me, get over what? I'm not even allowed to take revenge. It would be like not recognizing my faults, like not forgiving myself. Because of that, for the rest of my life, I give you the gift of my absence.
Lucian Pătru
Not even he knew why they had chosen him to play in this movie, as he wasn't an actor by trade, but he thought why not? He only had one scene, the funeral scene, which the lead actor couldn't do because he was claustrophobic. He got into the coffin as he was, in his shorts, t-shirt and sneakers, not even hearing the Action signal, just knowing it was finished when they opened the lid. He was quiet as a mouse the whole time, just like the script said. But the saddest thing, in the credits, they didn't even mention his name. At least in a black box. This won't do.
(Translated by Corina-Alexandra Belu / 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.