He was looking at the tourists who were passing by in front of the shop window. The oldest fish shop on the island. None of them were reminding him of his younger self. By this time, he had sold every fish. There were days when he wished to go on the boat. He felt like a werewolf, the sun burned his skin. He was swimming at night. He learned every star, but he was still yearning to see the sea's colour under the sun's rays. His wife had the most beautiful tanned skin. When they would meet, they looked like day and night embracing each other.
Cătălin Tănase
These past few days it had been 10 years since she was cleaning that beauty shop. Because during the weekend she was going to meet up with Gigi, whom she met on Facebook a few days ago, her mind put together a plan. After the boss left, she got undressed, neatly placed her clothes next to the tanning machine, and then she carefully sat. the next day, during her lunch break at work, Gigi read an article about a beauty salon that caught on fire. It's what they deserve, he mumbled, they should come and tan here, on the construction site.
Sonia Ungureanu
Grandma went to school only until the second grade, but she was our first chemistry teacher. First sugar and only after that lemon in the tea, not the other way around, she explained to us with an air of superiority. She was stirring the soap on the fire by a recipe only she knew and she wasn't taking her eyes off the gypsies when she gave them any of her bronze pots. She was also the one who was thoroughly rubbing the utensil before mincing the garlic, this is brass, she would say, bronze doesn't turn green. Bronze letters were also used by uncle Tilică to write on her cross, soaking a used brush into a bottle as small as a thimble. Age 90.
(Translated by Cristina-Paula Grosu / 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.