I notice something shiny in the sand. I get up from the sun lounger and walk over to the object-a ring that seems to come from another era. As soon as I put it on my finger, I feel different, somehow much stronger. Now I can dare anything, I tell myself. First, I'll throw myself into the sea-it's time I learnt how to swim-then I'm going to invite the guy sitting alone under the umbrella for a coffee. I never got to talk to that man though, I drowned. The ring slipped off my finger, and a wave washed it ashore. The man under the umbrella notices something shiny in the sand.
Laura Stanciu
Are you going for that blonde? I am, I told you. You're an idiot. She's nothing special. The one in the red swimsuit is better. No, bro, that's Vicky; she's Geo's. Cut it, dude, it doesn't matter. The woman gets to choose. We're in the competition, not them. What about Roxy from Șincai high school? She's fine, I won't deny it, but she into style, not into bums; she'll give you the slip. You never had an offer like this even when you scored three goals in a match. Let's rank them. Bronze goes to the blonde, silver to Vicky. Gold goes to Roxy. Correct? Dude, for me, bronze is gold.
Marius Stan
Bronze is an alloy of copper, about 80%, tin, about 10%, plus other chemical elements. Depending on the desired properties, aluminum, manganese, nickel, or zinc can be added. Here are some common types: Statuesque bronze, with a lot of copper, used in sculpture and construction; architectural bronze, more balanced, only half copper; bearing bronze, with a lot of tin and zinc. The bronze of the Olympic medals in Paris has 95% copper, 4% zinc, and contains 18 grams of iron from the Eiffel Tower. This bronze is the heaviest.
(Translated by Bogdan Macarie / 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.