Bronze

Aurelian Țolescu
He had a heart of gold. He loved people, helped anyone, was tireless, and could find beauty in any ugly stone on the street. He was always there and made decisions in all difficult or dangerous moments, never giving himself the rest he needed. His heart shone for a few years until, slowly, it began to rebel and beat out of sync. In other words, erratically. The doctors did what they had to with technique and technology. He survived, but his heart had turned into one of bronze. Hard, cold, and brittle.
 
 Mirela A. Nica
That summer, all the kids called me Socorrista. That's when I met Guillermo, a 12-year-old boy everyone avoided-not because he had Down syndrome, but because some parents had closed minds. After work, when the families retreated to their concrete cubicles, I would set aside an hour just for him. I remember how we would race each other in the pool. His ear-to-ear smile was priceless. I would have given the gold medal, though, to Ana, a 10-year-old girl who approached him without any prejudice.

Ina Moldoveanu
Still not married, Costel? Even Rita left you? How do you manage to ruin all my charms, man? What kind of women do you find? I bet they tied you up first, probably by the hair in the yard, because that's the only place you mope around. You're an Aquarius. You absolutely must carry a bronze coin in your pocket. I'll make one for you and give it to you. We'll melt copper and tin together. Your destiny is either a Taurus or a Sagittarius. Don't let me catch you with any Aries women again, or you'll end up eating dirt. Was she a Virgo? The cards show nothing promising in bed. Poor thing must've wanted a manhood Taurus and ended up with a fool.

(Translated by Miruna-Gabriela Flipache / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year II / Corrected by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)