She did not know why she was crying, or did she? It must have been something stupid, nonetheless, and so she went out to take a walk on the seafront, at first light. She let herself be caressed by those sleepy rays of sun, struggling to warm up the cold boardwalk, and she scolded the sea for the carelessness with which she had washed away a beautiful sandcastle. But then she apologized, as she loved the sea so deeply and admired her struggle. It was then that she saw him, throwing flowers into the water. Curious, she asked him what he was doing. Brought flowers for my wife, it is her birthday, he answered, staring into the depths.
Nelson Ciotoi
American movies, with convertibles, with herds of horsepower under their hoods. Him and her, watching a movie on the huge screen, sitting on the high boardwalk. The breeze blew through their hair messing it up, and that suited him, as it gave him a reason to reach his hand and touch her, as if by mistake. She was holding her thin light-silk scarf with her hand, thrown around her blonde perfumed hair. He knew tonight she would be his. And so, this is why, when pulling her towards him, he could hear his wife's voice saying: Vasile, keep your hands off the duvet.
Dan Banu
His fingers, made of sand, running through her foamy hair, while she hummed touching songs, learned from the Sirens who had met Ulysses. He would kiss her bare thigh tossed over the shore, while she caressed his strong chest sliding back into the abyss. And then, one morning, they woke up non-binary. And so, he brought palms from the desert to make himself some dresses off their leaves, while she got a boyish haircut with solid bangs and started hanging out with two tetrapods.
(Translated by Adrian-Florin Duță / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year I / Corrected by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)
Versiunea în română a acestui text se poate citi aici, în rubrica Ficțiuni Reale.