He sat curled up on a shelf, dressed in a green T-shirt and purple shorts. Whoever had chosen his clothes didn't quite know how to match colors. Air flowed through the gap between his shoulder blades, making him feel empty inside. Occasionally, someone would pick him up, dust him off, and carefully place him back in his place. He would wander what his purpose could be, but no answer would come to mind. That was until the day the little piggy received a coin, which he happily dropped through the slot of his human bank.
Monica Bologa
You have beautiful legs, said to me Ana, my deskmate. I saw you through the gap in the fence when you were bathing in the wooden tub, in the sun. When I got home, I cut all my pants off above the knees. That evening, I got a good beating from my mom. Because I was upset, I hid in the attic. After some time, my father came up with an old picture in his hand: Look, this is me with a beard. Then your mother told me that I looked better without it, so ever since, I shave almost every day. The following day I went to school proudly showing off my legs.
Carmen-Ecaterina Ciobâcă
The shirt was immaculate, he had checked his tie knot, the blazer fit him perfectly, he had shaved carefully and styled his hair only five minutes before. Today is my day! he told himself, and then started presenting the sales from the past few months to his boss, the increasing turnover, the projects for acquiring targeted products such as masks, gels and rapid tests, when all of the sudden the doorbell rang. He instinctively stood up, revealing to his colleagues on Zoom his shorts with frogs, which looked quite packed.
(Translated by Laura-Monica Doroiman / 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.