In a train that didn't seem to hurry at all, a woman was telling the woman next to her about her son. He had just been hired at a big company. What a salary! And a company car and a bonus for good results in sales and whatever else he does. And he had just gotten married. A serious, decent girl, and what joy it was to hear that she was pregnant; I'm going to be a grandmother! When, out of politeness, she was asked for a photo of her son, the woman showed her a little boy in shorts, next to a puppy. It had been taken just a month before he drowned, in 1994.
Arthur Ianoși
I came out like a proud viking. Noisy. Apgar, from the jury, gave me a 9.99. That's how he is: he doesn't believe in 10. The rest just applauded me. I thought I heard a bis. I was wondering, what the hell, they want me to be born again. I didn't even let the doctor wipe the blood off me, I pulled away and stood up. I probably had an allergy to crawling. I pulled on a Pampers, cleaned myself up and said: The distance from an impure thought to damnation is action, and I rushed out the door, ready for life.
Cristina Daniela Dumitru-Pascal
In short pants, a Batman T-shirt and a backwards cap he was playing in the sand: Mommy, look what a castle I've built, he said to the woman next to him. My dear, I'm not your mother; I'm your wife. Look, mommy-wife, what I built! He woke up sweaty. That was what awaited him. Soon. Too soon. He turned to her, caressed her face and left a stray kiss on one of her shoulders. He got out of bed, vent to the bathroom and filled the palm of his hand with three pill tubes. His hand was shaking. His mouth was dry. He heard a whisper from behind him: Throw them in the toilet. We'll manage.
(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.