The music is booming from the speakers. There's a constant flow of civilians and uniforms in the corridors, the squares were decorated last night, and the tables with perfectly natural food are kept full at all times. Euphoria fills the mothership, aided, for humans, by micro dosed psychoactive aerosols that are administered on such occasions through the ventilation system. The folks from the satellite ships still need to arrive, and then the party can kick off. It's been 300 Earth years since October left Earth. They're doing better than ever.
Dan Banu
He stroked the little creature's back with his fingertips, and she nestled into his palms like the moon in the rippling waters. He played around with the squirrel for a good while, wrapping her in his arms and urging her to run, tossing her toward the sky and letting her fall into his lap. The owl cozied up in his cupped palm, closed its eyes, fluffed its feathers, and stayed curled up for a long time. But the wind was dizzying him, with its fierceness, its stubbornness, and its boundless arrogance. And in the wake of its passage, the fir tree shook, struggling to release its seeds.
Cecilia Fofiu
It's a mild day in October after, around eleven, the church spire broke through the fog and sent it scattering away. Look at the sleepy little village with its houses lined up along the swift stream, watched over by bushes still full of silver leaves. The well-fed goats are lazily munching away. She stretches out in the shade of the dog rose, choked with red berries and rough bristles. Drowsy, she feels a gentle breeze that caresses her softly. She shivers, stirred by an unfamiliar feeling. Late, she opens her eyes slowly and recognizes the bell she left beside her. And she calls out to it.
(Translated by Eduard Mihai Uretu / 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.