October

 Florentin Sorescu
 Overweight patient died under suspicious circumstances today, October 15th, 2023. Name: Mihaela Sandu. Age: 50 years. She was brought in by ambulance at 7:33 PM. All resuscitation efforts were made. She did not respond to any stimuli. Attempts were made to contact the family, but no relatives were identified. Known as a poet without any published work. According to neighbours, in the last period of her life, she did not leave the house at all. The most probable cause of death is loneliness. May God forgive us.

Daniela Rusu
Her apartment shone with cleanliness. Take a taste, she handed me a slice, then covered the homemade bread with a dishcloth. There are no eggplants tastier than in October. I got off the train and crossed the walkway. That's where I met her. She was carrying three bags and a bicycle. She wore a long skirt, beige stockings, and a pair of shoes with which she stepped over the rotting planks. I don't trip that easily. I insisted, and in the end, she handed me the bags. With this virus, it's been months since I last invited anyone to a meal.

David Brescan
I am the only one in my family who didn't die in October. Well, I was hit on the head in childhood one October, but I survived. My father, however, slipped off the balcony in October, my mother fell into a well, my grandfather fell from the stairs, my grandmother in the cellar. My sister threw herself in front of a train, my aunt into the Dâmbovița River, and my uncle fell into a sewer. All in different Octobers, over the years, in front of me. Friends, I'm the guardian here. Go talk to the prison psychologist.

(Translated by Miruna Baicu / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year I / Corrected by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)