Dionysus woke up with a heavy head, drunk, in the midst of an oppressive silence. A deep feeling of loneliness enveloped him, more bitter than any wine he had ever tasted. He lifted the glass, but the potion, once full of flavor, now seemed tasteless, as if all the joy in the world had left him. His gaze settled on Silenus, his loyal donkey, who was peacefully sleeping beside him. His gray fur was wrinkled and dusty. A heavy sadness overwhelmed him as he realized how much Silenus had aged, his only friend.
Alina Ilie
Used to the sun setting in pink, the locals no longer see it as a miracle. However, tourists' phone memory is never enough to capture it. They have photographed the white houses with blue roofs, the mischievous cats that frolic at every step, the shards of broken plates joyfully smashed at typical parties, and the path of the donkeys, a ladder on which the gentle animals carry them from the beach to the heart of the fun. When they leave the island, they wish to keep as many proofs as possible that paradise exists.
Aurelian Țolescu
In high school, we had three smoking spots where we thought no one would find us. We were three teenagers, and we liked to break the rules sometimes. We would gather on the narrow staircase leading to the school bridge and smoke there because the ventilation was quick. One day, we found ourselves face to face with the old headmistress. You idiots, this is where you've decided to smoke? she said. I'll show you. When we brought titles to the school from the Olympics and Cântarea României magazine boasted about us at the end of the year as the smartest and most valuable students.
(Translated by Miruna Baicu / 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.