The front page declared in capital letters that the world is approaching its edge. The anonymous text warned that, with the disappearance of the last printed pages, memories would begin to fade, one by one, until nothing remained. Witnesses claimed that ever clearer shadows were seeping into the air as night fell, and people who were once normal suddenly lost their identity, forgetting everything. On the edge of the page, written as if in a hurry, appeared a few words that were almost erased: When the pages disappear, we will no longer remember who we are.
Alex Caragian
I would like to say that cutting tree branches calms me, but in life we have to also do things that don't please us. However, raking is another story. The sound made when I gather the leaves into piles is like the sound of waves crashing on a volcanic rock beach. I found a breach in the hedge. A few stems from the inside were wilting out of the blue. I went in to search for the source, and the plant snatched me and absorbed me. The next day, the press didn't report anything. I smiled, and three leaves fell.
Paul Dârvariu
I must write about the second to last one as well. A single page, printed in tiny letters: IN A FEW HOURS, THE INEVITABLE WILL HAPPEN. MANKIND WILL FALL VICTIM TO ITS OWN EVIL, THE PRIDE OF ITS LEADERS, AND THE IGNORANCE OF THOSE WHO ELECT THEM. ALL NEWS AGENCIES HAVE ANNOUNCED THE FAILURE OF THE NEGOTIATIONS. THEREFORE, THE RED BUTTONS WILL BE PRESSED SIMULTANEOUSLY. The last one was reconstructed by archaeologists from fragments and ash. It had a single sentence: GOODBYE, WE WILL ALL MEET IN HELL, IF IT ISN'T DESTROYED AS WELL.
(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.