The Only Thing That Matters

Florin Piersic Jr
It's been twenty minutes. I open WhatsApp. Two check marks. My message has been delivered. But she hasn't read it. She hasn't read it yet. Maybe she's busy. Or maybe I've become too insistent. Or maybe she's just indifferent. Or maybe she's sleeping. Or taking a shower. Or maybe it doesn't matter at all. I'll look at my phone tomorrow morning, and I bet those two check marks still won't be blue. I look at the message. I reread it. I hold my finger down on the message. Options. Delete. Recycle Bin. Delete for everybody. Cause everybody hurts.
 
 Dan Banu
Did you see? Lu asked excitedly. A shooting star. No, Mi sighed and shrugged. They say that if you see a shooting star and make a wish, it will come true, no matter how deep that wish is. Mi's eyes gleamed wet, like two stars filled with the courage to break free. Look at the sky. It's possible another one might appear, whispered Lu, closing his eyes thightly, and made his wish. Immediately, another shooting star appeared in the sky. Did you see it? Mi asked with excitement, but Lu had his eyes closed.

Cristina Daniela Dumitru-Pascal
She had undressed him and was wiping him with the damp towel. He had lost a lot of weight. She knew every inch of his skin. She put on his new pajamas and began to comb his hair. She felt his gaze. He had woken up. He tried to say something. She covered his mouth with her palm. He wasn't allowed to speak. His sadness struck against her chest. She caressed his cheeks. Softly. Gently. And kissed him. First the upper lip, then the lower one, lightly, tenderly, as if she wanted to remind him who she was. Then she grabbed a book and sat down in the chair. I'm not going anywhere, she told him. She began to read.
 
(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)