Stretch out your pinky, ring, and middle finger, and close your index finger. Now raise your thumb. What do you see? In the light of the oil lamp, a wolf's head trembled on the cracked whitewash. But it only has one ear, Daddy. Use both hands. Amazed, I moved the wolf up and down, opened its mouth to make it howl, perked up its ears. From time to time, I blew into my fists and pressed my palms against the warm water bottle, under the blanket. What else can you do, Daddy? And then butterflies and doves flew across the wall until I forgot the cold and drifted off to sleep.
Roxana Catana Tarhon
I know you're 14, Matei, but let me remember you as a little child for just an hour. You were so adorable. Come on, let's make animal shadows on the walls-you used to love it. It's kind of late, Mom. I'm hungry and sleepy. Look, my love, I made a rabbit. Mhm, nice. Now it's a horse. Wonderful. A frog. Spectacular. A barking dog. Outstanding. A duck. Excellent. I was really hoping to see a duck on the wall. What else do you want me to make, sweetheart? Hey, Mom, how about making a pizza instead? I used to love that when I was little too.
Florentin Sorescu
Doru had bought himself an electronic watch with melodies. Look, he said, you can even dance with your girlfriend to these songs. The sound is pretty good if you hold her close to your chest. Only, no one had ever seen him with anyone. His only joy was buying himself something special now and then. But above all, he treasured that watch. I couldn't explain it any other way-why else would he put it to his ear every evening and start dancing alone around the house. And I swear, almost every time, another shadow would appear on the floor.
(Translated by Ioana Levîrdă / 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.