He was big and sat in the dark, and he thought, why am I sitting here like a fool in the dark, and he said, let there be light, and there was light. Then he thought, man, it's so empty around here, and he made the waters, the earth, and stuff. After that, he said, now there's light, but nobody can see me. What does that mean? It means it's like you're on a deserted island, you're getting a perm, getting Botox, putting on fancy clothes, and no one sees you. And only then did he create Adam and Eve. Listen, I'm getting a bad tan because you're making a shadow, sitting next to me. You'd better go and get some grilled minced meat rolls.
Gheorghiță Mircea
The shadows searched for him at night; he had counted them. No matter how dark the room was, they appeared blacker than the surrounding darkness. He hadn't noticed them at first-they came silently and settled around his bed, watching over him, waiting. As he grew older, though his vision worsened, the shadows became clearer, darker, and stretched wider across the walls. Over time, he got used to them; he even attempted a kind of communication, a silent dialogue. He projected a bird shadow onto the wall with his hand, and they responded with rabbits.
Monica Bologa
I step into the bathroom in the dark and get ready for a shower. I light a candle. The shadows move curiously along the walls. They study me. They comment on the mole on my hip, on my breasts, on my butt. I hear their whispers slithering over the tiles. The warm water plays over my body. I blow hard at the candle. The shadows are swallowed by the darkness. Silence. I scoop a handful of darkness with my palm and place it on the sponge. I wash every inch of my skin with it. The darkness cleanses my flesh. Slowly, I become light.
(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.