Clop-clop, a rider arrives in the village. Some are amazed by this appearance, while others seem to have been expecting him. The first group is frightened and keeps pointing to the symbols the man, who appeared out of nowhere, carries, trying to open the eyes of the others. The mystic preached the salvation of the people, divine love, and limitless energy, although his wisdom came only from water and grass. The villagers from the two factions fought until they all saw that this rider had no head. Then they began to laugh and ate his horse.
Eduard Baranovski
He was hidden in the barn. From there, he saw his mother with her belly emptied of organs. With his eyes on the knife that had abruptly severed his childhood and thrust him into the realm of the merciless, he swallowed his tears and vowed revenge. Today, after 20 years, he still searches for the one with the snake tattooed on his cheek. Along his path, he bites into the dirt of any wrongdoer, sought alive or dead. He only takes their heads, they weigh little, he receives the reward, and continues his journey. Sometimes, alone under the red moon, he wonders: who am I looking for?
Elena Fermuș
To test my skills, my future mother-in-law had me clean her house. Equipped, giving instructions. Be very careful with the jug with my great-grandmother's ashes, don't let it fall. What? And she explained to me how her family didn't want to bury her in the cold earth. Aha, I thought to myself, and you put her in the warmth to hatch. The truth is, I did drop the jug. It didn't break, but all the ashes scattered on the Cisnădie rug. To keep her from becoming a ghost, I quickly cleaned it up. With the vacuum. And I took off on the broom. While I still had my head.
(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.