Tell me, my son, what sins have you committed since your last confession, what weighs on your soul? Father, I have committed adultery. It doesn't weigh on me too heavily, but my wife sent me here. She said the devil is involved, although I know that I threw myself into it willingly, with my eyes half-open. I would like to feel unworthy, to regret, and never repeat it, but the most I can do is fast for two or three days. Come on, tell me what happened, but in a whisper, quickly and without gesturing, because there are others in line, the priest urged, throwing his stole over his head.
Georgiana Badea
I've decided to fast without stopping. A black fast. I read that the first three days are difficult. Day one. Well, it's not unbearable. I'm at peace with my decision. Day two. My stomach is empty. In the evening, I chew my nails. I pray to resist the temptation. I meditate, take a pill to fall asleep, so I won't feel the emptiness inside me. Day three. I get up with difficulty, but I clean like I never have before, I do my hair, put on makeup, and make myself beautiful like I haven't been before. As wonderful as I am, I call him and say: I love you. I don't want to fast anymore.
Marian Bircea
People from the countryside, simpler and with less knowledge but faithful, would also come to work in the factory. One of them kept telling us that we would end up in Hell because we ate fried pork lard during fasting. Since, at the canteen, apart from the shelves, you couldn't find anything - the awful canned fish in tomato sauce and the vegetable stews had disappeared overnight - the colleague opted for a jar of jam. On the third day of the fast, when he finished the jar, he asked us if jam was supposed to be sour and have a bite to it. Yes, if it's mustard.
(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.