Yesterday, a friend died. It saddened me. Today I took part in the vigil. Tomorrow I'm going to the funeral. The one in the coffin was not my friend. I thought I had entered the wrong funeral home. I stepped outside and checked the name on the cross. No mistake. My friend has a twinkle in his eye, a smile at the corner of his lips and a kind word for everyone. He likes to travel, to lend a helping hand, to meet people. Every day he sends me a song that matches my mood. I took my bag and left. My friend was not there.
Aurelian Țolescu
Every year, I would take care of my clients. I would start planning around August and set aside a budget. I would analyse every offer for planners, calendars, pens and whiskey. I would prepare around 800 presents for kids and adults alike. Christmas was the most important occasion and I tried not to forget anyone. At the end of the year, my colleagues and I would carry the gifts in sacks. Our clients were happy to receive our little presents even as they glanced over their shoulders towards the anti-corruption office. Many years passed by and today I'm happy to have received cozonac and plum brandy.
Octavia Buhociu
Yes, Santa came to you with a full bag, my dear ones, because you've been quite good and well-behaved this year: storybooks, toys, games, gloves and socks. He left me a burlap sack, tied with a red ribbon, you weren't around, to remind me of how my grandparents once tried to save what they could from the family library when the book burners came for them: they gathered everything in front of the house, doused it with gas and threw a lit match into the pile. They burnt an Eminescu, a Goga, a Noica, an arithmetic book
(Translated by Andrei-Bogdan Nicola / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year II / Corrected by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)
Versiunea în română a acestui text se poate citi aici, în rubrica Ficțiuni Reale.