Bro, you got anything more hardcore? Some shoot \'em ups, something brutal, like knock-your-teeth-out kind of stuff? Sorry, sir. Just books. Alright then, give me one with crime and sex, some suspense. Sorry, we haven't got any in yet. Wait, isn't this a bookstore? No, it's a tea house. Then spill the tea. \'Cause I don't want any. What about something... picturesque? Geo Bogza, maybe? No, I want something wilder. Not sci-fi. Something that covers the whole world. Ah, I know just the thing for you. The Little Prince. Nay, the one next to it - with the airplane. Ah. Brave New World. Here you go.
Monica Aldea
Grandma, the beach here in Italy is wonderful. It has a warm hue, I call it Italian light blue. More beautiful than Voroneț blue. The sun is setting quite low, casting its rays deep into the sea. It dips its beams into the water and hurries back up to the sky to admire its work from above. When I get tired, I draw imaginary shapes in the clouds, just like you taught me. The big ones form a gentle dragon, and the little ones, a flock of sheep grazing peacefully beside it. Tomorrow, after chemotherapy, the nurse will take me to see them up close, not just from the window of the ward.
Mirela A. Nica
I was coming home after a long day of work, late in the night. I had no energy left to cook, so I stopped at the shawarma place around the corner. It felt like a funeral. My cheerful Nepali friends weren't on shift anymore. The Romanian brothers were working now. I asked for a shawarma without pickled cucumbers, since I'm already sour enough. I also asked if I could give an advice. I noticed, from your colleagues, that they mix the potatoes, meat, onions, cabbage, tomatoes, parsley, and sauces together. With the tongs, yes. They don't just throw them in willy-nilly. Let's make a note of that, right?
(Translated by Marian-Cătălin Niculăescu / 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.