Smooth like baby skin, master Ru Yi's cups were made to fit in the palm of royal hands. Out of all of them, one was cherished the most by the emperor, the one preserving the traces of his beloved Ming Yue's lips, on her last day on Earth. And that very one, shattered in a second. Imperiously called to the palace, Ru Yi collected the glass pieces in a silk handkerchief, then left. Nothing lasts, he told the emperor when he returned with the restored cup. Only love is a never-ending string of gold.
Paul Dârvariu
Mrs. Anca, I have breaking news: the governors are purposely hiding the truth. Apart from the artefacts with enormous historical value, the thieves also stole an object very dear to me, a splendid tea cup that has written in hieroglyphs the following text, and I quote: this cup is given by our mighty emperor to Constantin Georgescu, sword bearer Milescu's councillor, as an expression of symbolic appreciation. Mrs. Anca, that cup belonged to my great-great-grandfather and it indicates the novelty of my family.
Adriana Patroi Miu
What was I thinking, going to the market? The smell of smoked prunes got to my very core. I remembered my mother taking them out of the oven, all steamy. I would eat them whole, burning, not feeling any taste. Poor her, she passed away. Then I stumbled upon the stand with big lemons, he used to make me lemonade out of them. Then the watermelons, which I used to eat entirely, right to the green part. My, my, how time does fly. Now we are both fragile and toothless. I was crushed by sadness. A kilo of sausages, please. If I'll make it into politics, I'll ban any type of vegetarianism.
(Translated by Cristina-Paula Grosu / 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.