Titela Durnea
He had been walking for so long that he had given up keeping track of the days stuffed into sacks. He only knew that his cart was full. And his heart was restless. He had almost lost hope when he saw her. Guarded by a towering mountain, she was looking at her reflection in the clear, deep waters of the lake. The wedding lasted three days and three nights. He bound himself to his destiny and built the strongest kingdom. One that had room for an entire world. Then the alarm went off. In the bathroom, on the mirror, glared a Post-It: Don't leave unshaven. Meeting at 9.
Gabriel Rusu
My eyes had seen many things while wandering the world, but when my steps halted on that land, I stood in silent awe at the wonders dwelling there. Seas interconnected by navigable channels, carried news upon the crests of waves. There were no doctors, for health was a blessing inherited from ancient ancestors. The divine thread, woven into the sacred soil, rose proudly to the heavens inhabited by aliens, shining brighter than the sun itself. And yet, not a single human in sight-only two lunatics, shouting at the top of their lungs.
Diana Cornea
They belonged to no one. They prayed to a god to give them the strength to carry life forward. They felt empty. Somewhere at sunset, the sea mirrored its boundlessness in the whiteness of an almost-dying sun. The cold had frozen bones. The cold had frozen everything. The two of them worshipped, like an immaculate eternity, the pain of being alone. One day-short, like all the others they could remember, crystal wings sprouted from their bones. They shattered into a thousand shards, letting hot blood flow freely. They smiled when they knew that today, they were parents.
(Translated by Larisa Marta Mreană / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year I / Corrected by prof. dr. Nadina Vișan / Edited by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)
Versiunea în română a acestui text se poate citi aici, în rubrica Ficțiuni Reale.