Răzvan Dițescu
He is 61, she is 16. The king drinks wine. The queen watches him with empty eyes. He speaks of duty, of future heirs. She remains silent. Every evening, every night, the same ritual. The same endless story.Until one night-he coughs. Spits blood. Struggles to breathe. Collapses. She rises, takes his crown, and places it on her head. From now on, she is the heir. She looks at herself in the mirror. Waits to feel something. Anything. Freedom, power, peace. But all she finds is the same prison, with slightly wider walls.
Adina Drag
We hide behind the statue of the jade-eyed lion. The palace courtyard is paved with stones polished by footsteps of long ago, and the river nearby carries stories from the dawn of time. A spiral of mist rises from the stone fountain. The queen opens the window and lets out a laugh that fills the world. They will catch us, my brother whispers, but I don't hear him. He shudders. A shadow wearing a crown swallows our small bodies. They caught us. Again. Mom and Dad are good at this game. When we grow up, we want to be just like them.
Florentina Ghițescu
Mommy, I want to be a princess. They chose Sofia to be the Snow Queen, and I'm just a sad little snowflake. At least a princess. Her mother wiped her tears and said, If you work hard, if you study well, you can be anything you want. She became a ballerina, and her favorite role was the swan. Then she fell in love and had a little girl. She gave up the stage, but at home, she had everything she ever wanted-a king and a princess. She loved dancing for them. Mommy, you're the most beautiful princess in the world.
(Translated by Andreea Maria Liceanu / 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.