Once Upon a Time

Daniel Onofrei
When eggs boiled in ice and night turned into day, when fish walked the land and the wolf lived in the village, when the bear held his tail up high and God strolled the earth with Saint Peter - in a land far away, in a shack tied to the sky's handle, lived Nelu. He grew marijuana and beans, played the flute, did yoga, and cracked passwords. Born to Khmer parents, he suffered from severe depression. But now, he's found a fast, chemical-free cure: he writes for Real Fictions.
 
 Oana Jindiceanu
there was a little girl who dreamed a lot. She kept dreaming as she lived in a world she didn't like, missed her parents endlessly, and her grandmother was worse than a wicked stepmother. So she escaped in dreams and in books. She dreamed and read. Or read and dreamed. I met her one afternoon on the Izvor subway platform. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I hugged her tight. She needed that. Then I whispered, We're okay. It'll be hard, really hard, but you'll make it, sweet Oana.
 
 Marius Stan
To be a top-notch player, you need silky ankles, perfect ball control, and, most of all, game vision. I watch this tape and marvel. The kid in the 16 jersey knows his stuff. See how he glides past two defenders, ties their legs in knots. And that speed. Still, I fear he won't score... But look - he's in the penalty area, dribbles past the keeper. The stadium erupts in cheers, shouts, and wide grins. He's good, the kid. But enough with the VHS tapes, my stuffed cabbage rolls are getting cold.

 
(Translated by Adela Neacșu / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year II / Corrected by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)