Arthur Ianoși
After two miscarriages, they both started dying a little on the inside. She remembered the moment they met. He was loud, annoying, and full of jokes. She was quiet, analytical, a bookworm. It was love at first silence. When you're quiet, I can hear your heart, he once said. From that day on, they were inseparable. They sat across the table from each other when suddenly her unspoken question stirred the tomb-like stillness. He didn't need her words to know what she felt. No one's to blame. There's no curse. Let's adopt. I love you, she whispered.
Ionuț Morariu
The prince was a difficult client. The whole brothel buzzed when he crossed its threshold. The madam tried everything, laying before him the finest delicacies of Sybaris: Hyperborean twins, Amazons from Euxin Pontus, even Numidians darker than Pluto's soul. The noble guest would sip his bergamot liqueur and leave untouched by Cupid's arrow. Until one day. She arrived wrapped in a thousand mirrors. Aspasia had cracked the code. Princes can only lie with their own reflection.
Yuka Brevi
Once, I was her wind. I'd blow hard, caress her face, tangle her golden hair, and almost take her breath away. Her clothes fluttered like a pirate flag at sea; her heart could barely fit inside her chest. Now, she looks at me coldly. Another wind touches her, not as passionate as me, but enough to turn her gaze and thoughts toward the horizon. I want to whisper something, but a seagull's cry steals my voice. I watch the waves. They're beautiful, blue, and honest. I love the sea, I tell her. I strip and dive in.
(Translated by Oana-Elena Dragnea / 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.