Monica Bologa
The rivalry between us started the moment he moved in next door. When I bought a leather jacket from Zara, Vasile got one from Gucci. Two years ago, I got myself a new Dacia and he showed up with a Mercedes. This spring, I upgraded from a studio to a three-room apartment and he built a house on the lot right in front of my building. For the past three months, I've been with Ana, a woman who left me without my jacket, my car, or my home: exactly what I wish upon my neighbor. Today I found out Vasile is going to marry Ana.
Roxana Catană Tarhon
You won't believe this, Sile! Yesterday I went fishing with Vanea. We were using polenta bait, and every time I cast the line, I caught something. At some point, I pulled this grotesque little fish out of the water, ugly as sin and so tiny you'd wonder how it even tugged the rod. And this pitiful thing tells me it'll grant me my greatest wish, but in three days. Now I'm not sure what to ask for: to be with Rodica from apartment 2, to be rich, or to be the most handsome man in the world. I've got to give it an answer tonight. What do you think I should wish for? Ion, I think you've been smoking your kid's cigarettes again.
Ioana Bostan
She grabs a shard from the broken mirror and cuts a lock of her two-toned hair. The gray side is more stubborn. She lets it slip through her fingers, scattering over his wrinkled shirts tossed on the armchair. She lifts one to her nose, then throws it away in frustration. She rummages through drawers for red lipstick and hairspray. Both expired. She smears a bit in the right corner of her mouth, and the hairspray lifts the left side of her hair in a ridiculous puff. She looks like a cartoon character who's been electrocuted. She screams in anger, then bursts into hysterical laughter. What the hell does that she-goat have that I don't?
(Translated by Laura-Monica Doroiman / 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.