All for one

Strange as it may sound, the only thing that can give Eva Petra Soukupová a sense of freedom at the moment is fried chicken wings - at least that's what her best friend Renata thinks. In the case of Karel, the protagonist of Petra Dvořáková's short story, the situation is much clearer. Only the blue book will open the door to a bright musical career in the West. As it turns out later, apparently all you need to do to get it is to be honest and natural. Líba has no problem with both, as Markéta Pilátová let her cross the border to Germany in her forty-eighth year so that she could experience the most beautiful and free phase of her life on a month-long cruise to Argentina. The heroines of Ani Geislerová's and Irena Hejdová's short stories are, coincidentally, experiencing their last moments before their wedding - it should be added that both of them probably imagined it in many ways, just not like this. Even Daniel and David, the oddballs in the stories of Anna Bolavé and Bianca Bell, have something in common. They both show the main characters what true friendship is, which shapes you for life - indeed, the hero of Mark Epstein's text also invokes the old friendship. And we can also find representation in the asylum, where Pavla Koucká situates the plot of her story, although in this case it comes from a completely unexpected direction. And Peter Shabach? Josef Moník will tell you...