Manhattan, 2073. December blaze

He looked suspiciously at the postwoman, when he took the pension receipt. 2,073 lei. The pension point might have increased, he dispelled his doubts. As a thoughtful man, he first took wood for fire and pork for Christmas. It was a tough winter in Slobozia. Then, he filled the yard with lights, as he saw in the movie with that blonde kid who would always remain home alone. He felt real happiness, until those four girls, like in that movie where they would always gather to drink and talk about sex, stole all his funeral money.

(Translated by Mădălina Mangalagiu / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year II / Corrected by Professor Nadina Vişan)


Real Fiction is a collective project started in 2013 by Florin Piersic Jr. The concept of Real Fiction continued to exist as a Facebook group, after a volume of stories was published at Humanitas Publishing House. (In January 2021, the group has 3.000 members.) The authors write ultra-short stories, with the texts limited to 500 characters (in Romanian, so the length of the English translation might be a little different) - a flash-fiction exercise on a topic that changes every few days. The group's coordinators are Florin Piersic Jr., Gabriel Molnar, and Luchian Abel. (Drawing by Adrian T. Roman)

*Versiunea în română a acestui text se poate citi aici, în rubrica Ficțiuni Reale.