He made it big. He, the boy from Valea Plopilor who had eight brothers at home, was now performing on renowned stages. Concerts in the most astounding halls, red carpet, awards. Cigars, St. Jacques coquilles, yacht parties. It was the night of an important gala, which he had finished in the public's ovations. He'd turned in early, he still had to finish packing. Dressed in an impeccable tux, he was arranging the last items in his suitcase. He took a look around lest he forget something. Let's pack the hotel toiletries as well just in case, he told himself.
(Translated by Ana Stănilă / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year I / Corrected by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)
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 February 2021, the group has 4.300 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 Ficţiuni Reale. 
