Speed dating. Short reps. Just five minutes to put your best foot forward. Hi. I'm Alberto. You're Amalia. You've got a parakeet and a peanut allergy. You're not looking for a serious relationship. We wouldn't get along. I know, don't tell me, you're a Libra. You're a Cancer rising. Nonsense. You'll tell me about your ex in the remaining time, I know. I've already known you for five minutes. Five of mine. Now you're going to be speechless. One minute till Matilda comes in. She's the one I've fallen in love with in my head already. And I know she'll kiss me. Sorry.
(Translated by Andreea Grinţescu / 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 July 2021, the group has 6.800 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, Răzvan Penescu, and Luchian Abel. (Drawing by Adrian T. Roman)
Versiunea în română a acestui text se poate citi aici, în rubrica Ficţiuni Reale. 
