What did you get on the test? A 7. And Anna? A 10. And Ema? A 9. And Dani? An 8. How was that? Even the stupid Dani got more than you, and his mother didn't even care for him the way I care for you. But, Mommy. No mommy. You have nothing to worry about; you have nothing else to do but learn. But mommy, I have learnt. Dew diamonds were falling down both her cheeks. We don't get the grades in the grade book. The woman softens her tone. All I want for you is a better life, to get further than I ever dreamed of. A step further than where I am now, and she speaks in a voice barely above a whisper.
(Translated by Iuliana Boruga Danciu / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year II / 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 September 2021, the group has 7.150 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 Ficțiuni Reale. 
