As the planets aligned, Martha climbed above life, then plunged into the void. Something deep inside her had promised her that she could fly, if she clung to the spirit. She wasn't brave by nature, but she had no choice. Or perhaps the only choice was between flying and sinking. So she had chosen the flight. She'd grown accustomed to the storm, learned to float without anesthetic, so she was ready. After all, she didn't really need the planets, just herself. Like in a fight for survival, which is more of a head case.
(Translated by Andreea-Daniela Vasilache / 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 2022, the group has 8,750 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. 
