I look at him astonished and listen to his story about how I killed my ego. The way he cocks up his small head, his beak held high, saying whatever just to convince me what I did was awesome, was hilarious. Do you know how? You basically threw yourself on the ground and stabbed at it angrily, yelling that you're sick of that pathological adoration. I'll be plucked if I know what you mean. Alright, I say. I swirl the amber inside the glass, look at that liquid whirl and realise I'm talking with a parrot. I drop the glass. I don't even own a parrot. I should quit smoking.
(Translated by Diana Pașcanu / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year II / Corrected by prof. dr. Nadina Vișan / Edited 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 October 2022, the group has 9,400 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. 
