Yes, Smile is my religion. I had explosive growths, catastrophic falls, I built palaces and ended up in huts but, always, the Smile helped me get up. No one around me knew about me because, no matter how good or hard it was in my life, I gave a Smile to those around me, even if they looked at me hoping that I would solve their problems. Which were solved soon, and with a Smile, too. I believe in the Smile and love for fellow men. I pray that the Smile will support me even when I close my eyes.
(Translated by Laura-Elena Dobrin / 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. 
