One thought interrupted my rehearsal for the piano contest. Grandpa, why are there so many stars in the sky? Because that's where the souls of our loved ones who leave us are sent. Every night they shine, a sign that they haven't forgotten us. Does that mean Mum and Dad are there? Yes, Lia. They always make sure we are well. Look, tomorrow they'll keep their fingers crossed when you participate in the contest. Please concentrate and play as you know they would like to hear you. I start crying. You know what, Grandpa, from now on I'm gonna play for the stars.
(Translated by Andreea Theodora Drăgan / 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. 
