I Won The Nobel Prize

Luchian Abel
I took it for peace, after melting down all the weapons in the world, painted them white and carved out of them the dove of peace. I took it for chemistry, when I cloned God in a lab. In medicine they gave it to me when I turned the appendix into a second heart, to take over the suffering of the main one when it can't. I got it for grammar, when I discovered how the comma can avoid cacophony. I need another Nobel Prize for the kitchen door, it's the only one that doesn't stay open.

Ana Maria Dobre-Nir
In front of a five-star hotel a homeless man mutters: I sell drones. I defend, you defend, I attack. Only the strong attack or do they defend themselves? A gentleman in a suit remarks arrogantly. He's crazy. He used to be a soldier, but never recovered after returning from a battlefield. Treaties are negotiated behind closed doors. I don't know how many refugees drown at sea. One man gets a peace prize. Two states fight over a strip of land. A child starves to death. A star is swallowed by a black hole.

Carmen-Ecaterina Ciobâcă
Take your time growing up, life is hard. Her voice cradles me and envelops me. How hard is it, mother? You'll have to shut up, bow your head, hide your body. But I want to learn, to discover the world. You can't. Schools aren't for girls, they'll follow you. They'll shoot you if they catch you. It's okay, I'll survive. I'll tell the story further, across the seas and countries. Then I'll be back. You'll hug me, you'll be proud of me. Mom, why are you crying? Why is father scolding you? What's that sharp instrument coming? Mum?

(Translated by Iulia-Mihaela Țugulea / 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 2023, the group has 11,540 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, Luchian Abel, and Vlad Mușat. (Drawing by Adrian T. Roman)

Versiunea în română a acestui text se poate citi aici, în rubrica Ficțiuni Reale.