Make the World Look Like You #ideoideis18

Marin Grigore
I sit and watch him sit at his desk for 10 hours a day, at least. Everything that comes out of his hand is perfection. Silver, gold, brass, copper, clay, enamel, everything. Although by unwritten law I am next; although I have been by his side ever since I was 7 years old; although I love everything that happens in the workshop and although the separation will be difficult for both of us, I get the lesson sine qua non: Passion. Love for the given talent. The only possibility for the mirror not tobe opaque. Sure, it'll be a while until we meet again, but I'd rather be me.

Bogdan Tulbure
But what if trees end up declaring war on the other forests? Or birds drop bombs on the enemies? What if the fish will pollute the ocean? What if endangered species destroy our homes and make clothing items out of our skin? What if lions shamelessly expand their kingdom? What if pigs were hypocrites, dogs treacherous, horses indifferent, chickens arrogant and sheep selfish? I want the world to be like me, but I think it's easier to change myself.

Vlad Ionuț Popescu
Liberty Boulevard. It cornerson Triumph Street. I'm walking with my parents. They have just bought me a BMX which I later sold way too easily. We're talking about the years to come, about adolescence. I'm 12. Still. I promise them that I will not become a problematic young man. I laugh at teenager's habits. I will not end up like them. How? Impossible. Why not inhale smoke from a grill if I want to self-destruct? The memory of innocence. Since then, I no longer wanted the world to be like me.

(Translated by Bianca-Andreea Rîmboacă / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year II / 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 August 2023, the group has 11,680 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.