In Clear Waters

Monica Bologa
I must tell him I'm leaving. But, you know, when I'm about to share something painful with someone, my emotions make me talk nonsense, off-topic things. I look into his eyes and say, In the first days of life, the embryo contains 90% water, at birth70%, in adulthood the percentage drops to around 65%, and in old age, maybe to 55% - as we age, we wither - can you imagine that? More than half of our body is water. Then come to bed, he said, I'm thirsty. I let him drink. It's important to be well-hydrated before a separation.

Siranuș Hakobian
Ever since I slipped that ring on your finger, you've been constantly pushing me to change. For your sake, I have changed - now I'm a vegetarian, I wear a tie, and I've sold my motorcycle. But this wasn't enough for you, was it? You don't want a superficial change, but a profound transformation. I had no idea what on earth you wanted, but I decided to give it a shot, whatever it meant. Out of love for you, I changed profoundly and irreversibly: one morning, I woke up with gills behind my ears. At last, I'm in my element, submerged in the bathtub, dreaming of plankton. Wearing a tie is out of the question. Or loving you any longer.

Iulia Anastasia Roșca
I don't think I've ever truly been. I've searched for them all my life, but all in vain. I've let myself be sweet-talked so many times, endlessly lying to myself that everything would be alright if I made wise decisions, all in the hope of finding and becoming one with them. I've been wallowing in desolate waters since I can remember, unclear waters where my failed attempts to surface scream back at me. I pray and search for God's waters, perched on the edge of a high bridge, and with a stone tied to my left foot. I step into eternity with my right foot. Amen?

(Translated by Marian-Cătălin Niculăescu / 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 September 2023, the group has 11,820 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.