Scarecrow

Florina Hegedüs
I struggled to gain the peace I once had. First bulldozers came, constructed the highway, I married a girl from neighbourhood and I planted a field of corn. And the crows came, I shot in them with my rifle, I believe they liked it so much they multiplied. Then the woman yelled, where is the harvest? we are poor as Church mice. I was patient until the moment I couldn't stand no more and I grabbed her and tied her to a pole daily in the middle of the field. I put a twisted tobacco in her mouth so she can puff what she has to say. I am a man, damn it, and I have corn, too.

Florentina Enache
Gelu, remember that tonight is the boys' night; I talked to Nelu, he'll finish with the cauldron and he'll do the tastin'. His woman is away at her girl's place till Tuesday, me wife is all about TV series. Mitu will come too, you know him from last time, the guy with the grilled minced meat rolls. Bring the "șeptica"[1]and some pickles, we'll take care of the rest. Bro, I can't, the 'ag is 'ome, she set me a program. I'm supposed to take a bath before the romantic dinner, wha'ever the hell that is. Oh, man, take a sip of this, it'll give you courage. Come back when you're done, if you can. Good luck, now. I'm going to Nae, he has playing cards, too.
Andrei Lămureanu
Evening came with mercy over the thirsty land, accompanied by barking dogs and women who were calling their offspring. The sky had stuck to the earth in a violet clench, with breeze and clouds that apparently anticipated the coming of rain. The small village was becoming quietdressing in a long nightgown. At the same time, he showed up, stumbling in the dim light in front of the pub. He sat in a dark corner, hidden from other's eyes with the straw hat tied with a string. Both people and crickets remained silent for a while, then everyone forgot about him. There was a big celebration next day.

(Translated by Irina Vild / 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 October 2023, the group has 11,950 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.