Scarecrow

Gabriel Rusu
I was afraid of big cities. I thought the sky there was black because of the smoke billowing from the immense factory towers, and I would shiver in the cold without the sun. I was scared by the idea that the traffic buzz would deafen me and I wouldn't be able to hear the voice inside of me anymore. What if I turned into a little robot that's always out of sync? That's exactly what I'm working on now. A robot made out of cubes. I rediscovered my childhood in a big city and my soul is filled with joy when the scent of salty waves pierces my nostrils. La vita e bella.

Ina Moldoveanu
This was a family tradition. As soon as you turned forty, you received a substantial amount of money for your first ever cosmetic surgery. It was Emi's turn. Her brother and her sister had already gone through this and they looked much younger. Guided by the aesthetician, she had a jaw operation, some wrinkles smoothed out, a rhinoplasty, and an abdominal liposuction. She was happy and came to show us her new appearance. I look amazing, don't I? Horror was written all over our faces. Emi's mouth was crooked, her delicate nose turned aquiline, and her skirt was stained with blood around the waist. Now I'm a diva.

Arthur Ianoși
His homestead had caught on fire and we took him in with us in Bucharest. Grandpa was a gruff but wise man. My parents left for work and I was left alone with him. It was pouring rain. Why do you think it's raining so hard, grandpa? Earth is mourning the weight of these concrete blocks you all live in. But Grandpa, Earth is below and the rain comes from above. My child, its body is here, but its soul is up there, he said, casting his tired eyes toward the sky. I miss my home and my little soldier who guarded my harvest. Is he up there as well now? He's up there as well.

(Translated by Laurențiu-Gabriel Niculae / 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.