As It Is in Heaven

Cecilia Fofiu
In summer she would take me to church no matter what. She woke me up with the lark, she dressed me up nicely and slipped a large blue bow in my hair. This operation awaited with tension promised the inevitable sting with the pin opened by grandma's teeth. I carried my sandals in my hands to the road so that I didn't get them wet. The ritual of putting them back on by the road-side ditch, the question if I had to pee and the advice to be nice. The inside of the Greek-Catholic church with its sculptured pulpit fascinated me. I had learned Our Father, but, out of pride, I never asked what asitisinheaven means.

Diana Cornea
The four men were smoking. Three of them were sitting on the kerb. The other one, frowning, was standing up staring at the sunset. Seen from the side, they all seemed to have the same profile: a straight nose, long eyelashes, well-defined, perhaps firm, lips. Unshaven for a week. And still they were different. Amasa's wrinkles formed just around his eyes and mouth. Gabriel's on the forehead. Jesu was holding edelweiss in his palms, and Bezaliel was flapping with a heavy heart what was left of a wing he had himself built. We did what you told us to. It is like home.

Nicolae Popescu
I died yesterday and today they sent me back. I landed up in bed, next to Vera. My place had already been taken by our neighbour Panfil. The two absolutely terrified covered themselves with the blanket. They looked at me as if I was undead. I told them to calm down: Saint Peter said I don't meet the loyalty criteria and sent me back. Carry on, I knew about you two. Panfil, how's Gilda, your wife, doing? Panfil, hand on his chest, mumbled: She has been crying without stopping since you pass.. left. I nodded. Panfil collapsed next to the bed, Vera sobbed hysterically, I went to Gilda's.

(Translated by Alina Roșu / 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 November 2023, the group has 12,090 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.