Sabbatical

George Dometi
The rare publications where I still appeared vaguely mentioned the work I had done over the years. There were many questions about my inactivity in the past year. My disappearance from the front pages of the internet, newspapers, or small screens disturbed some, but it brought relief to many. Some thought I had died or given up when they couldn't find me. I assure you that my deeds have not ceased. The proof? These decomposing corpses.

Ana Maria Dobre-Nir
I wouldn't want to remember this year as the end for us, for humanity. To be honest, I just want to care about us. I don't want any more news; I want to make love every day. I actually want to enjoy myself, to retreat for a while to a Shaolin temple. I'm not interested in renovating the house or getting another car. It's utterly pointless. I swear, I really don't care. I simply want nothing to tie me to this place. Well, except for you and the others I care about. Do you understand what I'm saying? I've had enough. Done. Say something.

Dan Banu
They walked out of the hungry mouth of the jungle that had almost swallowed them holding their hands. They'd been through so much together, days, months, years, he couldn't keep track. The path suddenly turned and they reached a place where the earth curved, deepening into an abyss. What's here? The end of the world. What do we do now? I'm going away for a while. How long? I'll be gone for a year, maybe more. Will you be back? I'll be back for sure. And how will I recognize you, will you look the same? No, I'll be a bird. I'll find you, he whispered and let himself drift off into the dark.

(Translated by Andreea-Daniela Vasilache / 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.