One-night Stand

Cecilia Fofiu
She didn't remember having been anywhere else than where she grew up with her sisters and queen mother. You will blossom soon, their mother promised them whispering. The Sphynx will touch you, drawn by your perfume. He will come surely in the evening, don't be afraid, open yourselves up. You will be women and your seed will ripen. Slightly blushing, they bow their crowned heads in approval. In the daytime they dream of the one with a beautiful name. The following evening, fragrant and open, they receive him with disappointment. He's bloated, with thin wings and buzzes loudly.

Florina Hegedüs
The one-night stand is with you. If you haven't been killed yet. But my dear, I see you are well alive. Maybe Pythia knew something, I tell myself as I watch her get caressed by the young men's hands. I descend the stairs of the Oracle which I have climbed 4000 years ago. The flowers watch me delicately. We love each other unconditionally, virginally. The road keeps my body warm. Last night I got tattooed. With you. I still burn. I stand in front of the ocean which recognizes me, a lost wave, burning up. I throw myself in it to cool myself. Until the evening comes. Once more.

Paul Dârvariu
She's typing on her phone and smiles after each message she reads. A loose strand of hair covers half of her cheek. But not enough to hide her delicate features. Pipera corporate woman. Just like me. Only I am unemployed now. I've just gone to the umpteenth job interview. I stand behind the pole and I admire her. She drops her umbrella and I quickly pick it up for her. She thanks me, smiling. To me, or to the one texting her? Her train pulls into the station. I'm still waiting for mine. I already forgot her. Now I'm thinking about the demand for payment from the bank.

(Translated by Raluca Sălcianu / 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 December 2023, the group has 12,210 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.