Driving School

George Dometi
First night of sex? For me it was the first day. In fact the first morning. At around 9.20. In the forest of the Linden Trees, right near the parking lot from where we left for the exam. The instructor warned me such things happen. I didn't want to believe him. He told me: Come, pull over here on the right. There, next to those trees. You drove very badly, honey. Then he put his hand on my leg. Avuncularly, I thought. Then, after he touched my thigh, he continued: I could fail you or ... let you pass, if you let me, Marian.

Cecilia Fofiu
So he made up his mind and bought it. His wife and his neighbours had recommended that one last year, from the dealer in the village. It was hard for him to pick a color, green or silver. Otherwise, that line was beautiful and roomy. He paid the whole sum for the silver one, then he drove it carefully home and he parked it in the yard. To try it out, in the evening, he takes his children for a ride, just when the cows arrive. He passes the shocked cows, but while turning, he accidentally hits them. Marin, you can't push even a wheelbarrow without having to go to driving school, the cowherd snorts.

Arthur Ianoși
I always hesitated between what Costelus told me and what my father told me. The old man gave me my first driving lesson. Mila, he said, it's best not to depend on your man, take your driving license, learn the signs. At least they were on the same wavelength. Costelus, too, had told me life is full of signs, you just have to know how to interpret them. It's as he said. What's the difference, between an intersection and a crossroad. Let instinct guide you. I did so at the exam. Where there were no traffic lights, I was ready. Closed eyes and an inspiration. They cursed my mother.

(Translated by Ema-Teodora Rădulescu / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year I / Corrected by prof dr. Nadina Vișan, edited 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 January 2024, the group has 12,500 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.