Unbuttoned

Nicolae Popescu
Vera feels like in heaven. Mbombo is her daughter's boyfriend, Tincuța, and is respectful and sympathetic. He always asks her for advice and calls her "mommy". Today, Mbombo is deeply ashamed: Mom, Tincuta had problems, could not open the bra. Vera turns around with her back and lifts her blouse. Let me show you. You pull this clamp up, and this one down. Put your hand, otherwise you can't learn. So, you learn fast. Lila's bra falls on the carpet. Vera comes turnes to him and Mbombo freezes. What are you waiting for? Do you want me to teach you how to open your pants, too?

Siranuș Hakobian
Let me tell you that I am a serious woman, but the statistics are tough, Threre are too many women in this world and the number of men is still decreasing. That's why I started dating online, because I can't find unmarried men. But I'm serious, I told you, you won't see me wearing a mini skirt or a short one, as you see others. Those are desperate women who fight with statistics. Let me tell you that you look better than in the photo, and the wine is very good. Do you mind opening my first blouse button? Maybe the second one, too, it's hot in here.

Ana Camelia Tetiva
My heart aches when I think about the poor boy. What a terrible choice I made. I vain have I told him to open his eyes, he didn't listen to me. It was about lunch time when I arrived. I immediately knew that is not home, at least I know he has food. He opened the door tired, wearing an old pyjama that I bought for him. It's the only one he has. He was barefoot, very skinny and the bottom button of the blouse had fallen and he had pulled the corner from the opposite side through the buttonhole to keep it closed. That corner was hanging through the buttonhole. She doesn't love him at all. She doesn't fix his buttons and gives him no socks or underwear.

(Translated by Iuliana Mocanu / 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 March 2024, the group has 12,800 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.