Curly-haired Puppy

David Brescan
And when the house is done, you'll have your own room, full of toys. Will we have a yard as well? Yes, baby, a yard with grass and cherry trees, and a swing. And a tambourine. Yes, honey, we'll put it between the cherry trees. Daddy, we can also have a puppy. Of course, a curly one, just like you, and you'll play in the garden. And will you be at home to play with us in the garden? I don't know, I think I'll still be here in England. Daddy. Yes, honey. I don't want a house with a garden and a puppy anymore. I want to come with mommy to England. Did something get in your eye? I have to end the call.

Ana-Maria Butuza
It's been 12 years since his mornings have been going the same way: he lights up his cigarette, he calls for him with a short whistle, he pulls him to his chest, he throws him in his backpack, get on his bike and set off for the park. On the way there he tells him: you see, Curly, that's how he calls him, even though his hair isn't curly, he's just small, but that's how he started to call him when he found him by the dumpster. He dropped his bag and left with the brown flock. Since then, they were inseparable until a few days ago, but he continues to talk to him so he won't be scared of the dark.

Cristian Nedelcu
She didn't talk much, she was shy. She didn't have any friends; all the children avoided her, saying that she was slow-witted. She didn't mind, she had Curly. The hound wouldn't let go of her. He accompanied her when she left for school, waited for her to finish classes and came back home with her. On that night he strayed a little, he sniffed something in a bush. He winced when he heard her scream. One of the two drunken rascals was holding her, and the other was trying to tear off her clothes. They found them the next morning in the ditch with their throats cut.

(Translated by Maria-Ilinca Darie / 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 June 2024, the group has 13,100 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.