On the Crosswalk

Nicolae Popescu
Pricop slammed on the brakes, Vera almost smashed her nose on the windshield. What's wrong with you madman, where are you rushing to? Didn't you see that guy in the Mercedes taking us over? It was our neighbour, Panfil, and Gilda, his wife, they're provocking us. That's exactly what they did, I saw it. Ever since they got that expensive car, Gilda has cancelled our game nights, she's stuck-up now, she won't even say hello. You're right, Vera, it's a disaster. Forget about the game nights, as soon as they won the lottery, Gilda even stopped comming to our weekly relaxing sessions.

Yuka Brevi
He took a bag, a few coins, his headphones, and set off to buy bread. On the way, Zion filled his ears at maximum volume. In the underground city, the music made everyone forget the hardships of their ephemeral existence, swaying them ecstatically. In the semi-darkness, their skin glowed, and he was Neo himself. He had Trinity pinned beneath him, who, exhausted, looked up at him cross-eyed. A loud, robotic noise interrupted everything, causing him to drop the bag, headphones, and coins. It's red, you idiot! a truck driver snapped, breaking the spell at the crosswalk.

Ionuț Morariu
In the fauna of traffic light prophets, Ghideon was a unique creature. Between a red light and a rose-tinted moment, he read people like books. But he didn't scold his fellow humans like other prophets. He knew that rebuking the characters in someone else's story was like chasing Saharan dust. So, instead of clinging to people and shouting repent or judgment is near, he made invocations to no one: drink while you still have a mouth. Or those who love do not lack. Impressed, a young woman with a child was touched by the Word right on the crosswalk. What a toxic burden, Ghideon cried inside.

(Translated by Laurențiu-Gabriel Niculae / 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, Monica Aldea, and Vlad Mușat. (Drawing by Adrian T. Roman)

Versiunea în română a acestui text se poate citi aici, în rubrica Ficțiuni Reale.