Metropolis

Răzvan Dițescu
In Metropropolis, everyone works. The hive is always buzzing. The gatherers search for pollen, nectar, and water. The nurse bees clean, take care of the brood, and as they gain experience, they are promoted to the rank of worker. Honeycombs are built. Nectar is transformed into honey. The queen lays eggs in an assembly line manner. The prosperity of the swarm is all that matters. In Metropropolis, everyone works. Only one drone, a gigolo by trade, knowing that autumn is coming and he will be expelled, writes a letter of protest on Real Fictions.

Andra Toropoc
I saw her walking down the enormous boulevard, her styled hair and luxurious coat leaving trails of perfume. She avoided a homeless child, who reached out his hand, and she kicked him. She stopped next to the elegant UNICEF building and rummaged deeply in her bag. I thought she was having a pang of conscience, but she pulled out something furry, almost like a small dog, placed it on the pavement, and waited with puckered lips for a kiss. She left the product there, picked up her darling, and disappeared through the revolving door. Among the chromatic skyscrapers, the air smelled like crap. Human crap.

Paul Dîrvariu
It's a serious topic and needs to be treated as such. In such situations, I turn to those smarter than myself. For example, the ancients. They say, "ubi bene ibi metropola." Meaning, where it's good, there is the metropolis. It's clear: my metropolis is Nucondo. You have no clue, Grigore. That lice-ridden hamlet you call a metropolis? A metropolis is the center of a country, a very developed and densely populated place. Maybe you're right, Cocuța, but for me, this is the center of the universe. And as for population, do you know how many bears, dormice, martens, blackbirds, and tits we have around here?

(Translated by Diana Georgiana Rădăcineanu / 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.