Blessed are the Merciful

Lucian Pătru
And then the Dragon took a hold of Prince Charming, raised him to the clouds and smashed him into the ground, burying him to his thighs. Armed with a Nurofen tablet, he ridded the hero of a headache that's been haunting him ever since infancy. Such a zealousness washed over Prince Charming that he cupped the Dragon's face and gave him a buss on both cheeks, making the Dragon blush to the very tips of his ears. Dear Dragon, such kindness as yours has never been seen on the face of the Earth, he said. Overwhelmed, the ogre even gifted him his mace and left for home with empty hands, but his heart full.

Iulia Anastasia Roșca
She was divorced, out on worker's comp and her only child has not spoken to her ever since marrying that gold digger. She'd walk around with flashy make-up to distract from her shabby clothing. Her heart's only remaining delight was giving alms to beggars. One day she realized she was far more unfortunate than those she was helping, for she had no friend she could pour out her heart to. She sat down on a sidewalk and wrote free hugs on a sign. Just to see if someone would stop for her too, she told herself, swallowing back her tears.

Răzvan Drăgoi
It was too late. The Momârlan[1] battle flag, a fuchsia degrade banner, fluttered on the village town hall, marking their liberation from the harsh Gugulan[2] rule. Poltergeist, the conqueror's traditional almsgiving was in full swing. A young man's salary was cut, according to the custom, and handed over in small instalments to the banks for the needy, as Iași was always full of needs. The shaman woman gave the signal for general joy, shouting the five most expected words: bank loan with ID only! The tapeworm sat in silence, merciful.
(Translated by Adrian-Florin Duță / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year I / 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 July 2024, the group has 13,200 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.