20.01.2025

George Dometi
I accidentally got a cut on my calf. There was a bit of pain, followed by a trembling red drop, which slid down my leg. I stopped it with my finger, crushing the syrup-like trail, and then I lifted my finger to my lips. A warm, metallic taste, mixed with a semblance of life filled my mouth. I let the blood slide down my pale, smooth, porcelain-like skin, and then I licked it, sucking with gusto from the expanding wound, only stopping when I fainted. Now I know a nurse and get blood transfusions.

Iulia Vîși
I reach my hand out to seize your touch, but while you get further away, 10 fingers of a man caress my ribs like piano keys and I cry for you on that same rhythm. You don't hear me, do you? It seems that we're both playing a silent film. Love shouldn't shut up. It shouldn't scream. Love only MOANS. Between the lines, there's some black and white left. Neither of us could manage to love the other till the end. I move the end piece forward and I ask myself. When did you ever become my past when you were supposed to be my future?

 Titela Durnea
The lilac bouquet complimented her ivory dress, despite being a typical for the occasion. They laughed when they realized they had forgotten the wheat and the veil. There was so much love that you'd expect hearts to burst out at any moment. Sunshine, loved ones, harmony. Suddenly, time started flowing from the faucet, starting strong, but slowing down afterwards. It stopped on a Tuesday, by the cold, metallic table that matched the hearts. They quickly signed. They exchanged a glance. The lilac tree in the notary's courtyard shook off its last petal. It started raining.

(Translated by Adriana-Maria Botea / 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 August 2024, the group has 13,230 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.

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