Heat

Ana Maria Dobre-Nir
The city was completely deserted. Without any particular destination in mind, Elena dragged her feet across the scorching asphalt. Suddenly, a cold shiver ran down her spine, and her heart pounded. She didn't know what was happening, but thought she was probably dehydrated. In the distance, she saw a shop. She considered breaking a window to get inside and look for water. In the reflection of the storefront, she noticed a shadow, an ethereal presence. From the shadow, drops of rain were falling. She began to drink, unable to stop, for days, letting herself be consumed by the water.

Sanda Burță
Tinder. This is what I am- a piece of tinder that the Lord stares at through a giant lens, just waiting for me to catch fire. But I've learned to endure and keep going, like the donkey on this road made glassy by the drought. Maybe that's what He wants from me, to ignite and burn, maybe He's tired of seeing me endure. My wife's with Neacșu's, the whole village knows. I command the donkey to stop. Even it doesn't listen to me. I look at the sky. He's there, I see Him, a huge eye. And what do you want now, huh? I have three kids. Giddy up.

Caterina Tudorache
The prince theatrically embraced a pale princess. Suddenly, the bear barged onto the stage. Half the audience turned red, screaming dramatically. Excuse me, has the fox passed through here? We have a scene. With tears in their eyes, the frightened spectators sat back down. Follow the crumbs, it was just eating a pizza from our sponsor. The bear grinned like in commercials. Anyone want a selfie while I'm here? The bear smiled wider. Want me to chase you a bit? I've got more free time in the summer. If you're up for some fun, I could eat someone from the audience. Come on, don't be shy. I've only got five minutes left.

(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 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.