Clean Air

Caterina Tudorache
So, what do you know about the Ciucaș Mountains? Well, they have fresh waters. Right. And? Uh. Ah, the professor insists. Fresh air. Right. And? Good beer. Let's see. The Apuseni Mountains. What do you know about them? Well. They have water. Right. And what else? Uh. Ah, the professor insists again. Fresh air. Gold, young man. Did you study anything for the exam? Of course. I read the whole textbook yesterday. I didn't play outside, and everyone panicked. Go outside now, young man. Drink a beer, take a walk. See you in the fall. Wheeen? The teacher dragged out the word. When I no longer drink beer. Only wine, the student finally said it straight-out.

Siranuș Hakobian
You loved me, but I was unhappy, and I told you, it's better if we die. You took my hand, and we got into the waves together. The sea was petulant, and when the water covered us, I lost your hand, but I kept sinking. When I ran out of air, my lungs caught fire, and something beyond myself made me thrust upwards, moving my arms. It was horrifying, but I reached the shore, swimming against the current. I waited for you in vain. Since then, I breathe endlessly, and every breath reminds me that I am a killer.

Alina Ilie
He opened his eyes, surprised by the fresh air flooding every cell in his body. He couldn't understand how it was possible. He inhaled deeply and greedily, filling his bleeding nostrils with a resinous scent from the mountaintop. He reached out for the edelweiss flower, shyly gazing at him from the beloved side of his heart, but he couldn't touch its brilliance. Fully awakened by the absence of pain, he looked around as thousands of sun particles dripped onto him from nowhere. From the light that now defined him, he looked at his frail body with resignation and continued his ascent.

(Translated by Alexandra-Ecaterina Sandu / 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 November 2024, the group has 13,480 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.