Stories to Be Read at the Train Station

Ana Ludușan
She sits with her hands on her lap, thinking of her past and wasted life. She has lived in a corner of heaven, on the slopes of the mountain, at a stone's throw from the sky. She bloomed in the arms of the man her parents disapproved of. She took him to worshiping grounds and made him master of the family's turf, full of abundance. The parents expelled her from their hearts, the village people turned their backs on her. She found out why only when her neighbour brought her child at her doorsteps: Bring him up \'cause he's your man's. The train was whistling. The neighbour took the hand of her grandchild and left. She was left with her work, the neighbour with happiness.

Monica Aldea
The train swung quietly, puffing with exhaustion. She felt that the last kilometres would pass very slow. She closed her eyes and contemplated the flashes interrupted by the roar of the wheels. 15 years in Romania in a public institution. 30 years in Canada and a bright career. Tens of solved medical cases. Saved lives, gratitude, eulogies, years of sacrifice. A single truth remained undisclosed. The train moaned like a sick animal and stopped. She got off and sat down on a bench from behind the train station. Here began the story, in a little basket woven from twigs.

Răzvan Dițescu
13 is lucky. After the surgery, I was assigned to a regiment of soldiers that were injured on the front. On the 13^th of September 1943, I marched on 13^th September Avenue. Then from the train station 13^th September we were put on a train with an unknown destination. In Băicoi we were kicked off and transferred to Moreni. Life was pretty good. We had heat, food and a bed. On the 13^th of November, Victor Ion Popa with his theatre group arrived in the city. They put on a stage There is no love without mystery. There and then I met your grandmother.

(Translated by Ana Maria Mitruș / 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.