October

Radu Gramatovici
What do you think, should we catch another round at the beach this weekend? she asked him while packing a lunch for their kid for school. Did you see how warm it is? In the background, the news about the war alternated with ads for the Christmas Fair that was about to open. Both were filled with optimism and excitement. Or do you want to go to the fair? she asked this time addressing the both of them. It seems like there's going to be something special at the opening. Come on, let them rest in peace, my dear, said the old woman dressed in black, who had just walked into the kitchen.

Monica Aldea
On a chilly October morning, the wheels of the cart struggled over the muddy paths. Daylight had broken. The father guided the stubborn horse, which breathed heavily in the cold air. Wrapped in a thick shawl, the little girl was still dozing, undisturbed by the jolting. They started harvesting the corn quietly. The father loaded the ears of corn. The girl appeared with the scarecrow from the field, carefully placing it on top and wrapping it in the warm shawl. It's time for you to come back home with us. A crow cawed contentedly and soared up towards the sky.

Andra Toropoc
She had stepped out of the gray building into the orange glow of the street. No, I don't want to, she told herself, her eyes on the leaves swaying above her. The boulevard welcomed her as always, and she found herself counting in her head, six months until the magnolias, seven until the linden trees. She didn't realize she was speaking out loud: and only two months left until Christmas. Passers-by squinted against the sun, winter is far off, one of them said mockingly. She smiled, he was right, there's still time. And she crumpled the paper that a written diagnosis was slowly stopping her heart.

(Translated by Eduard Mihai Uretu / 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 December 2024, the group has 13,540 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.