The Only Thing That Matters

Arthur Ianoși
I usually start my day with a coffee and three rolled cigarettes. Rarely do I brush my teeth beforehand. Always after. After I admire my body in the mirror, repeating to myself that poverty is temporary. By the end of the month, I don't have much money left, but I have solutions. I grab some worn-out clothes, a fishing rod, a basin full of water, and set myself up in front of a restaurant. It's impossible for someone not to feel sorry. Some give me money, others give me food, and then there's always one who cracks jokes and asks: Did you catch anything today? You're the seventh, I reply politely.

Oana Jindiceanu
Forgive me, sometimes I didn't know, other times I couldn't. Maybe there were things you missed, but you didn't miss me. Love each other and always stay together, in the same boat, even if each one of you has his own life. Don't forget what I've taught you, especially if the world asks you to be different. Don't be sad, I'm ready. I'd like you to be with me when I leave and hold my hand. And I'll be with you, as always. We will speak in thought and in heart. I will embrace you between worlds. With love, Mom.

Nicolae Popescu
He was like a skeleton, lying on the table under the spotlight. I gave him a faint smile before the operating room door was closed. I waited, head in hands, with endless rounds to the window. Eighteen steps, hundreds of times. It was hard, now it depends on how strong he is, the cardiologist told me. They took him to the ICU, I went in with him. In his sweaty hand, he held three hundred lei[1] bills. Dad, I told you I'd give them to the doctor, I said the next day. I wanted to make sure he was careful. I forgot to give them to him before they made me fall asleep.
(Translated by Laura-Monica Doroiman / 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.