IR 1234 Train

Ana Maria Dobre-Nir
Dear Shinkansen, I am IR 1234, a Romanian train. We don't know each other, but I thought I'd write to you. I know you're lightning on rails, while I'm more of a slow Sunday stroll through fields dotted with sheep. Today, as I rattled my way toward a dusty station, I thought of you. What's it like to glide, to slice through the air? I sometimes get stuck at crossings, waiting for cows to pass. But you know, sometimes, when I set off, I dream that I'm flying - and that people love me. Maybe one day, I'll be like you. Until then, I'm sending you track dust and the scent of fresh hay. With hope, IR.

Carmen Moldovan
I had taken this journey before, but this time, the compartment was full. I suppose the others saw me in black and white, just as I saw them - born, like me, into a gray world. Then the compartment doors opened, and suddenly, everything burst into color. A mesmerizing, almost otherworldly presence stepped in, smiling at each of us before sitting down right across from me. Slowly, night fell, and I might have dozed off. But when the train stopped and we arrived, I blinked myself awake - and there she was. Now, she was just like us. Gray.

Paul Dârvariu
Uncle Lae was a railway infrastructure manager, responsible for the eight kilometers of track between Lehliu and Dor Mărunt. He was so proud of his trade that he swore to give his children railway-inspired names. And so he did - his son was named Railroad Switch, and his daughters, Draisine, Barrier, and Rack Railway. He had hoped Railroad Switch would follow in his footsteps, but the boy had other plans. He became a tiler in France. When Lae found out he was going to be a grandfather, he picked out the perfect name for the baby: Interregio. But Railroad Switch, once again, didn't listen. He named his son Téjévéu.

(Translated by Carmen Badea / 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 January 2025, the group has 13,600 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.