Three Days of Fasting

Elia Ghinescu
I remember the first cigarette: you were Kim, menthol. Then, when I was smoking the occasional cigarette stolen from Dad, Winchester was your name. We loved each other very much during Uni; oh, LM, how I took a long drag on you. On the rare occasions when you were Kent, I would lose my voice instantly. How could I not want to meet you tomorrow? I have not felt your scent for three days. You will be the same cocky thing and will burn out fast. And I will feel the same sense of guilt. Because once you go out, I am left as if after a rape: I gather my ripped clothes, pick my shoes and look for a way back to myself.

Cristina Daniela Dumitru-Pascal
It has gone dark. No gunshots are heard either. I decorate the tree with baubles brought from home. Bearing the faces of loved ones. Three more days and we'll be back, says a whisper. More, repeats the female commandress. Let's do some reconnaissance. I exit, sighing and as I go I take one more look at the tree adorned with soul fragments. She remembers the rumble and the light that hurt their eyes. She crawls, dragging along one of the comrades she removed from the burning car. Do you miss it, mother? The question interrupts her memory. I had to save him. I didn't notice the missing leg.

Ana-Maria Butuza
So, is that how it is, Gherasim: the two of you want to get married, although your mom and dad are against it and won't give you a dime? Yes, father, we want to; I'm in love with her and won't give her up, even if I knew we would starve. So be it; according to Church tradition, you must receive Holy Communion, and three days of fasting are required; otherwise, it cannot be done. We will do so, just ensure the blessing from the One Above that we will be able to have beautiful and intelligent children. Well, well, Gherasim, if they take after Ana, they may be beautiful, but if they take after you, they surely won't be intelligent.


(Translated by Francisc Csiki / 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.