Three Days of Fasting

Gheorghiță Mircea
There are three more days until that agreed-upon day. Until then, three days' fasting, a glass of water, and nothing more. I take each of the written pages, in three days, whatever hasn't been sincere goes into the fire. The same goes for the thoughts I consider to have written with ill intent. The same goes for what I consider to have not been lucid enough. No dirty thought must remain. No dirt in the house, I'll clean everything. I take a bath and pick some clean clothes. I leave no message. The fast is helpful; I have removed all that was within me. No water on the last day. I get up on the chair and place the rope. I am getting out clean.

Magdalena Daminescu
Father, I'm addicted to it. As soon as I wake up, I grab it, and for two hours, I am stuck to it, till I deplete its power. Then, I spend the rest of the day trying not to think of it, but I barely manage, only if I hide it out of sight. I'm tempted by it even when I'm driving and I'm scared I'll screw up some time. I can't work anymore; eventually, I give in, as I'm dying to check my likes. My dear girl, this is a grave situation... Prayer and a strict fast - three days for a start, and, if it doesn't pass, you must bring it to church, and I will exorcise it.

George Dometi
I'd eat a piece of lamb with some baked potatoes. Shut it, we're not allowed. Oh, how I would have a double serving of pasta with the type of cheese that spreads or a veal chop seasoned with garlic sauce and house-baked bread. Shut it, we're not allowed. Oh, now I would really fry some sausages from the jar, with some polenta and cheese and pickles, or some scrambled eggs and sour cream, or some chicken livers with milk and honey, or some stove-baked flatbreads glazed with jam and yoghurt. Shut it, Saint Peter, we've just a bit of time left.


(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.