Three Days of Fasting

Ionuț Morariu
When he was not able to reach Suzana's breasts anymore, the sly fox Figaro couldn't claim they were sour, indeed. It would have been hardly believable. Anyone with eyes to see could have rightfully testified that Suzana's titties were nothing short of Aphrodite's, the homewrecker of Olympus. So, Figator, burning as if with a feverish malaise, told anyone who lent an ear that he was fasting. That women are unclean and sinful. That, if men were to take a glance beneath their skin, they would lose the desire to copulate. His feat of abstinence was a real miracle. It lasted three days.

Caterina Tudorache
So, three. Three days of fasting. Wait. You said you also had some drinks. Only at parties, Father. And in the evening, sometimes. But I would immediately go to bed afterwards. Fine, so be it. We'll stick to three. And the wife? My wife drank on par with me. No, I meant to ask if you get on well with her. Yes, Father. We fight at times. I slapped her once. Hm. Let's say four. Four days of fasting. And the children? I also slapped them. No, sir. Are you getting on well with the children? Yes, Father. Now that they've grown, they're the ones who are slapping me. Then, we'll keep it at three days of fasting. What about the wife? The wife, too, Father. No, I mean, does the wife know?

Florentina Ghițescu
My young grandma lived to be 94 years old. She observed all days of fasting. She loved colourful clothes and would not leave anywhere without her beads, be it church or field labour. She had never worn black, her favourite colour was yellow. She lived her life to the fullest. She would shift from sadness to happiness with ease. She could sob at a neighbour's funeral and, just a few hours later, she could kick up dust in the street, dancing at a nephew's wedding. During the winter, when we visited on holidays, she let us break the fast and then asked the priest to let us kiss the ikon. I miss her.


(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.