I slapped him as hard as I could and yelled at him. Wake up. I grabbed him by the shoulders, shook him hard and screamed again. You must understand once and for all, moments of happiness are ephemeral like soap bubbles. Life is not always a clear sky, most of the time rainy clouds cover it. You have to learn to cope with hardships, you have to be stronger. The teddy bear started to cry. I thought I couldn't see well. I slapped him again.
Mihaela Palaloga
She was so dirty, she didn't even remember what it was like to be clean. Or how to hold cutlery in her hands, as her grandmother had taught her. And how did she get upset when she couldn't cut the steak. What whims, she thought now. I would even eat chicken skin. She smiled crooked as she remembered. That's how it happens that in the pocket of the dress with band, she kept a piece of soap hidden, and when lights were off, she scraped a few scales and made soap bubbles. She had heard the rumour and although it seemed crazy, only then did she feel close to her family.
Mihaela Vicol
I'm waiting at the traffic light. Next to me, a woman holding hands with a small child that makes soap bubbles and laughs. I smile. A man appears. The woman notices him, turns green and starts screaming. I'm leaving. As I walk away I hear a thump, screeching wheels, hustle and bustle. Did that madman push the woman in front of the car? I turn around, the woman is screaming, the man like a madman is beating another who is trying to get into the car stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, and above them, one last soap bubble goes off.
(Translated by Ioana Andreea Radu / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year I / Corrected by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)
Versiunea în română a acestui text se poate citi aici, în rubrica Ficțiuni Reale.