Soap Bubbles

Anca Socaciu-Man
The world is full of bubbles, each and every one of us has their own, and we hide from reality in it, indifferently passing thousands of other thoughtful bubbles. Some of them are made of Lux soap, some of them of Duru soap, the homemade lye soap, sometimes lavender. The lucky ones have their bubble made up of shampoo, and the even luckier ones, of sweet-smelling shampoo. Somewhere in the world, a child is carrying a bucket of water on his head, and another one is playing in front of a tank, shooting colourful bubbles from a gun full of water and soap at the soldiers.
 
 Aurelian Țolescu
Gogănău. That was his name. A skinny, shy, quiet and put together soldier. In about a month we realised that he leaves trace of a sour, gross smell behind him, related to the lack of hygiene. We told him to take care of the problem, but he wouldn't hear us. One night we took him without his will and put him in the shower with his clothes on, and scrubbed him with the Cheia soap until he was all bubbled up. He got undressed and he continued to shyly wash himself, tears in his eyes. He did not rat us out to the superiors, but we have never smelt him ever since.

Cristina Daniela Dumitru-Pascal
And because Eve had a fight with Adam, she asked God to let her make the perfect man. She took a piece of clay and shaped it with her bare hands and a soul full of hope. During the breaks, she would amuse herself by blowing soap bubbles at him. The more she shaped him, the harder she fell. Obviously, he was a piece of her thoughts and heart. When she finished, he looked at her, kissed her hands and told her that she looked tired. And old. And then he left. Fine, she said to herself. You've left me the leftover clay. You are going to come back to me. To fix you up.

(Translated by Cristina-Paula Grosu / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year I / Corrected by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)