The kendoist who didn't use to sleep

He had traveled to Madrid and taken part in a long kendo tournament. After that hectic day he hoped he would be able to sleep. He needed to, but again, he spent the whole night with his eyes wide open, completely worn out. Another hard day had begun for him.

The red balloon

Mother and child were walking happily. He was proud of the floating red balloon tied to the string. A tramp came towards them. When he was beside the child, the man approached his cigarette and the balloon exploded with a bang. His mother, absolutely angered, dried the bitter child’s tears.

The first snowflake ever

It was the first time the child could see the snow. He looked up, raised his arms, opened his hands and a light snowflake touched his palm. The child looked happily at it. Soon, the snowflake started to melt. The child’s tears mixed with what once had been a snowflake.

The date

There she was at ten to eight in the morning, dressed in a black coat and carrying her briefcase. We looked at each other, silently. We wished to say hello but neither of us had dared to. Once again I had had a brief date with my daily stranger.

A bank client

Two policemen entered and took him out of the bank. Whenever somebody took out money from the A.T.M. he was there. Sometimes he was wrapped up with cardboard, or he was curled up in his dirty sleeping-bag. Whenever somebody finished operating he asked for “one euro for a coffee, please”.

The sleeper

She was cycling from her house to her work when she fell off her bike and hit her head on the ground. During the following weeks she used to fall asleep after two or three minutes while having lunch, talking to people, driving, reading...  One day she didn’t awake again.

An experienced pianist

He’d played in the same hotel for 52 years. His fingers ached and he was slow. His shabby tuxedo knew all his melodies by heart. He looked at the staves though could hardly see. The scarce customers looked at each other whenever he played a wrong note on the piano. 

Transparent teacher

He was wandering on a Sunday morning. The park was crowded: children cycling, youths jogging and retired people. He recognized a school boy looking at him and saying nothing. Later he met a known foursome. They stared at him and went past. He was another transparent teacher in the street.

An idle sad look at a small lake

The morning was sunny. Chilly winds tried to cut her face. She looked at the frozen pond. It was an icy mirror. She picked up a pebble and threw it at its surface. The stone slid smoothly as far as a crack. There it fell down into the small lake.