A/N:
This fanfiction was written for a challenge in Polish APH fanfiction Facebook group. Themes of the challenge: "a shopping madness", "Don't take it personally, but..." and "an ice rink". Translated from Polish. Still learning, this is my 3 or 4 translation, so if you see any errors, tell me :)
Author: KaiShouri
Translation: KaiShouri
Original title: Kup pan cegłę
A life slowly came back to a city. A sky, wonderfully blue, was empty and quiet. There were no clouds, no contrails stretching behind planes, there was no sound of its growl and explosions of dropped bombs. On his face, he felt the sun's warm and he almost smiled, because for a split of a second a world was beautiful again.
And then Feliks Łukasiewicz looked at going behind him men's back and immediately his face clouded over.
Ivan in a crown was like an icebreaker. He went straight ahead, whistling merrily and sometimes even singing his anthem. In arms, he has few packages wrapped in gray paper, and behind him, his inseparable scarf blow in a breeze.
"Da zdravstvuyet sozdanny voley narodov, yediny, moguchy Sovetsky Soyuz[1]!"
Feliks took a brick from nearby a pile of debris and, following his liberator though afresh recreated streets, suddenly desired to throw this brick in his head and then to search some blind alley to hide a body.
Unfortunately, a privilege of dying didn't apply to country personifications, so Feliks in bad mood still trudged behind Russia, who, with his cheerful smile says what they will do today. But still, he didn't let go out a brick.
"You know, Pol'sha, I think we should go here and there for shopping, I need new scarf..."
Feliks looked around. He found a bookstore or rather partially destroyed a building with chalked inscription "books" written by trembling hand. Broken, leaning against the half of wall a table was a counter. Several doses books in various condition were scattered and bookseller, an old man with tired of life eyes sat on a battered chair and protected his eyes by hand[2].
Feliks decided he come back here when he will be alone and he will buy everything.
"I don't know you'll find some shop with scarfs."
"Oh, all ones was closed?" Ivan worried. "They don't sell it out of season?"
"Now they sell bricks" Feliks muttered through the clenched teeth. Ivan looked over his shoulder.
"Bricks?" He surprised. "Who needs bricks?"
"See, when I speak "Buy a brick, sir", you have two options, to buy or not to buy" Feliks explained, clutching the brick.
"If I'll buy I give you money and get a brick" Russia guessed. "And what if not?"
"You don't give me money and get hit with a brick, and I take money myself."
Ivan laughed loudly, thinking it was a joke. Apparently, he didn't go yet alone at the night in post-war Warsaw, Feliks guessed[3].
"You are in a pretty good condition, Felia, a good mood is back, tovarish..." He turned back on and taped Feliks's on his shoulder. Feeling suffocating helplessness, Pole dropped the brick which falls to a ground. "Nu[4], because there are no scarfs, so let we 'll find... Oh, a marketplace. Come, tovarish, cheer up... There is no war already, you have to live on."
"How?" Feliks wanted to ask, looking how Ivan bargained with a young boy with a flat cap on his head, which has a jagged scar on a face and sunken cheeks. Ivan negotiated a price with his smile like he was on a trip in some exotic country, not among ruins and shyly erected scaffoldings.
"No, no, this is too expensive" Ivan melodiously replied to boy's offer who loses patience already. "I'll give you a quarter of this price..."
Feliks couldn't stand it. He took money from his packet: reichsmarks, rubbles, Polish zloty's, these ones before the war and these ones minted by Germans during an occupation. He pushed coins in boy's hand, meeting his glaze - grey, distrustful, hurt by fate - and then caught red scarf lying between several clothes, few packages of bullets, one or two guns, old family heirlooms and a dirty menorah.
"Hold it" Feliks growled to Russian.
"Felia, Felia" Ivan shook his head, when they went away. "You can't bargain."
Feliks started to regret he left this brick. Maybe just a concussion?
Ivan entailed Feliks through the destroyed capital, among people who came back and more or less determined streets which were here before. Somewhere are Soviet patrols. Feliks fixed his gaze on the ground because this what happened with his capital makes his heart hurts[5].
Ivan, big cheerful child, in some weird way found people who sell anything they have on the streets. One hour later he was a bottle of homemade moonshine, a package of quickly rolled cigarettes wrapped in blotting paper, the second scarf, a coat which fits perfectly on my sister, Ivan explained, new boots with bloodstained tongues, a shawl... At the same time, Feliks got rid of all money he had, stealthily added coins to amount citizens of his capital got.
"Nu, I have got everything I need" glad Ivan said.
"Don't take it personally, but..." Feliks hesitated for a while. "You don't think so... this is not a good moment for shopping madness? The war ended three weeks ago..."
"Ended" Ivan caught. "See, Felia, so good is that? Nu, now everybody lives normally again, tovarish, so I went shopping. Something's wrong?"
"Everything is wrong" Feliks wanted to reply, but he gave it a resist. And, maybe you have right, he thought a moment later, put his hands in his pockets and followed Russian again. Maybe I just can't live normally already.
"You know, Felia, I would like to go to a rink. You have no rink here?"
"We haven't," Feliks said through teeth. "It's June. Almost July. For the rest, this is almost nothing here."
"Nevermind" Ivan sighed. "Do you ever been in Jakuck, Felia? I go there for a week, this is a bit too warm here..."
"I have been few times at the Siberia" Feliks muttered under his breath, with anger kicked a little stone on the ground. A wind blew and long Ivan's scarf hit his in the face. Feliks almost laughed hysterically.
Ivan didn't notice it, but, to be honest, he noticed very little.
"You like it?"
Feliks didn't reply but Russia probably didn't except an answer.
"Apparently Americans have rinks even in the summer" Ivan sighed, continuing his monologue. "You know, tovarish, indoor ice rink... Outside this is hot but you can, you know, skating inside... Eh... When they invent something... When I'll come back to Moskow I'll ask my boss this is possible to build something like this there. I won't call now, probably everybody is still drunk. By the way, Felia, we go for a vodka?"
Over my, kurwa, dead body, Feliks sadly through. I'll drink vodka today evening, alone and sadly. I don't want to do it with you.
"I have to do something..."
"Nevermind" Ivan suddenly stopped and Feliks almost bumped into him. "I guess that's it... What will you do?"
"I don't know" Feliks honestly replied. He looked at the legs and noticed small part of another brick. "Maybe I'll start to sell. Buy a brick, sir..." He repeated under his breath, leaned.
Ivan netted purchases in his shoulders, didn't hearing the last sentence. He sighed, looked at the sky and with a smile of cheerful elder colleague go on his way, didn't looking back.
Feliks aimed but didn't throw. Instead, he left a hand with brick and quietly signed. The next hard times are coming.
the end.
[1] "Da zdravstvuyet sozdanny voley narodov, yediny, moguchy Sovetsky Soyuz" part of State Anthem Soviet Union, 1943 version. Translation: "Long live the creation of the will of the people, the united, mighty Soviet Union"
[2] This scene is based on the photo of "bookstore" in Warsaw in 1945. If you type in Google Graphic "bookstore Warsaw war" you find it.
[3] "Buy a brick, sir" (pl: Kup pan cegłę). After the WWII, in Warsaw hooligans used this words to enforce money. Feliks simply explained how it worked.
[4] "Nu", a Russian word, something like "well", "so". Similar to Polish "no".
[5] When WWII ended Warsaw was destroyed in 90 percent. Even there was an idea to leave ruins of the whole city as an antiwar monument. Warsaw was rebuilt until 1952 (first stage), the 60s. The Royal Castle was finished in 1974.