Hitotoki

image: Mike White

“Mommy, buy a baby for me.”

Despite being a quiet child, I was something of a foolster from time to time. Sometimes I apologized, sometimes I did not. My mother often told me: “Some day your children will behave just like you do you and you’ll see what all my fuss is about …”

I am already the happy father of a small boy, called Alexander. To be honest, I must admit I have always been longing for a son like him. Now, when I see how he is growing up, I often remember about what my mom said. It is very funny to observe his way of seeing life, the way he laughs, the way he copies each and every word and gesture of mine and his mother.

One day we were walking through a park in zone B. There were many mothers with their children in the nearby park as the weather was warm and sunny. Alexander is very curious and is constantly asking: “What’s that?” My wife Ani and I explain to him what each thing is in detail and he usually repeat what he understands in his baby language.

That day, on the bench next to us, there were three women, who were speaking quietly as their babies were sleeping in the prams ^[1]. Alexander approached them and, standing on tiptoe, tried to see what was in the prams. Then he returned to us and said they contained some “thing”. We explained to him that those were babies and that he also was a baby at one point earlier in his life. He looked at us and said with his sweet voice: “Mommy, buy a baby for me”. We all started laughing. He looked at us wondering and repeated the question: “Mommy, buy a baby for me”. Then we explained to him that some things could not be bought and that of all the unpurchasable items in the world, babies were perhaps first on the list.

referenced works

1. British English for ‘baby carriage.’ ↩


2. The “B-18 Zone” is a small, well-organized neighborhood, located in Sofia’s western parts, characterized by its high-rise residential buildings. It is surrounded by two thoroughfares – “Todor Alexandrov” boulevard under which runs the line of Sofia’s metro and “Slivnitsa” boulevard, which was recently extended. The residential buildings in the B-18 zone is of great variety. In the western parts of the neighborhood one can find the old brick buildings erected in the 60s. Little houses with their own yards are adjacent to the 60’s buildings. Some of those houses have been replaced during the last 10-20 years by panel apartment buildings and private owned brick ones. In the eastern parts of the neighborhood are located most of the high rise apartment buildings built in the 80’s. ↩


3. There are two parks adjacent to the neighborhood, one of them is the scene of the Svetlin Davidov’s story. The first shopping mall in Bulgaria – “Mall Sofia” is also close to the neighborhood. One of the best gynecological centers in the country is located in the B-18 Zone as well. The transportation connections of the neighborhood are very good with its residents and visitors having the opportunity to use all types of public transportation such as tramways, trolleys, buses and the metro. ↩

location information

• Name: the park in Zone B-18 neighbourhood, between Pirotska St. and Simeon St.
• Address: the park in Zone B-18 neighbourhood, between Pirotska Str. and Simeon Str.
• Time of story: Afternoon
• Latitude: 42.686497
• Longitude: 23.336211
• Map: Google Maps

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