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Almost Everything Very Fast
[Excerpt]
Translated from German by Aaron Kerner
Anni and the Somebodies
Later, my sister told me that
she’d stared at the plumes
of smoke and sweated in
the heat of the fire that
was devouring our house,
until somebody covered her
eyes and threw her over a
shoulder and carried her
away.
The next morning she was
woken by a gentle voice;
she opened her eyes to tell
Papa or Mama or me about
her nightmare—but the light
falling through the window
was unusually bright, and
the air smelled different, like
cow dung, and someone,
somebody, passed her a
cup of milk. Later a different
somebody gave her a violet
dress. Yet another somebody
ranhotwater for her tobathe
in, water boiled especially
for her. The same somebody
who’d given her the violet
dress suggested they milk
the cows together, bake a
cake, play with the cat. But
Anni shook her head. The
somebody with the gentle
voice explained that she
couldn’t go back home, that
from now on she’d live here,
with her new family. But
Anni didn’t see any family.
There was only a somebody,
another somebody, and
yet another somebody. She
shook her head again and
shoutedfor Julius. Somebody
said, “Your brother’s in
heaven now.” And then Anni
shook her head so long that
she got dizzy, and nobody
said anything more.