Author: Elif İrem TÜRKEL (11 Years Old)
Translator: Meldanur BİLİR (16 Years Old)
The constant plop plop sounds lately were worrying Merve. She wonders why the sky was crying. She asked her mother curiously, “I wonder if the clouds have a problem. They’ve been crying like a banshee for days.” Her mother found the answer immediately, “When tears are salty, one should quickly taste the rain.” When Merve tasted, she realized that the rainwater was salty. Now she should research and find the cloud’s issue.
Her mother’s plan was ready. Merve quickly gathered her bag. Before leaving the house, she threw cinnamon cookies into her bag. Their neighbour dragon Jopez didn’t break them, and he lifted Merve onto his back. Merve and Jopez flew to the sky. Her mother kept waving to them from the Earth's surface. They went up to the sky and they reached too high. They saw Mr. Cloud right there.
Mr. Cloud’s tears were falling like rain. Merve and Jopez snuggled the cloud. While crying on one side, she was saying, “The world is now filled with wars, genocides. It is my fate to witness the bitter end of mercy. Someone must step up, solve this problem. Can’t anyone see the inhumanity of it?’
Merve was deeply saddened upon hearing all of this. She pulled out a tissue from her super bag and handed it to Mr. Cloud. A child had nothing to do against the giant tanks as a child. She tried to explain his helplessness to Mr. Cloud. Mr. Cloud responded, ‘If we can’t stop it with our hands, we should try with our words. In other words, if we narrate this cruelty, we draw all attention to ourselves. If we can’t express with our words, we try with our hearts. We pray with our hearts, and even if it doesn’t work, at least we can say we tried.’
After some thought, Merve said, “You’re absolutely right, Mr. Cloud!” Mr. Cloud smiled at her, “Remember, even clouds are affected by the chaos in the world below.” What Merve should have done, which one she would have implemented? It turns out, the little child had so many things to do against the giant tanks.
Right at that moment, a rain started. It soaked the flowers, houses, cars, and a woman waiting for her daughter. She stuck her tongue out, tasted the rain. It was sweet water. These were the tears of joy from a cloud imagining what the tiny children would do when they grow up.