I was invited to answer a few questions for the Facebook page το μικρό. I happily accepted and took a trip back to my childhood. Thank you for the invitation. The interview is also available at this link click.
• MY MOTHER USED TO MAKE ME…
My mom used to make me the most delicious and beautiful birthday cake! Back then, having a birthday cake felt really special. Nowadays, it's become something completely ordinary.
She also used to make me feel loved, safe, and believe that anything was possible.
She also used to make me feel loved, safe, and believe that anything was possible.
• I WILL NEVER FORGET…
I’ll never forget how my brother and I “repainted” the freshly white wall with black shoe polish. We had been watching the worker carefully paint the walls inside the house white, and we decided to do the same, except we used black polish instead! It took a whole lot of white paint to get the wall looking even close to white again! :D
• I COULDN’T WAIT…
In December, I could hardly wait for Saint Nicholas to arrive. I would imagine him, along with his magical little helpers, slipping through the keyhole and quietly filling the basket with a small pile of gifts. In the summer, I would wait impatiently for that early morning when my parents, my brother, and I would head to the seaside. Even before we left, I was already imagining myself swimming and searching for little pebbles and seashells.
• AT SCHOOL I WAS…
At school, I would sometimes drift off into my own dream world. In spring, I could smell the freshly cut grass through the open window, and in autumn, I would watch the wind play with the fallen leaves. In the classrooms, I often found comfort in drawing and making little doodles, which made my school days feel fuller and more magical. I loved spending any spare time in the school library, where I would pick out books to read at home.
• ONCE I ALMOST…
Once, I was almost electrocuted. I was very little — too little to understand danger — and one day, I found a metal nail. Curious as always, I walked over to the electrical socket and, without thinking, pushed the nail inside. I felt a jolt of electricity go through me, but I jumped back just in time — before things could have gotten really serious.
• WHAT I ENJOYED MOST…
I enjoyed winter the most, when I would watch the snowflakes falling. I imagined myself as one of them—sitting in the lap of the Snow Queen, then sliding down towards the Earth and sinking into the snow.
• SUMMERS SMELLED OF…
Summers smelled like crayons, colored pencils, sunshine, and the pancakes my grandmother baked. It smelled like the river, where my brother and I watched the fish during our holidays at Grandma and Grandpa’s. The air was rich with the fragrance of thriving fields and meadows, bursting with life. It smelled like the forest and its earth after a summer rain. Summers smelled like freedom, boundless imagination, and peaceful moments that filled my heart.
• THE WORST THING I EVER DID…
The worst thing I ever did happened in kindergarten. I didn’t like spinach, so I refused to eat it. The teacher told me I wasn’t allowed to leave the table until I finished it. When the teacher turned her back, I poured the spinach back into the pot of spinach that just happened to be on the table where I was sitting. When she turned around, she immediately realized I couldn’t have eaten it that fast. I still can’t forget her frowning, angry face! But me? I felt relieved. :D
• I WAS CONSTANTLY ASKING…
As a young child, I kept asking my mom and dad what we truly are and where we come from. I wondered about how we were created—not how we are born, but where we came from before that. Of course, they didn’t have the answers, and neither did my teachers. The world amazed me; the stars enchanted me, and I would often find myself gazing endlessly at the sky and the clouds.
• MY FATHER USED TO…
My dad, like my mom, taught my brother and me values and good work habits. He told us stories about his childhood and about the beauties and pitfalls of the world. In spring and autumn, we would go mushroom picking together in the forest, and in winter, we’d go to pick a tree for the Christmas and New Year holidays.
• WHAT IS “mikro” FOR YOU?
For me, mikro is a little one who’s endlessly curious, full of imagination, delightfully mischievous, and brimming with love, wonder, and hope.
Thank you so much for the invitation to answer these questions!
Good luck!
Marta Bartolj, Illustrator and author
