Fiction: Mischief (Travesura) [EN/ES]
Published on HivePostify by @rinconpoetico7 · Sun Aug 09 2026
English Justina
“Mom, we’re hungry.” Justina shook her mother, who was still asleep.
Dora rubbed her eyes as she got out of the rickety, faded bed. Her tangled hair, streaked with gray, fell across her face. Dora looked at her daughter, a thin little girl with unkempt brown hair and dark eyes that reflected deep anguish.
“Child, can’t you see there’s nothing here? Your father hasn’t been home in a long time. That old drunk probably spent all the money meant for food.” Dora went to the kitchen.
She lit the firewood to heat some coffee left over from the night before. She stoked the fire with a broken reed bellows on the verge of falling apart. Dora kept stoking the fire, moving the bellows with great force. Sweat ran down her ash-covered forehead.
“Mom, what are we going to eat?” Justina looked at Dora with anguish.
“Child, don’t you understand? We don’t have any money. We’re going to have some coffee. Now go away—you’re driving me crazy.” Dora kept stoking the fire with all her might.
“I’m sorry, Mom.” Justina shed a few tears and walked away with her head down.
The girl went to where her two younger brothers were. They had stomachaches from not having eaten in two days. Justina hugged her little brothers and tried to calm them down.
“Justina, what are we going to eat?” José looked at his sister’s dirty face.
“Mom’s making us a delicious breakfast to settle your mischievous tummy. Haha.”
“I’m so hungry I could eat a cow. Haha.” Susan was jumping on the old bed.
“Calm down, little ones; we’ll be eating something delicious soon.” Justina forced a smile. “I’m going to help our mom in the kitchen.”
Susan and José wrapped themselves in the dirty, torn blankets while Justina came in with her mother, who was pouring coffee.
“Come on, child, pour some coffee for your siblings.” Dora pointed to the red plastic cups.
“Mom, can I go to the store and ask if they’ll give us some bread on credit?” Justina clasped her hands together.
“Child, we already owe Mrs. Mary a lot of money. I don’t think she’ll give us any more credit.” Dora took a sip of coffee.
“Can I try to convince Mrs. Mary to give us some food until Dad gets home with the money?”
“That old drunk—I don’t know what I was thinking when I married him. If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t be going through all this hardship.” Dora kept sipping her coffee as she looked at her daughter with a sad expression. “All right, go see how it goes with Mrs. Mary.”
Justina flashed a smile with a few missing teeth and ran out of the house along the dusty path, barefoot. Her flowered dress, with a few holes in it, fluttered in the autumn breeze. Hope shone in her eyes as she made her way to Mrs. Mary’s store.
When she arrived, the girl saw all kinds of food on display: bread, rice, sugar, coffee, candy, potatoes, noodles, and an endless array of products that made Justina’s imagination run wild with visions of grand feasts.
Mrs. Mary was behind the counter serving customers, and Justina waited her turn. After a few minutes, the woman noticed the girl.
“Justina, what do you want?” Mary’s chubby face caught the girl’s attention.
“Mrs. Mary, my mother says, could you put some bread on credit for us?” With her delicate voice, Justina’s request sounded almost like a plea.
The slightly overweight woman looked at the scrawny, dirty little girl.
“You owe me a lot of money. Until you pay me, I can’t give you anything else. I’m sorry, Justina.” Mary continued serving customers.
Justina felt a heavy tightness in her chest. She wanted to cry, but all she could do was walk out with her head down. She went back to look at the loaves of bread in the display case, and while Mrs. Mary was serving customers, Justina grabbed four loaves and ran out.
The girl was panting; her heart was racing, and she didn’t look back—she just kept running, and a few tears streamed down her dark eyes. When she reached home, she glanced back out of the corner of her eye; only the dust stirred up by the breeze was swirling along the dirt road. She sighed deeply and went inside, forcing a smile.
“Mom, Mom, look what I have.” Justina held up the rolls.
“Child, how did you get those?” Dora’s eyes widened.
“Mrs. Mary gave them to me. She felt sorry for me begging, so she told me to take them.” Justina smiled.
The siblings and their mother ate the bread with desperate hunger. Justina watched everyone’s joy, and her heart leapt with happiness. It had been a long time since Dora had smiled like that.
When they finished eating, Dora went over to Justina.
“Thank you, child. At least you’ve staved off our hunger for a few hours.” Dora hugged her daughter.
“Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll see Mrs. Mary later. She said I should go ask for whatever we need and then we’ll pay her.”
“Did Mrs. Mary really say that?” Dora stared intently at her daughter.
“Yes, she saw how sad I was and felt really sorry for me.” Justina covered her face with her hands.
“I’m going to go thank her in person.”
“No, not right now, Mom. Do you remember the time Mrs. Mary kicked you out of her store in a rage because you wouldn’t pay your bill?”
“That’s true—I don’t want her to get angry again.”
“Let me go instead; you’ll have a chance to thank her later.”
That afternoon, the children started crying, asking for food. Dora got furious.
“Kids, stop crying. There isn’t much to eat. I’ll heat some coffee for you, but calm down first.” Dora went to the kitchen to light the fire.
“Mom, I’m going to Mrs. Mary’s to ask her for something to cook.”
“Are you sure Mrs. Mary will give you food?” Dora looked at Justina in surprise.
“Give me a bag, Mom. I won’t be long.” Justina smiled.
Dora took out an old white bag, and Justina ran out of the house. After half an hour, the girl returned and handed her mother the bag filled with plenty of food. Dora watched in great surprise.
“Child, did Mrs. Mary give you all this?”
“That’s right, Mom. She said we could pay her back when we could.”
Dora took the bag and grabbed Justina by the hand.
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