Review: Pretending to Sleep: A Communism Survivor’s Short Story

The atrocities committed by those holding power in Communist regimes fill a number of books. It is hard to grasp the final tally of the dead slaughtered by these tyrannical governments; most of us blink and stutter to a stop when told the number murdered during Stalin’s or Mao’s reign over the U.S.S.R. or the People’s Republic of China. “One death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic,” as Josef Stalin said. Only a very few can comprehend the actual depth and breadth of the number of souls lost to the Communist killing machine.

It is even harder to understand the mentality of those who lived under these regimes – if one can call it living. While there are plenty of stories about those held in the gulags, the orphanages and “Hospitals for Irrecoverable Children,” there are fewer tales told about the day-to-day existence one experienced under Communist rule. Fathoming even that can be a trial in our modern age of plenty; even videos such as this one, which shows several North Korean defectors trying American BBQ for the first time, seem incomprehensibly sad to most viewers.

Monalisa Foster’s short story, Pretending to Sleep: A Communism Survivor’s Short Story*, takes readers on a journey into the hourly difficulties of living an “average life” in a Communist country:

Based on actual events, this short story provides a quick glimpse into life under Ceaucescu’s brutal communist regime. Like so many Romanians, ten-year-old Renata lives in fear of Securitate (Ceaucescu’s secret police). They don’t always take you in the middle of the night. In a world where the living envy the dead, not all examples are made in the shadows. Some are made in the light of day.

Renata, the story’s protagonist, begins the tale as an adult. She has just cut her finger on a piece of broken china at a restaurant. Although she tells the waitress not to worry, since it was just an accident, the woman scurries to pick up the pieces in a manner that sends Renata on an involuntary trip down memory lane.

She remembers growing up in Communist Romania. Her father escaped to America, but her mother stayed. Unlike her husband she followed the Communist party line, accepting it as true. She loved her job but not the child – Renata – whom the government forced her to have after it forced her to marry.

There is no love between mother and daughter. Ceaucescu’s regime and those previous to it stole that a long time ago. There is only obligation and the insistence of Renata’s relatives. Her great-aunt and uncle are the only adults who actually care about her. In fact, they care enough to take her in for treatment when she gets sick, walking miles in the cold winter night to do so.

Before and after this event, Renata’s relatives would take her to the cemetaries and tell who was buried where. And who wasn’t, since some of the dead were living freely in the West. Smart enough to know she shouldn’t tell everyone about that, Renata keeps this information in her head.

One day, at school, she and the other students are waiting for an inspection. The inspectors have to pass through the rows to examine them. Anyone found to have a uniform in disrepair or to be the slightest bit unkempt is punished. Those who fidget or disobey are punished as well. Of course, the inspectors deal out whacks on hands, wrists, and arms liberally anyway. How else can they assert their power over these children and remind them who is in charge?

Renata is terrified about this inspection. Specifically, she’s petrified at the thought that she might lose her hair. When the inspectors truly want to make an example of a student they shave his or her hair off and encourage the others to bully the bald child. Proud of and happy with her hair, Renata doesn’t want to lose it, but she knows she cannot save it if they decide to make an example of her. Standing up for oneself in Communist Romania is a good way to disappear and never come back – or to come back broken beyond repair.

Finally, the inspectors enter. The examination begins and the customary smacks are dealt out – but not to Renata. The children are told to take their seats – except Renata. Silence descends. No one dares to break it.

After a few moments, the Securitate enters and takes Renata away.

Pretending to Sleep is not an easy read. The short story is, in some ways, too short. It also feels too long. Reading it puts one in the box of a life that any and every Communist government under the sun constructs for those in its control. They watch and dictate everything people under their power do. Neighbors and family cannot help but suspect each other; Renata is only told the stories she must remember by her elderly relatives because they realize she is trustworthy. Her own mother does not love or want her at all. Without the care of her extended family, she would have been raised in an orphanage from Hell.

None of this is to say the story is totally grim. It has a thread of triumph, and the ending is uplifting in its determination. The horror ought not to be dwelt on, and the book emphasizes that fact.

At the same time, however, it insists that these things be remembered so they can be avoided in the future. “You can’t wake a man pretending to sleep,” and that’s true. But one can avoid falling asleep and then affecting slumber to stay alive in a world so despicable he wishes he was actually dead.

I cannot recommend this short story enough, readers. The full power of Monalisa Foster’s* writing style is on display in this short piece, and it is some of her best work. The book is twenty-three (23) pages and priced accordingly. You will not regret picking up this book – but you might be sorry if you let it pass you by.

*These are Amazon affiliate links. When you purchase something through them, this author receives a commission from Amazon at no extra charge to you, the buyer.

If you liked this article, friend Caroline Furlong on Facebook or follow her here at www.carolinefurlong.wordpress.com. Her stories have been published in Cirsova’s Summer Special and Unbound III: Goodbye, Earth, while her poetry appeared in Organic Ink, Vol. 2. She has also had stories published in Planetary Anthologies Luna and Uranus. Her short story “Death’s Shadow” is in Cirsova Magazine’s recently released Summer Issue. Order them today!