Ukranian

• Samleen Kaur, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2022

Bomb blasts. Bodies everywhere. What had I done to deserve this? What had anyone in Ukraine done to deserve this? I pondered this question for the past month and a half.

It was just a week after the invasion, I started seeing worried looks on my parents; I knew they wanted to evacuate. The Prime Minster announced the men must stay and fight, but women, we have the difficult choice of flee or fight. My mother chose to flee.

I would turn 19 this year, meaning I was technically a woman, so I also had the choice to decide. “Mama, I am going to fight I have made up my mind” I said. She turned around and stopped packing, her face was red, and her expression was angry and worried. “Daneila, have you lost your mind you can’t in that war.” I could not believe her “Mama, it is my choice you cannot tell me; besides, we must fight for Ukraine this is the place which gave us shelter and food and we are just abandoning it when it needs us the most?”

We arrived at the Train station, waiting for the next evacuation train to come. But I had a plan, I was going to fight no matter what. The train came, my mom got on with my auntie and my cousin, I pretended to drop something and got off to “grab it” the train doors shut. It started to move, and my mom realized I was not on. She banged the train window, then realizing it was no use, she banged her forehead against the window. I saw it slid down onto the windowsill, my mother’s eyes were red and filled with huge balls of tears running down her cheeks. I felt sad for my mother.

But was it right?

A few days later, I was ready to fight with a weapon in my hand, I followed the men, who knew what to do, then one of them turned around and said “go collect bodies, we need to clean up” I went across with some other women who went to do so. So many people to collect very few bodies, I was wrong we had a shortage of soldiers for the bodies, which were everywhere, I wanted to go home. At least I had my dad with me. He was currently in a different sector. “Soldier Dani 3a, please report to Commissioner General Artem Volodymyr, now” I thought I was needed in another sector but when I got there was horrific. “Soldier Dani 3a reporting, sir.” My dad had been caught in a bomb blast. I fell to my knees, my eyes started to swell, I had a huge lump in my throat.

I could sleep that night. What would I tell mom? (if I go home that is) I was losing faith.

I had to keep going. I knew Ukraine would win.