Chapter Six

As soon as I woke up from sleep, I went straight to the living room and turned on the TV to know what was happening. My mum had earlier told me that my dad wouldn't be with his phone and anyone trying to call him at that time would be futile. I sat down on a chair and watched the drama being displayed on the screen. I heard a sound that looks like an exploded bomb. The house vibrated and shook vehemently as if it were about to collapse. I fidgeted a little. My mum screamed on top of her voice. I stood and ran to meet her in the kitchen.

"Mum, what happened?" I asked with a heightened tone.

I saw her holding her chest. I went nearer to her with tears in my eyes.

"Mum, why did you shout?" I asked with tears rolling down my cheeks and then dropped to the floor.

"Nothing, dear; the food would be served five minutes from now." she replied.

"Mum, I lack appetite." I said, cleaning the tears from my face.

"Dear, do you want to starve?" She asked, placing her hand on my chin.

"If I ate mum, I would vomit it out."

"You can't, my dear." She echoed.

"Mum, I am going to the sitting room; I want to know what is happening."

"Alright dear."

I left the kitchen and walked back to the sitting room as my eyes got glued to the screen of the TV. The first thing I saw on the TV screen was a building caught on fire, it then changed to the face of a female newsreader. She was fair in complexion, chubby in size, and had a ruddy face. She wore an overall yellow gown. Her lips changed to a pursed one before she spoke out.

"Good morning everyone," commenced the female newsreader, "This is 6:00 am in Ukraine. Several bomb blasts had been heard going on in the capital city of Ukraine and in the southern part of the country. The Russian president said on air that they started a military operation to free their people from the Nazi government of Ukraine. Before this time, the president of Russian denied several allegations that he would declare a war on Ukraine land. Yesterday, the president ordered his armies to fight against Ukraine's demilitarization and denazification and protect Russian minorities from the Ukraine government's humiliation for the past eight years.

Just after his speech, an explosion took place in the capital city.

Later in the day, to be precise, at dawn. President Volodymr signed a law that requires all males aged 18-60 to join the army and receive a gun for self-defense. He also warned that no male citizen ranging from 18 to 60 years old should leave the country.

Suddenly, the screen went blank, and the audio cracked. I stood up from the chair and was about to go tell my mum what I heard; when I saw her coming out of the kitchen with a tray in both hands. I sat down again and watched her drop the food on the centre table.

"Mum, do you know that our president has mobilised all the male citizens between the ages of 16 and 60 into the army?" I said, watching her take her seat.

"What?" she exclaimed. "So, young guys who have never seen a gun or held a gun have been giving guns to fight?"

"Yes, mum," I answered, "I saw this war coming... But everyone doubted me. Now we are here."

"My dear, God would protect us."

When I remembered that my dad and siblings had gone to fight in the war, tears rolled down my cheeks.

Oh, I am still too small to experience war. I've been reading a book about war and crying, but why is this happening to me? Why?? This was the thought that went through my head. I tried obstructing the evil imagination that kept cropping up in my mind, but I couldn't, as it kept rushing in freely. I imagined myself after three months in the war and then wondered if I would be alive and wouldn't lose any of my family members.

Many of my family's relatives were scattered in different areas of the country.

Suddenly, we heard a very loud sound, as if hundred of people had decided to scream with all their effort at a single time. The sound almost deafened our ears. My heart started beating rapidly without control. The fear that gripped me could be seen in the way I breathed in and out loudly. I crawled to where my mum was staying and held her hands tightly. The noise stopped immediately after it left our building.

"Mum, is that a missile?" I asked curiously.

"Yes," my mother's voice cracked immediately as she spoke out.

"Is it that loud, mum?" I queried.

"Some of the missiles are louder than this," she answered.

She wanted to stand up, but I pulled her back.

"Mum, where are you going to?" I asked, staring at her face.

"I am not going anywhere, Mila." She said.

Immediately after my mum stopped talking, I heard a lot of people screaming and shouting for help. My mind raced with so many panicked thoughts. My heartbeats increased the more, this time faster because I felt my heart looking for a way to come out. I held my chest tight and gradually stood up alongside my mum as we walked straight to the curtain and opened it. I stared at the building in front of us, but I didn't notice anything despite the commotion that increased. Then I wondered if the missiles hadn't hit a building closer to us. Just then, my eyes went to the second building on the left side of my standing position. What I saw shocked me. The high-rise building brought out a dark smoke. A wall on the third floor broke out, with the windows falling out. I closed my mouth immediately so as not to scream my lungs out. Tears started again, creeping out of my eyes. It was now that I believed that there was an ongoing war in the country. Then the next thing I heard was a loud bang on our gate. I fidgeted a little. I became scared all of a sudden, with so many thoughts cropping into my mind.

Why would someone bang that hard on our gate? What does the person want, at this critical time? I pondered.

I saw my mum rushing to her room. I wanted to run and meet her and asked her why she went to the room. But the sight of the damaged building could not allow me to move an inch. The knock on the gate became harder and harder for me. I got angry. I wanted to howl at the person at the gate but stopped after seeing my mother come out of her room with a singlet and a small blouse. And then she signalled to me that she was going to check who the person was.

"Mum, why would you go and check who the person was?" I said looking directly at her eyeballs.

"Oh, what are your reasons? Tell me," she replied.

"The person is rude. The person lacks manners." I answered, holding up her left hand.

"I am going. You don't know what the person needs; try to be friendly," she said, dashing out of the house immediately.

"Mum, Mum," I called out as I saw her opening the door.

I was rooted to the same spot. A prayer went on in my mind. I sook my head mysteriously, and then I went back to the sitting room window to know who the person was: it was a neighbour. A fair woman. She was full of tears while she talked to my mum.

Was any of her loved ones part of the tragic event that happened a few minutes ago? Why is she in full tears? I thought, pressing my palm on my eyes to avoid tears rolling down. I quickly went back to the sofa, where my phone was, and I checked the time. It was a quarter to nine. I dropped my phone back to where it was, and I went back to the window. I saw my mum running back to the house in a petrified manner. I ran straight to the entrance door to know her reasons for running back that way. The door screeched and was opened.

"Mum, what went wrong? Why is she in tears?" I asked in a heightened tone.

My mother didn't answer me as she wriggled herself out of my presence and went straight to the sitting room while I trailed her back. She sat on a chair in the sitting room and screamed, then started wheezing for air. I was terrified.

The war hasn't reached a week yet, and everybody is in tension. Why are they wicked? Why can't they have pity for the civilians? Why? Why?

I looked at mum's misty eyes. I knew that the woman had given my mother bad news. I tried not to talk in a cracked tone. I wanted my mum to be assured that nothing would happen with my bold voice, but it wasn't easy. Then I summoned the courage within me.

"Mum, why do you decide to create tension in my heart?" I am brave, and nothing will happen to us. Trust me with my words." I said with a bold voice.

After my speech, I observed that the panting for air had reduced to a minimal rate. She opened her closed eyes and stared at me. I saw tears forming in her eyes, and then I wondered if our lives would be full of tears every day. I heard her clearing her throat, and finally she spoke out.

"Brinny?" she called.

"Ma," I answered, trying hard not to lose my voice.

"I love your courage, and I hope that nothing will happen to us," she said, then continued, "but it would not be fair that as we hope for protection, a catastrophe should happen to someone else."

"Mum, I hope that woman wasn't a victim of the damaged building."

"My daughter," she called, with a harsh and angrier tone, "Jenny is dead."

"What???" I screamed, "Is it that five-year-old girl that comes visiting us?"

"She is dead. The missile struck the place she was playing with her toys."

"Mum, but that isn't the floor she lives in," I said, gaining my breath.

"Don't you know that she goes to that floor to play with toys that were dropped there?"

"God, Jenny is dead," I said to myself.

My heartbeat increased. My mind raced with so many thoughts that I might be the next victim on the line. I remembered Kenny. I prayed that nothing would happen to him. I looked at my mum's face. She stared back at me and stood up from the chair, wiping away her tears.

"She requested my car, and I promised to give the key out, but I won't be the one driving it. So, she went back to call someone who can be able to drive a car."

"Jenny is dead. That pretty being has died just innocently, because of a wicked missile." I nodded my head in a pitiful way.

As I pondered the brutality of missiles, I heard another loud sound similar to the one I heard an hour ago. I closed my ears with my hands tightly to avoid my ear drum getting damaged. I released my hands from my ears and nodded. It was quite a traumatic experience for someone to pass through and be normal at the end of the war. Then I imagined the house where the latest missile would have struck. The chaos it could cause at its destination. Now I saw that everything I read in war novels were realistic. The multiple gunshots, the ongoing bomb blast, the damage, a missile could cause, and the commotion of a war all happened while I was alive. I didn't know what to do next. The death of Jenny was still revolving around my head and mind in a twirling shape.

My mum came out of her room holding the car key on her left thumb as she gestured to me that she was going outside to give it to whoever wanted to drive the car. I nodded my head to tell her that I understood her hand gesture. She smiled and went out of my sight.