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Screams. Gunshots. Blood-thirsty voices.
Those were the only sounds my ears picked up as I struggled to block out all the noises by pushing my palms over my ears. To no avail. My whole body shivered from the stinging cold. I was not wearing much. Because I didn’t have much… I guess.
It all started on the morning of the 24th of February 2022. Technically, it is the day which I labelled as the worst day of my life. WHY? In a split second, I lost everything I ever loved. My future, my family, my friends and my hope. I remember vividly, how my brother was shot just outside our home. I could still remember his piercing scream ‘Run! Anastasya!” before he dropped to the ground. I could still remember those harsh and terrible Russian soldiers with their weapons, their threats to kill us, and the bombs exploding around us.
We became reduced as things. Ukrainian things. All my life being a Ukrainian and from the karaite tribe for that matter, I was extremely proud. I fell in love with the beautiful national monuments and symbols. But now as a 16 years old teenager, I felt ashamed.
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Doors smashed around me. Voices. Clear Russian voices. Very near.
Tears flowed out from my eyes as I imagined what my fate would be. What would happen to me? Taking a deep breath, I pulled my legs closer to my chest and closed my eyes. “Let the worst happen” I thought. “I have lost everything at this point.”
“Is anybody here?” a voice called. “Come out now!” A slam on the door again.
I am dead. It’s all over.
The door was pushed down and a figure stood before me. A Russian soldier. A brutal one... I guess.
“Whatever”. I sighed “I hope I would just take a split second for my life to be over.”
“Hey! Are you ok?” he asked as he squatted to take a closer look at me. That was when I saw him. As I looked into his young hazel coloured eyes, I realized something. I had met the one thing left that had been given back to me. HOPE. Or Nah... probably Love. Whatever it was, it gave me the strength to live.
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