When War comes

Spooky is sitting on a gnarly branch of an old tree overlooking the entire valley that spreads beneath the Pokuty Hills. A fast windy river Kryshtaleva snakes through the valley. On the right bank of the river sits Spooky’s village of 112 houses. Spooky herself occupies one of those houses — one of the bigger ones — with her older sister Ulya, Mom and Dad. Her grandparents live in a smaller house in the same yard. The grandparents tend the family’s small garden plot and raise chickens, ducks, pigs, and two cows, while Spooky’s parents work on a state-run kolkhoz, collective farm. At least that’s how it used to be. 

Earlier this year, in March, when the snow just started to melt and the valley turned into a sloshy marsh, men dressed in military uniforms came to the village. They set up shop in the village’s only two-storied public building that served as the seat of the village government, local library, hospital, when the doctors would visit from the regional center, and an occasional venue for weddings or other such festivities. A long line of village men lined up a muddy street leading up to the steps of the building. They looked stirn and thoughtful. They didn’t talk about the plans for soil tilling and sowing, and fulfilling weekly quotas to receive a commendation from the chairman. They whispered of War. Spooky’s dad was in that line too. Then, he came home wearing a military uniform. Then, the whole family gathered and cried as they were saying good-bye to her dad and Spooky’s uncle who were going off to war. Spooky didn’t know what War was but it didn’t sound good. Before he left, dad kneeled on the ground and gave Spooky a long, gentle hug. 

“My daughter, you’re the bravest and the most fierce little girl in this village. You know what’s right and just and you are never afraid to stand up for it. Promise me you will take care of your mom and sister while I’m gone.”

“I will. How long are you going to be gone for? Are you coming back? When are you coming back?” said Spooky in a slightly trembling voice. 

“I will come back. It’s a promise. And you know, I always keep my promises.” 

At that time Spooky didn’t know that it would be the only promise her dad didn’t keep.  

Now Spooky is four months wiser than she was back in spring when her dad and most of the village men left. She is so close to turning seven that she can taste her birthday. She’s looking over at what is left of the village’s cow herd as they peacefully graze on the valley pasture. Her family has only one cow left. The other one was taken away by the government for the “needs of the war”. But Mom says that as long as they have this cow and keep her alive, they will not starve in winter. Every day Spooky makes sure the cow is taken care of and fed because dad left her in charge and she has to make sure her family does not starve. 

“Senia, let’s go to the river and get some water for the cows. It’s the middle of the day in July. They need water and all you do is lay in the shade!” Spooky yells to one of the village boys who’s helping the shepherd tend the cows.

“Stop bossing me around, Spooky! I’m older than you but you always boss me around!” says Senia but, seeing Spooky’s angry face and clenched fists, grabs the bucket and heads to the river. 

Spooky has a reputation in the village. Less than a year ago a group of local boys decided to play a practical joke on another boy known as Afonia the Fool because he didn’t speak or look at people when they tried to talk to him. The boys smeared soot on their faces and ambushed Afonia who was returning from his family’s garden plot with some turnips and potatoes. It was almost dark and the gang of screaming and howling boys pretending to be demons sent Afonia darting through the village with his harvested vegetables flying out of the bucket in all directions. Spooky watched the happening from her yard. She picked up the vegetables and delivered them to Afonia’s family. She then found a ringleader, waited until he was alone walking home, flew out from behind the bushes and punched him straight in his right eye. 

“Leave Afonia alone!” said Spooky and moved closer to the ringleader’s face. 

“Ouch”, said the boy and pressed both hands against his eye. “You’re such a spooky little girl!”

He never told anyone how he got a black eye. Afonia was left in peace. And Spooky was left with the nickname. 

“Have you heard the rumors that the war is coming to our village?” offers Senia as they make their way through the tall grass towards the refreshing chatter of the busy river. “I overheard my grandpa talk last night about the Germans taking over the villages about 30 kilometers south of here. They have taken over the granaries and the cattle, and they are making women and elderly fell trees and dig trenches for the German army’s reinforcements.” 

“Senia, our dads are fighting in the War. I’m sure they won’t let any rotten Germans into our village. I know my dad won’t!” argued Spooky. 

“Our dads are far from here. And you know what else I heard? Philip lowers his trembling voice.  I heard that if people don’t do what the Germans tell them to or try to destroy the food before Germans get to it, they get shot. Pavlik told me that he had heard from Stjopa that in Morozny village the Germans lined up the entire family — even kids — in the village square and shot them in front of everyone.”

Spooky still does not understand what War is but now she knows that War takes away dads, uncles, brothers, without any promise of returning them back.  

In the evening Spooky walks home from the pasture with the cow in tow. She is ready for some fresh milk and bread. Her grandpa, covered in dirt and dust, is hammering a piece of wood that looks like a door. 

“Grandpa, what are you doing? What is this wood for?” asks Spooky.

“I’m making a secret cellar, my little hurricane. Can you keep a secret and not tell a living soul if I show it to you?” 

“Cross my heart”, says Spooky, straightening out to look more solemn and serious to match the occasion. 

Grandpa takes her inside the house. There, in her parents’ bedroom is a large hole in the ground. Grandpa covers the hole with a newly-fashioned wooden lid that is flush with the bedroom floor. He then puts a heavy wooden chest in which Spooky’s Mom keeps her best linen — her dowry, as she calls it — over the lid. The hole is now covered and out of sight. 

“Granddaughter, we will put most of our food in this new cellar but no one can know that it’s here. I know you can keep a secret. And I want you to know that if something happens to us, you should use this food to survive the winter.”

“Grandpa, are the Germans coming?”

“They are getting close”, replies grandpa with a deep sigh.  

“I won’t let anything happen to you or anyone else in this family!” Spooky says a little too loudly. “I promised dad and just like him, I keep my promises.” 

The next two weeks bring even more changes. The rumours spread that the Germans are rounding people by entire villages and sending them to Germany. A lot don’t make it. Those who die of natural causes are left behind without a proper burial. Those who are weak — shot. The War is slowly creeping in, bringing fear and anguish along the way. The kids are not enjoying the summer and refreshing windy river. They are not playing games and making bonfires in the back yards. The cows are not taken to the pastures to graze. The villagers are not working fields of the collective farm or their garden plots. The village is still and quiet, lying in wait for the impending war to ascend and swallow it whole like it did so many other places. 

Spooky’s birthday comes but it’s not a jubilant one. Mom makes her special quark pancakes with sweet cherry sauce. Normally, she would be elated but mom’s worried face and grandma’s red, misty eyes take away Spooky’s joy. She only has one wish on her birthday - to somehow make the War go away, go around her village, her country. Ulya, who’s thirteen, presents Spooky with a small doll that she made from straw and cloth. Ulya is a nice sister albeit bossy at times. Their age difference and Ulya’s increasing duties around the household keep them from being the best of friends but Spooky appreciates having a sibling as most kids in the village have multiple brothers and sisters. Mom sits next to Spooky at the table and places her land on Spooky’s cheek — a gesture so out of the ordinary that Spooky stops chewing and stares at her mom. 

“When the Germans come to the village”, says mom, “I want you and Ulya to hide. I showed Ulya some spots away from the houses. She’ll bring the food and water. Just hide and stay there until the nightfall. Then you can come back into the house. Listen to your sister. Please, promise that you’ll do exactly as your sister tells you to!”

“No, mom! I promised dad that I will take care of you! What if they shoot you while I’m away? Or take away the cow? Or our food? No, I’m going to protect you!”

“I was afraid of that reaction”, mom puts a hand on her face, turns away, and her shoulders start shaking. Spooky is stunned. In her six years of life she has never seen her mom cry. She has never seen any strong emotion — be it love or anger — from her mom. And now she is crying. Spooky feels a giant knot in her stomach. 

“Mom, please, don’t cry”, she whispers and looks at Ulya for some support only to find tears streaming down her sister’s face. 

Mom turns to Spooky, her eyes clear and blue like two mountain lakes. The moment of weakness has passed and her mom is once again in control. She moves her face closer to her daughter’s and gently squeezes her shoulders.  

“Valya, no one will shoot me. The people are saying that the Germans are building some reinforcement line through our area, going all the way to the sea. They want all who are able to dig trenches and fell trees to hold up the tunnels. They will not shoot me if I work quietly. I am sure our army is coming to retake the land. We just need to hold on until they do. Now, can you do what you’re told and hide with your sister?”

Spooky quickly nods and presses her lips together to keep from crying. 

War enters the village on a still August evening when the pink sunset just barely envelopes the cloudless sky. War brings Germans — in cars, military trucks, and tanks. War brings large dogs and handguns. War speaks in a foreign language, it sets the headquarters in the public building in the middle of the village, it puts armed guards around the granary and raids villagers’ houses for food. War rounds up able-bodied men, women and children who are old enough to hold a shovel. War takes them into the valley to dig from early morning until sunset, guarded by armed soldiers and their big dogs. War instills fear. War paralyzes. 

Spooky and Ulya are not among the kids digging trenches. They watch from their secret hideout and sneak back into the house only after the darkness descends on the village. In late October Senia’s uncle, who did not enlist because he had lost half of his foot in an farming accident, tries to sabotage the reinforcement with the dynamite and is executed in the village square. Everyone is rounded up to watch — everyone, except for Spooky and Ulya — who are hiding in their secret place in the woods behind the village. 

The following week the temperatures drop below freezing. The sisters spend several hours outside in the hideout. By midday, Spooky’s feet, wrapped in rags and stuffed inside Ulya’s old boots, are burning with cold. 

“Ulya, we have to try and sneak inside the house or even the shed. We can hide in the haystack. I’m really cold.”

“Mom told us to stay here. The Germans are patrolling the streets, remember?” tries to reason Ulya. 

“I don’t think I’m going to make it here any longer. My feet are burning and I can’t even feel my fingers.” 

Ulya glances at Spooky’s red fingers that she’s desperately trying to tuck into an old sweater she’s wearing. She knows they won’t be able to hide outside any longer. 

“Ok, Spooky, we need a new plan. I’m going to crawl through our garden plot and into the house. I will hide in the secret cellar that grandpa dug out. Do not follow me right away!” Ulya menacingly shook her point finger right in front of Spooky’s nose. 

“I won’t. I will be watching you from here. When I see you crawl inside the house, I will watch for any movement in the streets and if everything is quiet, I will follow you.”

“Spooky, be very careful. If the Germans see you, run!”

They both know that if they are discovered, they won’t be able to run too far because the enemy has guns and large dogs that they let loose on people who run. 

Spooky watches Ulya slowly crawl across the frozen ground trying to blend into the brown prairie grasses and wilted vegetable plants dotting the garden plot. Spooky’s heart is pounding in her chest, she’s holding her breath to stay as quiet as she can as if breathing would somehow jeopardize her sister’s safety. Ulya is slowly opening the house door, staying as close to the ground as possible. She’s inside the house. 

Spooky exhales. Her sister is safe. It’s Spooky’s turn. She crawls out of their little fox hole tucked behind a hill, crawls through the ravine and reaches the garden plot. All of the sudden, she hears a faint mooing of the cow in the shed. 

“The cow is hungry”, thinks Spooky, “if the Germans hear her, they might take her away. I can’t let anything happen to our cow.”

Instead of heading straight for the house, Spooky takes a slight left and starts crawling towards the shed when she sees two German soldiers approaching the shed from the street. They say something to each other and one of them draws a gun. Spooky has almost reached the back of the shed when she hears a single shot. Then a thud. The time stops. And so does the mooing. 

Spooky pushes herself up to her feet, grabs an old steel ladle — the weapon of convenience she finds nearby — and runs inside. Two German soldiers stand over the body of the cow and watch the blood dripping from a small hole in the cow’s head. One of them is smiling. Spooky lunges forward, takes a swing at the soldier with the gun and crushes the ladle on the back of his head. 

“You gibberish-speaking dirty bastards!”, yells Spooky, straightening her body to inflict another blow, “you killed my cow and now you’re gonna pay!”

The German soldier, not expecting an attack from a little girl with a ladle, awkwardly topples to the ground grabbing his head that is now dripping blood. Spooky takes another swing at the second soldier. But before she can lift her arm, she feels a sharp pain in her shoulder — the pain so sudden, she drops the ladle. Then she feels something cold pressed to her forehead. She doesn’t need to see it to know what it is. The second soldier is squeezing and twisting her shoulder while pressing his handgun to Spooky’s head. He’s screaming something into Spooky’s face, droplets of his saliva hitting her cold cheeks and long light lashes. Spooky slows her rapid breathing. She’s not afraid to die — she’s too angry to be afraid. What she feels is the overwhelming sense of powerlessness — powerlessness to stop these two enemy soldiers, to stop the War. 

In this moment Spooky finally understands War. War takes away your humanity, it alters your life, stripping away joy, hope, anticipation of something good. War leaves you with one directive — to survive. 

The ladle-stricken German gets up to his feet and grabs the other soldier by the arm, yanking the gun away from Spooky’s forehead and up to the ceiling. He shouts something and points towards the door. Both Germans put away their guns, glance at the cow and big-eyed, ashen-faced shaking Spooky, and leave the shed. 

Spooky stumbles towards the body of the cow, puts her head on its warm motionless back and sobs.