The Boy and the Mobile

The Boy and the Mobile

"It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark". It was the last evening of the year. Sergii looked up towards the sky, hoping to see a star, but there was only a thick grey blanket covering the area. Sounds of loud explosions came from somewhere far away and he knew instinctively this was not the fireworks that used to light up his town with all the colors of the rainbow to celebrate the coming of the new year. This was something different, something very bad. Missiles launched by the Russians were shooting through the sky before they exploded on the ground like screaming fiery monsters. He tried not to think of it now and moved closer to the bricks scattered behind the container. There was not much to see from here except the ruins of a building nearby but then again there was not much to see of anything in the town anymore. The little boy shivered and clenched his teeth as a gush of snow blew in from the corner covering his body.

It was only a couple of days ago when he was sitting in his room by the computer watching the photos on the mobile phone, a Christmas present from his grandmother. He listened to his mum humming in the kitchen. There was the smell of fried onion and the stew on the stove and the clatter of knives and forks. Then there was a loud scream. 

“Seeergiii!”

Sergii was thrown down under the bed and everything went black. A day passed before he found himself buried under the pieces of broken furniture in what was now the ruins of his home. There was a smell of charred metal and burning wood and there were sounds of people screaming and crying. A fire somewhere was sending swirling columns of smoke up in the air and in the middle of all the screaming and explosions there was a hollow silence. His leg hurt badly and he dragged it behind him as he managed to crawl out amongst the debris into the cold night. The tears almost blinded him and he cried out for mum but there was no answer and there was no sign of her amongst the scattered debris. The fear and chill that went through his body was almost like a numbing cold but he knew she was safe somewhere waiting for him and he would find her.

There was not much left of the neighborhood and as he looked around hoping to find somebody, he could hear screaming but nobody was there. The container appeared intact by the ruin of his house and he crawled towards it with a sense of relief. It was one good sign. Sergii and his mum had made a promise to meet there if they should get separated, they would find each other again. He moved as fast as he could and his little heart beat faster as he turned the corner hoping his mum would be there, but there was no sign of her, only the scattered bricks and twisted metal from the fallen houses.  

“Mum!”

 “Mum, where are you?’

He cried and shivered as he hugged the mobile phone that was still in his hand. It felt hard and cold against his skin but he clenched it to his chest like it was the last thing he had left in life.

The fallen bricks on the corner became his shelter and he pressed himself hard against them. There was nowhere to run now and nothing to run to so he just had to wait for mum to come and find him. She would not be long he knew it.

Sergii closed his eyes and tried to think of something away from the chaos and destruction around him. Christmas, the tree in the city square with all the pretty lights, the candles in the windows, the carols and laughter. And yet, this was a Christmas like no other, for every day they heard of new casualties in the country and every day there was another wave of missiles pounding the city. He thought of the photos in the gallery on the mobile phone, but as he tried to turn the screen on, it remained black and there was hardly any feeling left in his cold fingers, it was hard to move them. He tried to find the screensaver, the photo of him and his mum and dad all smiling as dad took the selfie. And then there was the short video he had taken only a week ago when his mother was in the kitchen with his grandmother. Mum turned towards the camera and posed with a big smile thinking he was taking a photo. He could see it now, her beautiful big brown eyes glittering of happiness and that warm smile that could make a snowman melt. She stretched her hands out towards him and he heard her voice saying “everything will be all right”. They hugged and she whispered “don’t worry, I am here, everything is okey now”. It was all there in the mobile on the video and he watched it over and over again in his mind as the evening turned into another long, cold dark night and the screen remained black.

Sergii longed for something warm to sit on but was too afraid to look in the container. It smelled of decay and old garbage and he had promised that no matter what happened he must never climb in there where he might get stuck and be unable to get out. The sight frightened him, but he must not cry. Not now and he told himself to be strong.

His mother had said we will be okey and he closed his eyes and tried to feel the scent of her. She smelled of fresh baked bread, she smelled of fresh white linen, a pillowcase and a duna. She smelled of the roses in the garden and scented hand soap, bergamot and orange.

“Don’t be scared” he told himself again. She would be here soon and then they could go somewhere warm, drink hot chocolate and eventually dad would come home from the front. And on his birthday he was going to get a puppy, his very own dog, just like Mopsy, the toy cocker spaniel with the long ears that used to sit on his bed.

“Seeergii!” a woman’s voice called.

“Seeergiii!”

He hugged the mobile phone as the face of his mother appeared in front of him greeting him with her beautiful soft smile. She held out her hand and the light and warmth surrounding her filled him with joy as he reached out to grab her. 

“Don’t worry, I am here, everything is okey now”.

The rescue team found the little boy in the early morning hours. His stiff body was frozen in an awkward position against the wall and there was a smile on his face. They dusted away the snow and maneuvered the body into the plastic bag when they noticed the mobile phone that was still in his hand.

“Poor little boy, he must have been trying to call for help”.

“Keep moving” a voice said.

A voice choked with tears.