More Than A Headline

The Russian Ukraine war came up in a class, and we discussed about it. Decided to write somethin'. May or may not have cried a bit.

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He stood there with an eye brow raised as xe listened to the school announcements. The person reading the announcements was currently talking about last nights football game. It took xem a bit to realize that she was talking about American football, where you throw and catch the ball and such. He let out a small sigh. I don't think I'll ever get used to that, xe thought to himself. 

He remembered how xe played football, or soccer as it's called here in America, and the rush xe would feel so much adrenaline kicking the ball in the goal, guiding the ball elsewhere so no one else could have it. He inhaled deeply, xe missed that. He bit the inside of xyr lip a bit, what if.. Xe joined the soccer team here? 

It was a new school after all, he's been here for a few months, wandering throughout the crowd, lurking. It's about time xe socializes. He already made a few friendly acquaintances, it should be pretty easy to bring that to the official friend level, no?

These thoughts followed xem as he headed home. He dropped his school bag near the door. "Vasyl, my sonyashnyk! You're home." Xe smiled a little, hearing her happy voice. It was comforting. 

"Indeed I am, mama." He responds, making his way to the kitchen. Xe smile more seeing his mom stir a soup. She turns to him with a big grin. "Eyo mama-" His eyes widen. "Borscht, you're making borscht!" He grins, giving her a quick hug. Xe closed his eyes, leaning near the pot, inhaling deeply. "Mm, it smells so good."

"It smells like home.." She responds softly. Vasyl's grin falters. Home. The bloody destroyed home. Where his brothers were. Xyr mom hissed a little. "Oh I'm sorry sonyashnyk. I didn't mean to bring that up, lovely." She says softly, pulling him into a hug. Xe bit his lip. 

"It's okay, mama. You didn't mean too." He manages to put on a smile. "Besides, it's only missing I'm feeling." Xe responded, giving her a kiss on the cheek. I just started to forget what was going on, he thought. 

"If you say so sonyashnyk." She says, kissing the top of his forehead.

The two of them served themselves a bowl of the soup. Vasyl smiled as he tasted the tomatoes and the tart bits of apple, the bits of zucchini. Xe smiled to himself, before thanking his mama for the meal. She smiled in return. "Of course sonyashnyk. It's been awhile since we've had borscht." She says softly.

"Do we have sour cream, Vienna sausages or anything we could add?" He asked as he started to stand from his seat. Xyr mama laughed a little.

"No, we don't. This is all I could scrape up." She answers with a tiny smile. Vasyl noticed the tinge of sadness in her eyes. He sat down, remembering how much they've had to worry about money in the past bit. The U.S government has helped us in the start, but now that his mama has a steady job, and xyr at school, it's almost as if they've lost importance. He nods.

"That's understandable. Thank you mama." He says with a smile. "It's wonderful." She chuckles in agreement.

"Especially after such a rainy day." She hums, taking a sip of the soup. Xe nods in agreement before taking a few more sips of soup.

The next day, at six forty two as xe sat there, criss cross applesauce. He let out a small sigh as he stared out at the sky. Despite it being so early in the morning, the sky was a light blue, and the moon was out. He noticed the trees and their dark muddy greens against the odd light tree brown, the light and oddly electric moss. Xe found that his eyes were difficult to keep open and that the little wisps of clouds that weren't forever, the rolling hills covered with flora fauna and the like. They'd all go away with one bomb strike.

Xe inhaled sharply, tightly combing his hands through his hair, rubbing his eyes and the rest of xyr face. Today was supposed to be a good day, not a day of remembering. Xyr jaw clenched. His mother and xem left when it started, but his older brothers decided to stay and now- the situations worse. There were threats of nuclear bombs now. It was all over the news. They were so- analytical. Simple. Detached.

"..Fuck." He muttered, wiping xyr eyes. He looked up at the moon again, taking a deep breath. Whenever he looked up at the moon, all he could see was xyr brothers. He bit his lip. I wish, they came with us.. Xe thought to himself quietly, bringing his knees to his chest, he hugged xemself. 

He sat there for a long time, eyeing the moon as it eventually fell down into the abyss known as space. Xe knew that hours had passed, and that his mom would want him back home soon. But if he were to be honest, he didn't want to leave. The moon, sky, trees, flowers and such reminded xem of his brothers who were probably dead. It's almost been a year and things aren't getting any better. Vasyl let out a sigh, unfolding his arms away from xemself.

Tiredly, yet with efficiency, xe got himself up. He bit his lip, looking at the sky, more orange and yellow than blue. He closed xyr eyes, feeling the cold wind highlight certain parts of his face. He let out a shaky breath before nodding a little to himself. It's time to head home.

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Sonyashnyk, according to Google Translate, means sunflower in Ukrainian.

Borscht is a sour soup common in the Europe and Asian areas, and it's most commonly associated with Ukraine. It uses red beetroots which gives it a glorious red color.