It was not just me that could not sleep. I could hear people whisper and some trying to console their children. Sometimes, someone would get hysterical and scream and shout. Mom hugged me close telling me that we were safe here. Grace held my hand and squeezed it every time we heard a bomb in the distance. I was thinking that with the number of bombs that were dropped, there was not much left in the city.
Someone turned on a radio and we all listened to the latest news. Russian troops were now fighting in every country in Europe. Denmark was one of the countries that were being hit hard and resisting. The British were the only country that was holding the Russians off. However, they were being bombed. There were many civilian camps outside different cities and a huge Refugee camp was being set up in northern African countries. Different world leaders have refused to use their atomic bombs saying that there was hope. However, the USA has not helped NATO and were still discussing options.
Things looked bad.
"Our lives will change," Mom whispered to me, "Before we had everything we needed and we were proud to be Danes. This war will destroy Denmark and who knows we may be under Russia's control. We will have to start over again and this will be hard. At the same time, we should be thankful that there has been no atom war yet and we will always be Danish in our hearts."
I wanted to cry and wish that this was a bad dream. Mom could see this and told me that we all needed to be brave. I put on my brave smile and told Mom that I was OK. I was just scared, which was true!
After a while, there was silence as there were no bomb noises. I was half asleep when mom shook me and told me to wake up. She said that she needed to go home and get some food and some identity papers, that we will need. She told me to wait here and let Grace's mother take care of me. I did not want mom to go up in the war zone. I did not want her to leave me. Mom had tears in her eyes telling me that she did not want to leave me and that she loved me. I could not put on a brave face as I saw her walk away.
Grace's mother told Grace that she would go up when mom came back. Then we would all go to the camp outside the city and hope that it was safe there.
Some time went and I calculated that mom would be back soon. It did not help that the bombing noises started again and at times we could hear sounds of guns. I was so afraid that something bad happened to mom. How would I survive if the Russians killed her? This made me also think of my Dad. He did not want to kill Russians. He was just helping them that was injured.
War was stupid. It was making me an orphan!
It became silent once again. The only noises were that people were coughing or crying in the tunnel. I kept on looking at the direction mom should have come from. Grace squeezed my hand hard and whispered that she said a prayer for my mom. I smiled at her and said that we would always be best friends. For some reason, Grace started laughing. I asked her how she could laugh at a time like this. She told me that I needed to have a bath, as I was all dirty and my hair was a mess. I started to laugh as well as she did not look better.
Then we heard a man shout for everyone to get out. The Russian soldiers were in the tunnel. I thought the man was a bit strange. I would have guessed that Russian soldiers were everywhere. However, people panicked and started running out of the Tunnel. Grace's mother told me to get up and run. She held my hand and Grace's hand as we started stampeding out of the tunnel. At the time, we could hear noises from guns, that made people run quicker
At some stage when we were running, Grace's mother let go of my hand. I shouted her name and Grace's name. It was no use, as there were so many people, that I was being forced forward by the people. I could not see anything. Being so small, I could only see people's backs. People behind me were forcing me forwards. It was like I was stuck between a mass of bodies.
We were now in the open. I could not believe what I have seen. Buildings were now just ruins and the roads torn apart. Cars were all over the place. There were fires and smoldering smoke and the air smelled. The worse thing was the people that were badly hurt. They were everywhere. There was a choir of injured people moaning and crying and in pain. I could also see the dead bodies. They were the victims of a war that no one wanted.
I looked around for Grace and her mom. They were nowhere to be seen. I walked around and looked everywhere I could. I felt so alone. I could see a lot of people but not anyone I knew. I fell to the floor on my knees and lowered my head in my hands. If I allowed myself, I would have cried for days. However, I knew that it would not help so much. I needed a plan. The best plan was that I would walk home and was sure I would meet mom on the way.
I was alone in the world, but I started the long walk home. I had to smile as I thought that before the war, mom would never let me do this. I kept close to the buildings. A lot of trucks carrying Russian soldiers were driving by. I looked down and just walked and walked. This was hard at the start, as I thought they would shoot me. The worse is when I met Russian soldiers on the way. They would ask me where I was going. They didn't speak Danish, and they spoke a bit of English. It's good we had that at school. At least they understood me when I said that I was looking for my mom. Some soldiers put their hand through my hair and said poor girl.
One soldier told me I should come with them. I started running saying that I needed to find my mom. I ran as fast as my legs could take me. They were obviously not concerned about an unarmed girl, as they were after soldiers that were hiding. In any case, they did not chase me.
I could not see Mom, and I hoped this was the right way home. There was a supermarket that was abandoned. Some people were in it taking what food they could. I went in as I was hungry. It was hard to get food, as when I reached for some food, some old people would shove me away and tell me that get out of the way. I did manage to get some chocolate bars and a few bottles of coke. I stuffed my pockets as far as I could.
As I was walking away from the shop, I heard a huge noise and bricks were flying through the air, a few of them managed to miss my head by a few inches. When I looked back. I could see the shop was bombed. The people in it were dead. I could not stay and help them. I had to find my mom!
I finally came to where our house should be. There was nothing left except stones, wood and smoking furniture. I walked around with tears in my eyes and was more and more afraid for every step I took. A part of me was afraid that mom was in the house when it was bombed. I walked carefully over the stones calling mom's name. I was so afraid I would see her hand poking out of the ground.
I could not think. I sat down on some stones. Why did mom have to leave me just to get some food and papers? What if she was under the house? She made a promise that she would come back and now I was left alone in the world. I wanted to scream that this war was stupid. I wanted to get mad at mom and dad for leaving me. I did not even know if I was an orphan.
This old woman came up to me and asked me if I was OK. I told her that I thought I was an orphan and did not know what to do. She said that I should come with her. There was a civilian camp outside the town, where the new huge mall was planned to be built. She told me I was too young to be alone. She even heard of men that were telling orphans to come with them. I wondered why men would do that. She just said that it was not good for the orphans.
I looked at the women and thought would it be good for me if I went with her. I told her that Grace and her mom would be coming soon, as Mom told them to take care of me. The woman looked confused and was obviously debating with herself if she wanted to use her time on persuading me to come. In the end, she said to find the Civilian camp if I was alone.
When she went, I walked around the ruins. I found a picture of mom and dad and me. It was not burnt or damaged! I also found my school bag. I put the picture in it. I smiled as I thought of when it was taken. We were visiting an old castle that had furniture and all. It was fun seeing how people lived long ago. After that, we walked around in the Castle gardens and had a picnic, where the picture was taken.
I also found my teddy-bear, which I put in the school bag. He was missing a leg. Another victim.
I ate one of the chocolate bars as I started walking towards Grace's house. I was sure they would wait for me. As I walked, it seemed like more and more vans with Russian soldiers were coming. This made me think that we were losing the war and wondered if it was over. I also thought being a soldier must be the worse job ever. How could anyone like anyone ever want to kill another person?
I was surprised that Grace's house was also destroyed. It was such a nice house. I walked around to see if they were sitting someplace. After a while, I found them laying down by the flowerbed.
I shook Grace and told her that I was here, She did not respond. I moved her so she was on her back. She was so dirty and her hair really needed to be brushed. I bet that I looked the same. Then I noticed it. There was blood all over her t-shirt. It was then that I realized that Grace and her mother were dead. I felt like I should have cried, but there were no tears left. I took some flowers and put them on Grace's belly.
It was then that I decided to find the Civilian camp. That was a long way to go. So I said a quick prayer for Grace and her mom and started the long walk.
When I was passing the Church, a man in a car stopped and he told me that he wanted to speak with me. He told me that my mom and dad knew him and his job was to take me to them. I looked in the back of the car. There were two girls that did not look all that happy. Would they not look even a small bit happy if they were to see their parents? Then I noticed that they had handcuffs on. I told the man that mom was inside the Church. It was a lie, but I did not want to go with him.
I started running away from him, and went off the main road and ran down the bicycle paths where he could not drive. I knew he would either keep looking for me or finding another child.
By now I was hungry and very tired. All I did all day was walk and avoid soldiers. They could shoot me at any time. If I was not being shot at, then I was sure that the man would want to kidnap me. All I could hear was people screaming, explosions and gunfire.
In the end, I found the camp. A nurse from the RED CROSS came up to me and spoke with me. I told her everything. She sighed as she heard so many sad stories. She told me to follow her, as I needed some food and a bed, and we needed to find if my mother was there.
I should have felt safe, but I did not!
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