"Оставайся вниз Аня!" I heard Pietro cry as the building shook again. He wanted me to go under the bed with him and Wanda.

I had been walking to the kitchen, trying to sneak in a few snacks for my brother, sister, and myself before bedtime. Mama and Papa have already tucked me in for the night but I wanted to stay up with my siblings. Right before I reached the door to my room I heard the booms like thunder and felt uneasy on the shaking ground. I turned around and saw my kitty Stanislav in the corner. I was too focused on my kitty in the corner to understand what was actually happening that day or rather I was too young to understand the brutality and inhumanity of the people in our own nation.

"Моя кукла Пьетро! Она тоже напугана." I screamed at Pietro because he didn't understand I wanted Stanislav with me.

"Она будет в порядке. Я обещаю" I heard Wanda reassure me from her spot under the bed we shared. "Идите сюда."

I quickly walked over to the other side of our room and slipped under the bed with my siblings. They hugged me tight to them and I could feel the hot tears running from Wanda's eyes stain my sweater.

I beckoned Stanislav over to the bed but she wouldn't obey. She sat down in the middle of the room where collections of my toys were and started grooming herself. She found one of my dolls and batted it around with her paws and I laughed. I smiled at her from afar and waved once again for her to come under the bed.

"Are Mama and Papa playing hide and seek with us?" I asked Pietro and Wanda in English which I had been progressing quickly within school.

"Нет. Just stay quiet Anya." Wanda's voice broke.

What happened next was almost too much for me to bear. One moment Stanislav was peacefully grooming her beautiful black coat and the next she was gone, crushed by something that flew in from the sky and ripped the roof to shreds. Wanda and Pietro were terrified when they saw it and they hugged me harder than they had before. There were letters etched onto the side of the object and I couldn't decipher what it said. I felt Wanda's body shaking incessantly and the twins were both praying prayers we were taught in church. I could not remember any prayer at that moment even though I was usually the first to memorise a verse. My mind was blank as the scene unfolded before me. My siblings' worry became my worry and I soon felt the familiar prick of tears surface and tumble down my cheeks. I kept crying out for Mama, Papa, and Stanislav but none of them would answer. I soon learned they would never answer, they would never be able to.

"Stanislav! Нет. No! Я хочу маму и папу прямо сейчас!" I screeched out and Wanda instantly covered my mouth which was covered with tears and slobber.

"Hush. We do not want to wake up that machine." She pointed

"What is it?" I asked, my voice wavering as I forced my throat to expel the words.

"It is a bomb."

I could only make out three letters of if the five: T, A, and K. I had recognised the alphabet that was etched onto the machine in school but my class hadn't progressed far enough to learn it. A man named Tak created this hideous machine in front of me. He took away my precious Stanislav. I still did not know where my Mama and Papa where. Pietro and Wanda still would not tell me.

"What man would be so cruel to crush Stanislav?"

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

It felt like an eternity before Pietro decided to test out the bomb. Slowly putting his hands from out from under the bed, he pulled his body across the carpet before he could kneel. With every creak of the wooden floorboards, under the rugs our parents hastily put on the ground years ago, Pietro cringed. His toe cautiously hung out in front of the floor before he set it down and seconds later his heel followed. Pietro continued to do this, maintaining as much distance as he could from the bomb as to one point he was clinging to the wall, his hand struggling to keep straight. The shaking hand was brought into his side when he met my gaze towards his behaviour. He wanted to appear calm.

Pietro turned once he reached the entrance of our room and beckoned both me and Wanda to follow his lead. Wanda carried me even though I insisted I could walk perfectly fine by myself. Nonetheless, I cringed to my sister when the bomb was at least a foot away from us and I imagined the incessant beeping before it exploded our bodies after hours of waiting for its prey. The bomb was a vulture in my mind, circling and circling its prey until death kissed its sweet victims head and made it fall into a deep sleep, or rather a state of hopelessness for my family and I. I hugged my sister tighter around the neck and wiped tears with the sleeve of my sweater. I finally understood the fear my siblings' hearts and minds contained before this waiting when all I was concerned about was my cat who was gone forever.

My heart dropped and my throat tightened when my body slumped to the ground and a wave of pain darted up my feet. I panicked when no one was holding me, touching my hand, or hugging their body right next to me. I had to be strong though; I didn't need my siblings to help constantly.

My head tilted up as I took in the sight of my siblings before me. They stood at least two heads above me and they were whispering amongst themselves in a heated argument. I focused on my siblings' intense faces instead of working my brain to process what they were saying.

Pietro's silver strands of hair caught in the light. I loved Pietro's unnatural hair, which I would try to braid and which he was teased for at school. Everyone would call him an old man or ask if he got his hair that way from Chernobyl which I thought was hilarious but I had to stand up for my brother. His bullies couldn't hit me back because I was so young.

I looked back to Wanda who had beautiful green eyes that reminded me of the fields of grass we would have picnics together on and the popsicles she loved and I scrunched my nose at the sour flavour. Every girl at our school complained about how they didn't have the colour of her eyes and I couldn't help but be a part of that crowd. Everything about her seemed better than me in some way and I had to live up to what she was.

I studied the two of my siblings before they ended their conversation. Their lips were trembling and tears started to form in their eyes. I hugged them both and they smiled down at me.

"Do not cry brat, sestra. We have had too many tears. Mama and Papa will stop the pain soon."

My statement only made their emotions worse. The tears that hadn't fully formed yet were streaming down their faces. Wanda and Pietro both grabbed one of my hands and squeezed. They stepped forward, yanking my arm and my body as well along with them. We were near the kitchen when I saw the sight.

There was a crater of linoleum, concrete, and cheap ceiling where our oak table had been. The centre was charred and the shell of a bomb was there. It was the same size and build as the Tak bomb in our room before but this time instead of crushing Stanislav, it incinerated our parent. That's why my siblings were so scared of setting off the bomb in our room. Part of the flesh was melted off of my parents' fronts and their clothes were ash now. The dark charred remnants of their body seemed as if they were screaming in horror and I could not find their eyes.

I was jostled as Wanda placed me behind her. I only saw peeks of the room through the spaces of her fingers. I felt fabric press into my skull as it replaced Wanda's hands as a blindfold. My lanky limbs swung out in every direction until I hit another bony surface. I heard an 'oof' and a soft hit. Four pairs of arms were around me trying to pin me down. I squirmed and struggled, wanting to break free and see my parents once again. The pair finally pinned me down and a flare of panic stabbed my heart.

"Let me see Mama!" I screeched.

I was dragged out of that room and out of that life for the last time.

I can no longer make crowns out of the weeds that grow in the forest for my mother to be queen or pretend to help her cook. I no longer am able to tie my father's tie and make blini with him on Sundays. I can never hug my parents when I get home from school or kiss them goodnight. I can never be protected by them again. I have nothing now.