Hrydina Yuliia, 15 years old

Winner of the 2024 essay contest, 2st place 

Kherson Scientific Lyceum of Kherson Regional Council

Teacher who inspired to write an assay - Nataliia Oleksandrivna Podshybiakina

 

«1000 days of war. My way»

If I were asked where the whole spectrum of emotions is collected, I would advise reading war diaries. The author is less important here, because the content is created by inner feelings. It's like the Apostle John writing a message from God, but there is nothing sacred about war.

Everyone has a unique story, and today I want to share mine.

The beginning. Day 1

I wake up in the middle of the night

Abruptly, but quietly.

I just open my eyes

With a sense of imminent disaster.

I associate the first day of the war with the words of Vasyl Stus: ‘Every executioner loves wine heated to 36 degrees’. These were the words my brother used to say to me when he went to defend our homeland.

The words came to mind when I saw the dead people. It seems like eight words, but they have such a deep meaning, they evoke the worst memories of the tragedies of maimed souls.

‘She will save you.’ Day 7.

In the morning, on my way to the shop, I met my neighbour Olena. She had decided to leave because of heart problems and suddenly asked me to take her beloved cat: ‘Take it, it will save your life.’

I wanted to refuse, but I didn't dare, I guess I felt sorry for the animal. An hour later, snow-white Zaviriukha was sitting on the couch with me, watching the news.

Memory. Day 14.

The war has been going on for two weeks. I escape from reality by reading books. On this gloomy morning, I chose a Harry Potter story. The tension was in the air, but the novel and Zaviriukha's quiet purr helped me forget about everything. Suddenly, the cat rushed to the door and started scratching the wallpaper.

Almost immediately there was an explosion. Then there were screams, a cold basement, darkness... In the evening, I found out that my neighbour Olena had been shot in her car.

Now her animal was not just a pet, it became a memory for me of that kind woman who always treated me to strawberries and homemade cakes. About a person who is no more.

A long-awaited meeting. Six months have passed

My hometown is still under occupation. We were lucky enough to leave, but I miss my home all the time. Life has become ordinary, but there is one day that I will remember forever. I woke up in the morning and saw a familiar car.

For the first time in six months, I met my tired but dear brother, the one who has always protected me and is now defending our country.

Adaptation. A year has passed

Somewhere, perhaps, incessantly

There was a war of fierce words,

Falling from the sky incessantly

Into the open skulls of heads.

A year has passed. I have grown up, although I am still a minor. Since the beginning of the war, my position has been clear: I am a Ukrainian, a concerned citizen of an independent state.   

Our soldiers are fighting the enemy so that I can study, develop, help others and do everything possible to win.

My way. Two years of war

These two years have completely changed my worldview, principles, values, and priorities. I became stronger. That frightened girl who was sitting in the basement on the first day of the war could now look at herself with pride in the future and know that she had chosen the right way.

1000 days of war

I often visit my liberated hometown, which is under fire every day, but not conquered. I believe that it will survive, so I attract grants for reconstruction, study the experience of rebuilding communities after destruction, and help animals.

We have lost a lot, but in the struggle, people become united, and this unity of the nation gives us the strength to move on, to continue the work of the courageous and unbreakable.

Two months later, three years later,

How the terrible war began.

How young men took up arms,

And took up their arms in full.

How mothers shed tears,

Begging: ‘Come back alive.’

They wanted nothing,

Just to see their sons.

Like at the gates of separation

Thousands of children stood before the gate of separation.

They all had one wish

To spend a day with their dad.

In two months, three years,

It seems like a small number,

But so much pain, tears and grief

This terrible war has caused.

But Ukraine will win,

And our sons will come back.

For we have strength and truth behind us

The best in hard times.