I have a village near Kharkiv. Small, far from civilization, but very green and beautiful. It is located in a valley, there are very steep slopes.
My mother was born there. I spent every summer of my childhood there. Every summer was full of happiness. No phones or computers, just Grandma's little house and garden. And the fresh air around me, the apricot trees, the green fields, the gooseberry bushes and the raspberries I ate without waiting for dinner.
Delicious homemade food prepared with love, constant compote on the table or a glass of milk. When I came, my grandmother always made my favorite salad, although it required going to the center of the village to buy the necessary products, and my grandmother was old and it was difficult for her to walk.
Cold water from a well after a hot day outdoors. Healing herbs that my mother and I collected in the fields. Pebbles, which I considered very beautiful and collected throughout the village.
The chickens I was chasing. And then a rooster chased after me. And my grandmother was chasing a rooster with a stick. A cat who was very afraid of me because I was very loud. The dog I slept with a couple of times in the doghouse.
A shallow river with a lot of silt, I was afraid it would suck me in, but I liked swimming there. Deep puddles with mud on the roads. After the walks I came back very dirty but happy. Grandma shouted at me, washing in the pelvis.
The village children, who saw me once a year, had fun with them, although we often quarreled and fought. And then we put up with each other and climbed into a pile of sand or a tree to eat cherries.
I painted there more often and loved to do it. There a neighbor taught me to milk a cow. There I kissed for the first time with an idiot and then washed my mouth in the pelvis, and my grandmother shouted at me.

There I lost a loved one for the first time...
My grandmother died a year ago. I was extremely hurt. I wanted to spend more time with her. I was very ashamed that in recent years I have rarely come to her. She was very ill and almost constantly in bed. I still managed to see her, I managed to come for the last time.

I know it's wrong to say that, but I'm relieved that she doesn't see everything that's happening right now.

A few days ago, my mother received a call from her sister. She managed to leave the village in time. The day before the rockets arrived. She is safe now and thinking about where to evacuate. My mother called the friends who stayed there, and they told her that several houses on our street were completely destroyed. A rocket flew into the house a few meters from my grandmother's house. We don't know if our little house survived, but most likely not...

My heart hurts a lot right now. These russian assholes ruined my childhood, my mother's childhood. There is nothing in this village at all! Nothing! Nobody needs it. There are no military bases, no strategic facilities. I do not understand why all this. I hate these creatures as much as I can hate them. I cried for a long time when I learned about it and even now, as I write this, there are tears in my eyes. They will all burn in hell.

I am glad that my aunt is alive, I hope she will be able to go to a safer place. We called her to us, although it is far away. I hope she finds a way out and will be okay.

I hope she will still have a place to return when it's all over. And me too.
I want to return to my small village. I want to remember the smell of my childhood.

I believe and hope.

Glory to Ukraine!