At night, Dad woke us all up and said we had to leave. He said not to take anything with us and to get dressed and go to the car right away... My sister was crying, and Mom was very pale and silently handed me clothes to put on. We got into the car, it was raining heavily, and it was very cold... I was shaking, but it was not because of the cold, but because of the fear that was overwhelming me when I looked at Dad and his face...

   We drove somewhere for a long time. We had to constantly turn around, as cars coming towards us or people walking showed that it was dangerous to go further. At some point, I heard Mom's muffled scream. She covered her mouth with one hand and pointed with the other to something ahead. Dad hit the brakes and I saw two tanks come around the corner. They stopped and soldiers jumped off them.

   Dad told us not to get out of the car. He slowly got out and, raising his hands, went towards the tanks, illuminated by the headlights of our car. Mom took my sleeping sister in her arms and showed me that we still had to get out. And then she quietly said that we might have to run to the trees not far away...

   I stood next to her by the car and held her hand tightly with one hand, while the other pressed against her, trying to either hide from my fear or use all my childish strength to protect her from danger.

   I saw the soldiers raise their weapons and aim at Dad, saw him walk towards them and point at us. He shouted that he was with his wife and little children...

   And then I heard shots... He stopped and knelt down, turned around, and I saw his gaze. And although he was far away, I heard him silently shout - Run!...

   I don't know how much time passed, but I looked into his eyes, which said - I love you, son. This moment lasted an eternity, during which the happiest moments of our lives flashed before my eyes, like when we played, rolled on the floor, swam in the lake...

   He fell... Mom's scream brought me out of my stupor. She gave me my sister and pushed us back towards the trees, covering us with herself.

But we didn't make it! A loud shot and an explosion. That's the last thing I heard...

   I didn’t know how much time had passed, but it was already morning. The rain had stopped, and I felt only rare drops of it on my face. There was a haze in my eyes and, although there was a strong ringing in my head, I realized that I couldn't hear anything at all. Slowly, my vision returned to me and I understood that I was lying on the road and couldn't move...

After some time, I was able to see our car burning not far away...

And my mom...

   She was lying next to me and holding my hand... I couldn't see her face, her head was turned in another direction. She lay still, and there was a lot of blood around her. I tried to stand up, but I couldn't even move. I held her hand and felt like I was screaming mentally, pushing her and then screaming again. I begged her to stand up... But it was all useless. I tried to lift my head and see my dad, but I still couldn't move...

   I don't know how long I lay there like that, looking at my mom's hair and holding her hand tightly. Then I lowered my eyes and saw that I was still holding my little sister with my other hand. She was silently looking at me, and only tears were rolling down her face, mixing with the rain and blood on her cheek...

   As much as I wanted to calm her down now, I couldn't. I couldn't move, not even utter a single word... However, she seemed absolutely calm. And only the tears on her face and her not-so-childlike gaze indicated that she understood everything...

   She hadn't learned to speak yet, but now I looked at her and saw her lips whispering my name, and her eyes pleading for me to help her... I saw pain and despair in her eyes, and hope... But, unfortunately, only my tears could answer her.

   And a few moments later, she whispered my name for the last time, and her lips no longer moved. And her eyes... Her eyes, as if saying goodbye, looked at me and went out...

She still gazed, but looking into her lifeless eyes, I realized that I was left alone.

The last thing I saw was a rainbow. And in its light, my sister was standing and reaching out her hand to me...

 ***

   We think that a rainbow is the refraction of light in raindrops. No... Rainbows are the souls of children who sometimes return to our world, coming to us after tears left by the rain...

   Now, in Ukraine, there will be a lot of tears of rain and heavenly rainbows. And the children who died in the war will look at us from the heavens with the question that we will never be able to answer... "What for?"

_

® Anatoliy Kavun
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