When she is older
This story takes place in the 1915’s in Lithuania. The Russians are taking people who have done terrible things, when in reality, they were just helping their family and/or friends; and sending them to work camps. The father in this story is a Russian soldier, and the mother was a Lithuanian woman.
The girl ran down the street, trying to get away from the man chasing her. He was gaining up on her, almost right behind her. She kept running, not looking behind her. The girl ran into an alley and looked at a wall in front of her. The man came up behind her and grabbed her, squeezing her tightly.
“Let go of me, you big bully!” The girl screamed. The man squeezed her tighter, cutting off some of her air.
“No. Now shut up, you dumb girl!” He said as she punched her in the face, throwing her out of his arms and into the wall. The girls light pink hair fell into her blood covered face. She whimpered as her gray eyes looked up at the man. His blue eyes looked at her, making her shrink down as he looked at her deeply. He came closer to her, picking her up by her neck, choking her. Blood dripped off her face onto his hand, her eyes wide with fear. The man pushed her into the wall, slightly loosening his grip on her neck. She tried to scream, but the man tightened the grip some more, then loosened slightly, allowing a bit of air into her system.
“Let… go!” she whisper screamed, using a little bit of air. He tightened a bit, still letting air though her system. The blood from her face still dripped onto his hand as he held her against the wall.
“What did I tell you last time Daina? No talking till you are fully punished for everything you did!” The man said, his voice rising, as he slammed her into the wall again, then letting her drop down to the cement ground a few feet below her. She dropped down to the ground, the air left in her quickly escaping her body. Daina sat there, not moving a muscle or saying a word, letting the blood that dripped off her face mix with the salty tears that slowly came trickling from her eyes. Her light pink hair covering her face, allowing the man not to see her water filled eyes. He stood above her, watching her carefully, ready to strike her if she moved.
“Why,” the girl whispered, “why do you have to be so mean to me dad?” His face showed anger. If he was a cartoon, you would be able to see smoke come out of his ears.
“Why? Why!? Because you’re the reason that I am miserable! You’re the reason why your mother left me! You are the reason my life is ruined!” He said, punching her in the stomach every time he started a sentence, his voice rising throughout. Daina cried out each time he punched her, which made him punch her harder. Cop car alarms rang from down the street, making the girl jump up a little. The man let go of her and climbed up the fire escape, quickly saying, “You got lucky, you dumb girl.” He climbed all the way up and ran on the roof tops, jumping over the gaps. Daina sat there, barely keeping herself up, blood mixed with tears trickling down her face. The police drove by the alley, not noticing her sitting there covered in bruises and blood. The girl got up, almost falling over a few times, and crawled into a dumpster, falling asleep in the trash bags.
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Daina awoke to the sound of the garbage truck coming down the street. Wincing, she crawled out of the dumpster and quickly crawled up the ladder, avoiding any human interaction so they wouldn’t do anything to her. She rolled onto the roof, covering her eyes from the bright sun. Daina laid there, covering herself with her oversized jacket so she wouldn’t get burned. As soon as it became brisk outside, she pulled the jacket off her body and put her scrawny arms through the sleeves, which could probably fit another ten arms. The bottom of the jacket dragged on the roof as she walked across it, not limping as much as before. She climbed down the fire escape on the other side and went into an abandoned warehouse, where she saw many people lying in broken beds, straw, and lined coffins, with the lid open though. Her hair fell and framed her face as she walked over to a bed with no one in it, limping just a little bit. People around looked at her in shock, seeing the scars, bruises, and dried blood on her body. Daina laid herself down in the bed, curling into a ball inside her enormous jacket to stay warm. She looked at the people inside the warehouse, many elderly needing medical attention, some in their mid-twenties; but very malnourished and dirty. There were very few kids, about two that she could see. One was a small baby girl, and the other was a boy, maybe a few years older than her. As soon as she was about to close her eyes, the boy came over and sat next to her.
“Hi,” he said, looking at her bloody face.
“Hello,” Daina said, quietly without hurting her bruised stomach.
“I’m Matas.”
“I’m Daina.”
“How old are you?”
“Seven,” the small girl replied with a cough. Then, quickly grasping her stomach in pain.
“Cool. I’m ten,” he looked over at her, “are you okay Daina?” She shook her head, tears falling off her face. Matas lifted her up a little and gave her a hug. The girls eyes widened, then she hugged him back. He looked at her and wiped away some of her tears with his shirt, taking off some of the dried blood as well.
“Thank you,” Daina said quietly, trying not to aggravate her stomach again.
“You’re welcome,” he said as he got up and walked away, leaving her all alone. She watched him as he walked away, unable to take her eyes off him until her body forced her to rest.
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In the morning, she awoke to the sounds of screaming. Her eyes quickly flashed open when a man grabbed her and pulled her out of the bed. Daina squirmed, trying to get out of his grip; but it didn’t work. The man threw her into the back of a truck and shut the doors. She looked around, seeing a few people with her inside, including Matas. She quickly clung to him, not knowing anyone else inside the truck. He held onto her, holding her close, his black hair covering a little bit of her face. The engine revved as a man stepped on the gas and took off. Daina looked up at Matas, eyes mixed with panic and fear.
“What’s happening Matas?” she asked him, staying quiet so only he could hear her.
“I don’t know…” he said in a calming voice, making her less tense. Matas’s cold skin rubbed her arm, trying to keep her as calm as possible. Pink hair rubbed into his shoulder as she curled her small body on top of him. He smiled and held her close, keeping her warm. The truck stopped abruptly, making everyone fall forward. Daina held onto him tighter, still panicking.
“Calm down, it will be okay,” he said, stroking her light pink hair. She looked up at him, her grays eyes twinkling a little as she looked at him. A man opened the door, looking at everyone inside. He started to pull Daina, who clung to Matas tighter. The girl looked at the man and screamed. Matas pulled her back into his lap, the man’s hands off of her. “What is it?” he asked her, holding her close.
“H-He… him-m…” Her dad stared at her.
“What? You can’t say my name you dumb little girl?”
“N-N-No daddy, I-I can’t.” Matas looked at her, then at her blonde haired grey eyed father; and back at Daina. She held onto the black haired boy, more scared then before. Her dad looked at her, smiling evilly.
“Well, I guess I’ll just have to take both of you,” he said as he grabbed Daina and Matas, threw them out of the truck, slammed the doors shut, and watched the truck drive away quickly. The girls’ body scraped against the ground, making stones stick into her arm. Matas hit the ground, but not hard, and quickly scrambled to pick up Daina. The man stood over them and laughed, then grabbed them by their collars and dragged them along as he walked to a small, broken hut and threw them in. Daina landed on the rocks in her arm and yelped out in pain. Matas landed right next to her, helping her up, then glaring at her father.
“You can all call me Sergeant Aleksei when I allow you to speak. Now, Davai!” he said, motioning his hand. Dania looked around, seeing malnourished people following her father as he sent them to work. Matas picked her up and followed, picking out the stones that punctured her arm as he walked.
“Thank you,” she whispered to him so no one else could hear. He smiled a little bit at her.
“You’re welcome,” he whispered back to her as he set her down. Daina’s small hand grabbed his as she walked beside him. They both followed the rest of the people as they were ordered into a line a put into groups. Lucky for them, Daina and Matas were in the same group. They were sent to dig up potatoes in the large field with about three other women and two men. Diana knelt down in the soil, her large jacket covering her badly bruised knees, and started to dig with the small rusty shovel she was given. Matas stood next to her, using a larger shovel that was also rusty. Her light pink hair flew into the air as a cool wind blew against them. The boy shivered a little as he dug up a few potatoes. Daina looked at him, took of her coat and tugged on his shirt, holding out her jacket to him.
“Here Matas, take it,” she pleaded. He turned it down, but she insisted Matas took it, so he put it on and gave her a hug.
“Thank you Daina,” he said as he continued to shovel up potatoes.
“You’re welcome,” she said as she dug a potato from the ground, smiling a little. She showed her potato to Matas. “Look! I dug one up!”
“I see,” he said, smiling a little. Aleksei came over to check up on them. When he saw his daughter smiling, he went over and slapped her in the face. Matas stayed silent, then quickly started to dig up potatoes while listening to them.
“Ow!” Daina exclaimed as she held onto her stinging cheek.
“That is what you get for smiling in this camp you dumb girl,” he said as he pointed a gun at her, “next time; you’ll be shot, got it?” Daina nodded rapidly and continued her digging, her right cheek pink from the slap. When Sergeant Aleksei walked over into the forest to check on another group, Matas knelt down next to Daina and gave her a tight hug.
“Are you okay?” he asked her, staying quiet. She nodded, digging up potatoes still and putting them into her skirt pocket. Daina handed him a potato she dug up, not saying anything as she placed it in his hand and leaned over to a new spot to dig. His eyes widened, looking at her strangely as she dug up potatoes. She continued to dig up potatoes and put them in her pockets, only having about six or seven in her pocket. The pink haired girl sat back on her heels, holding the rust shovel in her hand. Matas looked at her, shoveling up dirt with a couple potatoes in it.
“Daina?” She looked straight ahead, looking at the grey sky in front of her.
“We’re gonna be stuck here aren’t we,” she said in a soft, serious tone. He looked at her, shocked by her facial expression and question.
“Yes, we are.” A soldier came over and yelled “Davai!” They all stood, holding their potatoes and shovels and followed the soldier to a cabin. A man started taking their potatoes and handed them one each. Daina started hiding them in her under garments, only keeping two in her hands. When she came up to the man, he took one of her potatoes, slapped her, and let her go. Matas followed her to the cabin that about seven of them were crammed into. When the door was shut, Daina pulled out the seven potatoes she had hidden.
“Someone hide these,” she said quietly. A woman, about her mid-forties, took them and hid them in the bag that she had. “Thank you.”
“You are welcome child. Everyone else give me your potatoes. We can ration them out.” They all handed them to her as she hid them in her bag. Daina leaning into Matas, staying very close to him. He wrapped an arm around her, holding her close.
“Is she your sister?” a man asked Matas.
“No, she’s just my friend.”
“Oh really,” he said smiling, “That might change after a few years.” Matas didn’t answer. He stayed quiet and looked down at Daina, who had fallen asleep and was softly snoring. He mouthed You really think so? The man nodded and laid down, falling asleep like everyone else had. Matas picked Daina up and set her in his lap, holding her. He leaned back and fell asleep with her in his arms, smiling a little bit.
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6 years later
The two of them were never separated, but they were the lucky ones. Other families and friends had been split when they all traveled to different camps throughout Russia. Daina and Matas were currently in their third work camp, building a cabin in the middle of nowhere for the Russian officers. Daina’s hair had turned slightly darker than before, her grey eyes lighter. Her body was small; about five foot four, all her bones showing on her body from malnourishment. Matas hair was still black, his eyes still blue, his body strong; but malnourished like everyone else. The two of them were building a wall for the cabin, a few others helping them.
“I’m going to kill all of those soldiers,” Daina said in a quiet sing song voice.
“How could you possibly do that?” Matas asked her. “You’re one of the weakest ones in the camp.”
“No I’m not!” she exclaimed quietly.
“Davai!” A Russian soldier yelled, waving them back to their huts. Daina stood up, wobbling as she walked back. Matas grabbed her and carried her as they went back. She smiled at him.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“You’re welcome.” He walked into their hut, which they shared with only one man, because the others had died from the cold winter and lack of food. Matas set her down, grabbed a beet, and handed it to her. She shook her head.
“No, I don’t want to eat.” He looked at her, confused.
“Daina, you have to eat some-“
“No,” she cut him off, “eat the beet.”
“Are you sure?” Daina nodded and smiled at him. He sat down next to her, held her hand, and took a bite of the purple colored beet. She smiled and rested her head on Matas’s shoulder. He squeezed her hand a little, warming her bare hand up. Daina stood up, his hand still attached to hers. He stood up with her and looked at her. “Where are we going?” Daina smiled and walked out the hut and into the empty forest. She sat him down on a log and looked up at him. Matas sat down next to her, their hands still interlocked. He still held onto the beat, only eating three bites out of it.
“Daina, what are we doing he-“she kissed him, cutting him off. His eyes widened, looking at her as she kissed him; and then he kissed her back. The two of them sat there, kissing for a few minutes, until Daina pulled away, smiling at him. Matas’s expression was blank, he had nothing to say. Instead, he took her hand, smiled, and walked back to their hut. When they returned to the hut, Matas sat down, leaning against the hut. Daina sat down in his lap, resting her head on his shoulder, and fell asleep on top of him. Matas smiled and fell asleep, holding her close.
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In the morning when Matas came back from stealing some wood, he saw Daina laying on the ground, covered in spots. He quickly threw the wood in the corner and knelt down next to the man in their hut who was also kneeled down next to her.
“She has scurvy,” the man said, examining her. Matas looked at him.
“Oh God no…” Matas’s sat next to her, holding her hand with his hand covered gloves. “Daina, can you hear me?” Her eyes slowly blinked, looking up at the ceiling. Matas still held her hand, looking at her.
“I’ll stay with her until they take me away,” the man said, “You need to go work before they kill you.”
“Thank you sir,” Matas said as he went back out to go build a cabin for Russian soldiers.
When he came back, the man was gone; but Daina still laid on the ground, eyes open looking at the ceiling. He went over to her and listened to her heartbeat, which was very slow. His eyes watered a little, trying to hold back his tears. Matas looked at her, a tear trickling down his face.
“I love you Daina,” he said quietly in the cold, dead silence.
“I love you too Matas…” Daina said as her voice trailed off and her eyes stayed open, un-blinking. He listen for her heartbeat, but there wasn’t one. He picked up her body and walked outside, off to a hill where he knew there was a shovel. Matas laid her body down and dug a hole big enough for her body, then surrounded it in wood. The black haired boy laid Daina’s dead body in the grave hole, closed her dead grey eyes, and covered the top with wood. He shoveled the soil on top of it and stuck a cross with her name engraved into in into the ground. Matas stood up and wiped away his tears.
“Goodbye Daina,” he whispered. Then he walked back down the hill, sat in the hut, stuck his head between his knees, and cried for the loss of his love Daina.
Daina and Matas
