Men with green uniforms and big guns

It's good weather back home

The little child is looking at her mother and her grandmother embracing each other. They cling to each other as if death is waiting for them at the threshold to separate them forever. The women are both crying. The child is confused, she rarely sees big people crying. Only her mother, at night. Suddenly her uncle sweeps her into his arms and kiss her on her soft cheek. He throws her into the air and catches her again.

"My girl is getting big, I can barely lift you up anymore!, " he laughs.

Safe. That's how she feels in his arms. Suddenly her mother stretches out her arms to her, "Come, it's time to go.', she says while wiping away her tears.

The child clamps her arms around her uncle's neck and shakes her head, her little brown curls bouncing around.

"Don't you want to go on an adventure?", her uncle whispers. "I heard people fly on dragons to where you are going. Also they have ice cream in thousands of different of colors."

"But I want to eat ice cream with you.", she says on the moment her mother drags her away from him.

The mother carries her daughter in her arms. The father is holding her little brother. Her older brother and sister are walking hand in hand, both with wet faces.

The child looks back to her uncle and grandmother until they are dark blurry spots.

It's midnight when they are sitting on the train. Everyone is asleep except for the little girl and her mother.

"Where are we going?", she whispers.

"We are going to a place where it's always good weather, zagranica.", her mother replies

"I want to go home, it's always good weather there too.", the girl says with a shaky voice.

"We are going to a new home, a place where you can play everywhere. A place where they have everything you love."

"A place with lots of ice cream?"

"Yes, lots of lots of ice cream.", she laughs.

"But if there is lots of ice cream there, isn't it always cold in zagranica then?", her daughters asks.

"No , but get some sleep now.", she says and gives her a kiss on the forehead.

Cold and showered with snow and white dragons who turn people into ice pickles, that's how the girl imagined zagranica. Only later she will learn it means "abroad" in Russian.

Two days later they are sitting in a circle in a jailed room. The little girl looks at the men in green uniforms and black boots talking to each other with weird words. They remind her of the soldiers back home, the men with big guns on their back. She doesn't dare to move and looks with big eyes at her father. He smiles at her. He isn't scared, she realizes. Her fear slowly sips away. The man with the green uniform walks in her direction. He gives her a bottle of water and smiles, but she is scared to look at him. She doesn't trust men with green clothes and black boots. They come to her house and steal her food. She saw them beath her uncle with their big guns once.

It's late at night when she finds courage to talk again.

"Is this zagranica, mom?", she asks.

"Almost.", her mother whispers in her ear.