Being sworn by the icy cold air of mid winter Amelia stood in her balcony with a cup of brewing coffee.

“This cup of hot coffee would turn into iced coffee in no time.”, Amelia thought to herself. But she can’t resist to watch out the beauty of the white cold desert that laid right in front her. It was a barren land. The sight of a tree can’t be even seen. It laid quiet and peaceful like an ocean that hid mysteries of life. It seemed to her that even the horizon was frozen to a ball of ice.

“It was a tiring day, but a good cup of coffee and this endless beauty of white ocean of snow would never stop me from gazing it for hours or maybe for days. “, Amelia said to herself with a smile.

“But don’t you think life is better with people. “ Amelia’s thoughts was all interrupted for a moment. She turned around in bewilderment to see who it was.

“Here life is just like this barren land. Empty!”. The anonymous voice came out again from an area of unknown. In the shock of a voice that broke into her silence was eating her with fear. She carefully placed her coffee on the kitchen counter and moved on slowly to check over the source of the voice.

“The Beethoven” the anonymous voice came again. This time Amelia gathered her consciousness and tried to find out more details about the voice. A very deep manly voice. His sound echoed all over the house. She tried to keep herself hideous and kept listening for the from over a distance.

“The name sounds heaven. The name of an eternal and classic musician. But it’s so empty here. The anonymous kept complaining. To Amelia’s shock she could only hear a voice but the person who was behind this play can’t be seen. Amelia living in a single storey building there are no much space for an intruder to hide in. It was a small and compact home with a cellar.

 “THE CELLAR!! “. Amelia exclaimed. Since her moving in to this new place in the undisclosed location of Russia. She didn’t have much to do in this home. She was living in the trauma of Ukrainian holocaust. And this home was a hideout passed on to her by a friend. Amelia remembered about her life in Kyiv before the holocaust. She was a people woman. Always centered by friends and relatives. An outgoing woman who is now casted by the curse of solitude. She slowly moved on to the stairs that took her to the cellar. She doubted whether to move down on to the cellar to find the intruder or….

“Are you a fan of Beethoven symphonies? Oh maybe not. If you were ever a fan of this classic you would never throw it in the cellar. But how can one even just leave out this eternal music ignorantly?”

Amelia was humiliated with the questions raised against her by a stranger. Almost broken into her home and raising questions against her was not something that was invited. Glowing in the fury of arrogance Amelia screamed down the cellar,

“Whoever you are I don’t mind but you have broken into my home and your taking and messing up things that belonged to me. Nobody has given you the rights to do so. If you’re not surrendering yourself right now am ringing down the cops.

The answer to Amelia’s fury was a laughter. “Are you sure of calling the cops. If then go ahead. I would wait for them to come. And let’s see who is going to the cell. Is it me or you..” the laughter continued.

Amelia couldn’t believe her ears. Amelia eloped from Ukraine to Russia during the holocaust. And in this solitude of desertation, she lived because she never wanted to be pulled over by the Russian military. He knew something about her. Amelia grew more panic. With no one to help around she felt awfully helpless.

“How did you make in here? Who are you? “ questioned Amelia

“umm.. That’s a friendly approach… well I am Ezekiel and I am actually from Kyiv. I was trying flee from Ukraine to Germany but I was tracked down by the Russian arm forces and I needed a place of stay . WHILE wandering I found this place and I thought of quick shifting in here, just for a few days and I would leave.. Am not here to trouble you. This looks an old torn out place and the police wouldn’t hunt me down quickly. In couple of days I will leave the place. I am not going to bother you.

“How can I believe you.? What if you’re an undercover agent of the Russian police. What if you’re here to hook me up? What if you strangle me up?? You are well aware that there are no close calls here and no matter what happens inside this place it wouldn’t come out am sorry Ezekiel I don’t want to risk my life out.

“Oh young lady if I wanted to do any of these I could have done that in no matter of time. It’s not that hard to knock out a women. Believe me for I have no such intentions. I only want is a temporary place to hide over for a couple of days. Please young lady.

Amelia didn’t want to say a no to Ezekiel. Since both of them are on a hideout of the holocaust. Deep down there was something burning inside her. It was the thought of her home country, it’s people and their sufferings.

“Calling out Ezekiel to the ground floor from the cellar is a risky business. Maybe continuing a healthy conversation and providing him something to eat and drink wouldn’t cost much”, thought Amelia.

“Ezekiel” Amelia called out. “Are you freezing down their?? Are you in good health condition?”

“Thank you young lady. Well am glad that you would give me a chance to stay here for a while. “

“Yes”. Amelia responded back. “As long as you are not getting into my nerves. “

“I promise you. I am not going to bring you any hurdles in my name. “

“Alright then. Tell me that whether you need some jackets and sweaters to keep you warm. “

“Well if you don’t mind I need some. Mine is a bit worn out. And if your fine can I have some hot water too. “

“Sure” Amelia moved on to her room and got some jackets, socks and gloves for her uninvited guest from Kyiv. She arranged them in a basket and filled a flask of hot water that had been brewing in burning heat at her fire place. She also arranged and filled the basket with some crackers and bread for the man.

“Maybe this is what patriotism also meant of. You can never stand back to witness a man of your land struggling to live through the holocaust caused by the people just in fiery quest of power.

“Hello” Ezekiel’s voice broke through her thoughts.

“Yes” Amelia responded with no delays.” Are you OK in there? Do you need something else? I am arranging some necessities for you. Well do you have light to see?”

“Yes am so far fine. I just doubted your silence. I beckon your apology. But I need you to understand my condition. And never do take this a an issue of low trust issue.”

Amelia felt his pain. “ Ezekiel I totally understand you. You can trust me. If it’s my silence that bothers you am sorry. Am not doing this with intentions but solidarity gave me this. Maybe I will try to keep up to talk to you and enjoy ourselves with some company.”

With that Amelia has filled a basket with all requirements that he would need.

She tied a rope to the handles of the basket and reached near the cellar. The cellar was designed in a way that it looked completely detached from the house. An internal route through the house is what it looks like. The door to the cellar is hard to be distinguished from the flooring done. It could be identified only through the hollow sounds that arise while walking. The cellar door goes on to one of the corner of the house. Amelia went over to the kitchen corner that shared the adjacent side with the balcony and kitchen and opened the door to the cellar door. Three steps down and you will reach a platform of landing and a long way down of stairs is built to reach the bottom of the cellar. The darkness that went straight into the cellar have lit the light of fear in her. For a second she doubted her decision of letting Ezekiel in. Amelia slowly placed the basket by holing on the rope tied over to the basket’s handles. And wondered if their would be any light down there. She closed the cellar door and called Ezekiel.

“Ezekiel.. Oo Ezekiel. I have kept a basket of necessary things for you. On the landing at the cellar door steps. And I wonder do you have any lights in there?”

“Oh young lady, thank you for your generosity. Don’t worry there is an old lantern here. “

Amelia sat near the cellar door and heard the footsteps of Ezekiel coming up to get the basket. His footsteps gave her memories of that a wild beast coming down to eat his prey. Though she was happy helping out a poor man her gut instincts kept her from enjoying such pleasure. She sat their wondering about the reasons of her being detained in enjoying even the slightest form of happiness, and that’s when Ezekiel once again broke through her thoughts

“Oh young lady thank you so much. I had been starving for 3 weeks now in this abandoned land of snow. You have given me the comfort of life. May God bless you. May God bless us all.”

In Ezekiel’s words of gratitude Amelia’s eyes welled up she thought about her loved ones back in her homeland. She couldn’t even think if they were alive or not. At a point she even thought the whole point of running away from the cursed war. Is it to live the rest of the life in the doom of fear of being caught by the Russian military? With no loved ones near, life is dead even with you being alive. Tears rolled down Amelia’s cheeks. Amelia walked over to the balcony to see the white desert. She could hear the distant sounds of firing and bombing. The cold twined her spine and her tears frozen up.

“Hey you.. You could freeze down by tears but not my agony of loosing my love of life. You swirl down with icy wind that could turn any being into a globe of ice. But why didn’t you stop the people who began this war. Why you never stopped them from bombing lakhs of innocents souls. You wanted us to see lead our lives in the no hope of living? Didn’t you? What did we do to you? I challenge you to stop this human from causing further harm to others. Don’t you think we all hail from one eternal power which means we all belong to a family. You harm your family for financial gains and power.

Amelia fell on her knees and broke down into tears while questioning about the bitter truth of life.

They say nature is the mightiest but not mighty enough to stop these humans from doing such things. Amelia cried out to the nature. Since her prolonged hours of solidarity it’s the first time since her hide out in the last 9 months Amelia cried her heart out.

*knock* *knock*

Amelia was startled at that door knocks.

Hey came a soothing voice. Don’t be afraid this is Ezekiel. Are you alright in there.

The response Ezekiel could hear was Amelia’s a huge sigh. Amelia in broken voice enquired “Ezekiel are you alright?”

 

I don’t think I’m. But sometimes we become the scapegoats of fate’s game. I have seen worst. I have seen my dear ones die in front of me. My brother called to inform me that there is a severe case emergency and we need to hurry of from Kherson. He shifted my pregnant wife and his family with their 2 year old child to our parents home at Kyiv. We didn’t want to leave the city all by ourselves. If we are saving our lives then we thought of saving more with us. We couldn’t stay back to hear the cries of thousands of children and injured. At the end of the day when you are at your safety the hunting of the pleas will eat you alive. Parents handed us over their loved children. Kissing them their one last kiss, they knew maybe they would never see their kids again and wanted them to be safe. The cries of the heartbroken people is far more fierce than anything.

 We got over with people we could take up with us. We thought we were safe. But we’re not. We soon ran out food supplies. We had to rob supermarket to get our basics. Kids were traumatized with the sounds of firings. We knew that the Russian arms forces were now in run for a Kyiv and we left with no options but elope from Ukraine. Nowhere in the Ukraine was safe. Fear of death is the worst imprisonment. We gathered up the plans of shifting everyone to Russia and from there to Germany. But things will never happened like we want them to be. Russian arm forces traced us out and fired us. They didn’t show any concern to anyone. I saw my parents my brother his family and and and (crying heavily) they fired my wife who was 9 months. I never knew why I was left behind to face all this. I will never know why did people act gruesome. I lost everything and everyone. The only people I could save was 5 kids whom we took with us while shifting from Kherson and my 2 year old niece.For that I had to sacrifice my whole family. But even then I could die in peace that I was able to save those little ones. The only living member of my family is my niece. I need to reach out to her. I want to live with her. Now that’s the only thing left for me to do. (sobbing).

Young lady I am sorry. I have gone too far. I haven’t intended to indulge you in more sorrows. While my hideout at your stay I have heard you sorrows, bursting out with frustration. And now I have heard you dampen down to tears and cries. We all have lost something or someone. At a point we could only stand to see our loved ones leaving us. And that thought of being helplessness kills you every moment every day until your last breath.

Move on! I will never say that it’s easy but that’s the only possible thing left to do.

Young lady do you hear me???

Young lady???

Are you there?

 Why are you not responding?

Ezekiel amidst the cold felt a hot blow in his surroundings. A sense of tension grew. An unknown feeling of something odd had happened have covered him up. A similar feeling that embraced him when he had to witness his home at Kyiv was air bombed while shifting the children to another point of safety. In the frozen cellar Ezekiel was sweating up as if he was put into a preheated oven. He stood up from the cellar and took up the lantern and moved up to the stairs. A doubt of risking his life was under a question. Kiara his little niece is the only treasure that God have left him with. The fear of death before reaching her engulfed him.

“Do or Die. I am bound to find out if the grateful woman who have willing shared her hideout area and fed me with the necessities is fine or not. The good deeds I do will definitely bliss over Kiara. “

Without a moments hesitation Ezekiel started to move forward with his firm steps of determination. When he reached at the stair he had seen something unusual and odd flowing down. He examined it closely. A thick dark red colored fluid. Ezekiel was taken aback. The only prayer he had was that it should not be blood. He followed the flow and reached at the landing of the cellar. Ezekiel could hear his heart beat louder. The fast thuds of the heart made him feel that his heart would now blast into pieces.

Ezekiel slowly moved his hands to the cellar door. He knew death was near him. The thought of fleeing down never came in his head. He felt more obliged to the great fullness done by an unknown lady. He put over his hand at the cellar door handle to push it open. But even before he could open it he saw the cellar door opening by itself and a flash of light fell over his eyes. Ezekiel squiched his eyes in shock and terror. He could hear man speaking in Russian.

Ezekiel had a flash of his life in front of him. The only wish left will never be done. His promise to Kiara will never be made. She will be waiting for him at his friend’s home. In the last message he received from his friend was an audio note from Kiara saying that she is waiting for him to come. And she will wait for him everyday until she fall sleep. Until she meet her uncle.

Tears fell over his face like spring.

“Am sorry Kiara. My child I love you forever. You will be always blessed.”

Ezekiel stood at the landing in surrender position. When he opened his eyes he saw a man standing at the cellar looking at him in wonder.

“My friend I am here to help you. Come on up. Give me your hand. Is there anyone else down there?”

Ezekiel looked at them in shock.

“What?” Asked Ezekiel.

“Yes. We don’t have much time we need to get down from here. Come on fast.”

In no time Ezekiel was lifted up. When he was lifted up. He saw a lady laid near the cellar door shot dead. A flabbergasted Ezekiel asked the man “Hey no. Wait! Did you kill her? What happened to her? “

“We have no time for explanation come on lets go.”

“No” said Ezekiel. “She she helped me. I need to save her. “

The man only replied him with a command, “We need to go! “

Ezekiel was dragged out of his hide out when he saw the young lady being bled to death.

Ezekiel remain silent for the rest of the journey. He never asked any questions. He was in search of answers. When Ezekiel and the man reached Tegel Airport at Germany and was about to part ways, Ezekiel repeated his question once again, “Who are you and what happened that day? Who killed her? Why did you wanted to save me from there? “

“I am Amelia’s colleague. She was in that hideout for 9 months. I had asked her to stay there over this time while I got arrangements in Germany done and take her here. That day when we met was I asked Amelia to pack necessities up to move to Germany. But nothing goes as we planned. An undercover Russian army identified the hideout and charged inside house and fired her.”

Ezekiel couldn’t say anything but listen to it helplessly.

“Earlier that day I received a text from her “ I may not make it to Germany. The military is here. But you need to save a man from the cellar.”

Ezekiel sometimes you can’t save everyone. Amelia might have purposefully stayed near the cellar is what I think at times. If not they would have searched and would have caught you from were you were hiding as the cellar is a hollow space. With her body there the military wouldn’t mind dragging it around to see further area.

I have lost my friend. But she is a fighter. She fought solitude and she won the battle in saving your life.

Wish you good luck mate.”

The man walked past Ezekiel with teary eyes. Ezekiel looked at him as he walked away from the corner of his eyes. He have never seen or asked the name of the young woman her name. Sometimes it’s true that we across certain people for a reason. Amelia sacrificed her own life for me regardless of my identity and my purpose. Ezekiel remember Amelia breaking down that day. It was to console her he entailed his story. But even though Ezekiel wasn’t convinced by the story Amelia’s friend had told him. He didn’t hear any firing nor any footsteps charging in nor any commotion that took place inside that discarded house.

“Regardless of identity and purpose she let me live. But why? “

Ezekiel looked up high at the sky and said, “At times we can’t force on getting answers to the questions that arise in our lives. It’s always better live it to the way that it was meant to be.”

From the desert of white, Ezekiel have come to the shore of Germany ins search of destiny and fortune. Kissing Kiara’s forehead with teary eyes Ezekiel saw a book lying on the table and it read “Amelia” by Henry Fielding.