My book is about the harrowing ordeal, sacrifice, loss, survival and love for life. It is a story of war-ravaged Europe in World War ll. I was a very small child and became a witness to the devastation in my homeland, Latvia, it was too much to bear and I became a stoic. Most of the time I was all alone, my observations had matured and became trapped in my innocent mind of a child. I started to distrust the living and found comfort among the fallen. All the beautiful gardens and trees were scorched. To my great sorrow, I only found a few wild flowers along the roadside and placed on the fallen soldiers. It was a very dangerous track, it did not seem to matter anymore. I kept walking faster and faster in hope of finding my lost brother, the search ended in vain. The sun was reluctantly setting down behind the ruins of my childhood home. Nightfall. I was tired, hungry and felt pain deep in my heart of all the loss and suffering, yet did not feel alone. There were the fallen soldiers, their life had ended in the blood stained, muddy ditches in the battle for freedom. That day had been a very demanding for me, both emotionally and physically. For a moment there was silence, no drumbeats of war, no cries, just me and the fallen soldiers. I dozed off and had a dream, a lovely dream. I was home again, my brother was there, all the flowers were in bloom in our garden, birds singing in the trees. It was so nice to be home again, even if it was only in my dream. We will never forget the soldiers, their sacrifice and bravery. Thank you my dear brother, you will be in my heart for ever and ever. Sunrise. A distant rumble woke me up to reality. A few birds were flying west, had they also lost their nests and were trying to find peace? It was time to say goodbye to the fallen, to my dream and my happy childhood. I had nowhere to go, just kept walking toward “nowhere” holding the flower in my hand that I would have put on my brother’s heart, I never did find my brother. “Dear brother and all the fallen soldiers, you will be in our hearts for ever.”
