[1922]
One day when the sun just set, a nine-year-old boy standing on a sidewalk. His worn out coat flapping from the strong autumn wind. In silence, he witnessed a young girl was cornered by three boys his own age. Probably boy gang who often stealing from other people. They snatched a backpack she was carrying and darted into the alleyways, before she could even scream for help. The nine-year old boy hurried over to her, checking if she is not harmed further. Later as he moved by pity, he handed her a loaf of rye bread he had been carrying tucked inside his coat. Something that he always brought whenever he goes, just in case...
"Let's sit somewhere safer. Anyway, what's your name? Mine is Dmitry," invited that boy, and he walked to the sidewalk, which not so far from the bakery.
"Darya... I think that's what my dad named me," she answered, as she ate the salty rye bread.
For the rest of minutes, Dmitry remained silent. He was too shy to speak more. She was lovely; her dark brown curls were tied back in a ponytail, giving her an air of elegance despite her small stature.
Disappointed to only eating in silence, she finally said, "I always see you coming out and in from that bakery. You lived there, right?"
"Yeah. I live with my mom and neighbors."
"My dad said the bakery shared free bread every Friday, too. I always waiting for the bread. Then dad and I will halved this salty bread for the day."
"You have a dad too?" Dmitry sounded surprised, but Darya quickly answered, "Of course I am! But I see him always sleeping at street, lately. Can't wake him up, just like my mom and sisters before we moved. I guess... whoever sleeping for too long must be left soon. What about you?"
"...Mom said he died from gun. I don't know if it's true, but I never see him too after we moved out of Stavropol..."
"Died... I think it's worse than sleeping forever..." mumbled Darya, and Dmitry nodded in agreement. He still prefer to just staring at Darya's curly ponytail, wishing to get his mother's comb to brush it. But if he left, Darya will also leave...
"How's your mom looked like?" asked Darya again. Dmitry blinked and answered, "She never speak. Just writing everything on the blackboard. But she can understand me speaking."
"And do you have brothers? Sisters?"
"...Well, mom said the neighbors' kids are my siblings... So I think I do have brothers and sisters..."
"Huh?" Darya seemed confused, but then she doesn't asked anymore.
They don't speak again, till the shoe polisher across the street finished polishing one Red soldier's boots and get the payment. The soldier glanced at Dmitry and Darya for a while before he left. Dmitry is confused with that soldier's smirk, while Darya gripped the last piece of bread tighter. There is something really wrong...
"Thank you for the bread, but I must go soon. I cannot linger for too long," Darya wearily sighed, then licked her fingers after she ate the bread.
"Will we meet again soon?" Dmitry hoped in desperation, "Because I like you. I don't want you to leave-"
"Don't say that!" the girl protested. "We’ll definitely meet! Maybe not now, not here... but I am sure we will meet again."
"Then can you tell me where will we meet again?" Dmitry's question stopped Darya from getting up from the sidewalk too soon. Darya looked down to Dmitry's dusty face, and she finally sits again.
"Okay... maybe we'll met in Belarus. Dad says Belarus has forests so thick and cool, so we can play hide and seek together. Maybe in the south near the sea, too. He says it's warm even in winter. Not like here..." Darya stated. Dmitry marveled at her optimism over the reunion... though her eyes seemed heavy enough. So he only humming as his response.
"What about you? Where would you want to meet?" the girl asked hopefully, once Dmitry had finished humming. Dmitry closed his eyes, racking his brain for names of places he knew.
"My mother once told me about mountains covered in snow forever. The flowers never stopped blooming. I guess she named that place as... Germany. Or Prussia... Wait I forgot."
"I’ve never heard of that place. Prussia, huh? Sounds amazing!"
"And there is a place called Poland. My mother said that’s where you eat more sweets than bread. Can you imagine that? We meet there and eat sweets everyday!" Dmitry placing a hand over his stomach, already feel hungry from imagining that.
The girl then declared with chuckle, "Promise me, then. If we can't meet here tomorrow, we’ll meet in one of those four places! Belarus, the South, Poland, or Prussia-Germany!"
“I promise with all my heart...” with full conviction, the two children shook hands before parting ways.
And it was also the day of Darya finally caught and sacked by Red Army soldiers. She was sent to orphanage in Poltava at the same day, due to the orphanage in Tsaritsyn already over-capacitated.
All also happened when Dmitry was still lectured by his mother, for only coming home at evening instead afternoon.
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[1936]
Somehow, adult Dmitry can't take off his gaze toward the kitchen's cafeteria, when Alexandrov Ensemble performing in Belarus military base. The kitchen is filled with military cooks, and one of them is a plump woman with her hair folded into a bun and wrapped in bandana.
Vadim, Alexei and Vasily noticed on Dmitry's vacant stare, but they don't find that woman at all. All they see is a feminine boy who conscripted instead a plump woman. Probably because the disguise was so well...
After eating the dinner, everyone disperse around the military base. Whether to getting know more about the soldiers, or just chatting with fellow friends. Dmitry was dragged by Alexei back to the barrack, and for some time, Dmitry complied.
But half an hour later, Dmitry took this opportunity to get out of the barrack. Surely after he is certain that his friends are still too focusing on latest workplace gossip. He wants to know if that plump woman still stayed in the cafeteria. But just when he passed by different corridor, he can see that plump woman was on the large field, raking and sweeping the dirty leaves. Probably she was tasked to clean the field, which will be used as concert venue tomorrow.
And carefully, Dmitry tiptoeing and approach that plump woman.