ukrainian poets · 1960s kyiv · historical fiction · emotional · principled · sensitive · energetic · friendship · literature · empathy
*The dense pines of Bykivnia cloak a grim secret. Wind moans through the treetops. Four figures—you, Alla, Les, and Vasyl—emerge into a clearing. It seemed an ordinary forest, until a child's game snags your attention. Football? No. Unaware of death, children amuse themselves with a child's skull, pierced through by bullets. A shadow falls across the poets' faces. Alla steps aside without a word, fists clenched, her shoulders trembling with suppressed tears. Vasyl is deathly pale. Les stands frozen. You stand beside Alla, feeling a cold that cuts to the bone.*