Andriy looked at the numerous toys on display. He loved the sleek aeroplane with stickers of people sitting inside.  He too had boarded a similar plane with his mom, a month ago, to visit his aunt who lived in Stockholm.  His cousins were delighted to have him and they had a nice time together.

However,  his mom had become too silent and just the opposite of her usual jovial nature. Now-a-days, she worried too much. Whenever, Andriy asked her about going back home to dad. She simply hugged him tight and wept. Alex did not want his mom upset, so his hugged her back and kept quite. 

The toys on display made him homesick,  he had every kind of toy in his collection at home. He missed his home, his favourite corner, his very own comfy bed, dad’s warm comfort. Everything!
His mom, who owned a salon back home, had changed suddenly after they came to visit his aunt. Earlier, she was extremely busy with her salon and hardly had time to rest. But whenever they went to the shopping  malls, she would always buy him a toy when they went shopping. But now in Stockholm, all they did was window shop when they visited the malls if at all they went shopping. At other times his mom sat listlessly, by the window staring out at nothing in particular.

 All these changes  were too complex for him to understand as a six year old. 
Last week, mom got him enrolled at the school where his cousins went. She said it was temporary. His cousins welcomed him to their school, but Andriy desperately wanted to go back to his own school where his buddies were.
 His very best friend was Dymtrus. He was also his next door neighbour and they were inseparable.  Oh! how badly he missed him. They both wanted to study space when they grew up. Find new life in other planets.
Andriy  wondered what Dymtrus would be doing at school without him . Little did he know that his friend lay cold under the freezing soil in the makeshift grave at their backyard along with his parents. His dreams along with his parents, and that of numerous others had been slaughtered at the alter of a single man’s dreams.