From My View- Jasna Kovac
Age Six
What happened? What's going on? Where's my mommy? My tummy hurts. Not the kind of hurt you get when you're hungry, but the kind of hurt you get when you have a big owie, except a billion times worse. I can't see any thing. Everything is blurry. I can't move either. Why can't I? Is this happening to Marko and my mommy too? Wait! I know what happened; I think. The sirens were going. Daddy said that when the sirens start, to get downstairs as fast as I can. The sirens mean that bombs are going to come. Mommy, Marko, and me were going downstairs. We were just leaving. I hope Marko and Mommy are okay. Marko's hand let go of mine when the wall came down. He pushed me really hard out of the way. I hope he's okay. Mommy was behind me. She was telling us to go really fast. Daddy was at the store getting some food for us. We ran out at lunch. I hope he's okay. "Anna, Daniella, Marko! Answer me! Are you all right? Where are you?" I hear my daddy yell. He's still a ways away, by the sound of his voice. He keeps yelling things like that until I hear him break the door down. I hear him say something in English that sounds like "dam." I know some English words, but I don't know that one. "Marko! Marko! Can you hear me? Squeeze my hand!" I hear my daddy say. Then he's quiet for a few seconds, and then quickly says a prayer that I said at my granddad's funeral a few years ago. I hope that that doesn't mean. I hope not. I hear my dad walking over all the broken things in our apartment. I feel him next to me. He bends down. "Daniella, Daniella. Wake up. Are you okay?" He asks. My mom says something really softly, that I can't hear. "I can't hear you. Stay with me Daniella!" Daddy yells Then mommy says, "Help Anna. Help Marko." My dad says, "Okay, but stay with me Daniella!" My daddy turns around. I can feel him breathing on me. He puts his fingers on my wrist, checking my pulse, I think. After a few seconds he says something that I'm not allowed to say. He starts to push on my chest. It hurt a little. I want to tell him to stop, but I can't. I can feel air coming up my throat and out of my nose. My daddy is saying the prayer that we said when we went to church. We had to stop going a while ago because it wasn't safe to go outside. That's what Mommy said any way. My mom makes us say the rosary three times every Sunday to make up for it though. My daddy is saying the prayer I always started the rosary on. It's the one to God, I think. The other ones we say is one to Jesus' mother, and the other one talks about a ghost. Every time the prayer ends he'll say, "Anna, wake up!" or "Daniella, don't go on me!" He always shouts help, in both Croatian and English. He keeps doing that for a long time. The pressure he puts on my chest gets softer and softer. It feels good now. I'm really tired now. I don't want to go to sleep, because my mommy is supposed to tuck me in first. She is supposed to tell me a story. I think I can do without that now. My daddy will carry me to bed. He does that a lot. I'm going to sleep now. I can't keep thinking any more. Good Night.
What happened? What's going on? Where's my mommy? My tummy hurts. Not the kind of hurt you get when you're hungry, but the kind of hurt you get when you have a big owie, except a billion times worse. I can't see any thing. Everything is blurry. I can't move either. Why can't I? Is this happening to Marko and my mommy too? Wait! I know what happened; I think. The sirens were going. Daddy said that when the sirens start, to get downstairs as fast as I can. The sirens mean that bombs are going to come. Mommy, Marko, and me were going downstairs. We were just leaving. I hope Marko and Mommy are okay. Marko's hand let go of mine when the wall came down. He pushed me really hard out of the way. I hope he's okay. Mommy was behind me. She was telling us to go really fast. Daddy was at the store getting some food for us. We ran out at lunch. I hope he's okay. "Anna, Daniella, Marko! Answer me! Are you all right? Where are you?" I hear my daddy yell. He's still a ways away, by the sound of his voice. He keeps yelling things like that until I hear him break the door down. I hear him say something in English that sounds like "dam." I know some English words, but I don't know that one. "Marko! Marko! Can you hear me? Squeeze my hand!" I hear my daddy say. Then he's quiet for a few seconds, and then quickly says a prayer that I said at my granddad's funeral a few years ago. I hope that that doesn't mean. I hope not. I hear my dad walking over all the broken things in our apartment. I feel him next to me. He bends down. "Daniella, Daniella. Wake up. Are you okay?" He asks. My mom says something really softly, that I can't hear. "I can't hear you. Stay with me Daniella!" Daddy yells Then mommy says, "Help Anna. Help Marko." My dad says, "Okay, but stay with me Daniella!" My daddy turns around. I can feel him breathing on me. He puts his fingers on my wrist, checking my pulse, I think. After a few seconds he says something that I'm not allowed to say. He starts to push on my chest. It hurt a little. I want to tell him to stop, but I can't. I can feel air coming up my throat and out of my nose. My daddy is saying the prayer that we said when we went to church. We had to stop going a while ago because it wasn't safe to go outside. That's what Mommy said any way. My mom makes us say the rosary three times every Sunday to make up for it though. My daddy is saying the prayer I always started the rosary on. It's the one to God, I think. The other ones we say is one to Jesus' mother, and the other one talks about a ghost. Every time the prayer ends he'll say, "Anna, wake up!" or "Daniella, don't go on me!" He always shouts help, in both Croatian and English. He keeps doing that for a long time. The pressure he puts on my chest gets softer and softer. It feels good now. I'm really tired now. I don't want to go to sleep, because my mommy is supposed to tuck me in first. She is supposed to tell me a story. I think I can do without that now. My daddy will carry me to bed. He does that a lot. I'm going to sleep now. I can't keep thinking any more. Good Night.