Tears of Hope
A nice lady who spoke a foreign language had given Solomiya water colors and a piece of paper. But what to paint? Closing her eyes, she saw nothing but tanks, bomb planes, soldiers, and destroyed buildings.
There was a flag painted on the suitcase that she used as a table. Solomiya decided to copy it, hoping that it would bring her mother’s smile back.
Staring at her present, the mother’s tears fell like rain over it and mixed with the colors. Soon, she was looking at green plants, optimistically sprouting from a yellow sun and a blue sky.
Comments without a personalized avatar will not be published.
To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleExperiencing the horrors of war through the eyes of a child both softens and heightens the impact. Having tears combine the colors of the flag to give us the green of hope is a nice touch.
Your flash fiction, Christer, is a beautiful homage to any country that finds themselves at war. I wish them more hope than tears.
Yes indeed, Margarita, let’s hope for quick peace (which is the meaning of the name Solomiya) in this country as well as all others where there is armed conflict. Thanks for your comment.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleChrister, this is an exceptional story, one of your best. A sensitive and gentle treatment of a terrible situation that is on everyone’s mind, but hard to write about.. Thanks for the glimmer of hope. All of our tears are flowing these days.
To tell you a secret, Fuji, I was actually crying when this story unfolded in my head and I was visualizing the situation with a group of refugees taken care of in a gym hall in a neighboring country. So the water drops that produced the green color on my home-made picture could have been mine if the picture had been ready when I was writing. Since I was living and working… Read more »
Christer, did you do the painting yourself from water colors? And how lovely that the name Solomiya means quick peace. You put so much of yourself and your caring nature into this story. It’s a gift to a world sorely in need of people like you.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleThanks for this extra comment to my story, Fuji. I made a clumsy comment to Margarida’s input and it needs to be clarified. The name Solomiya simply means “peace” in Ukrainian. Nothing more than that. I googled “Girls’ names in Ukraine” and found a list of names. When I saw that Solomiya means “peace”, I immediately picked it. I could read your nice comment about the water color painting as ironic (lol)… Read more »
Oh no I did not mean any irony. You said your painting was “home-made” so I thought you made a painting to simulate a child’s water color. It just seemed that you cared about this story and the message very much. Thanks for the explanation of her name.
Very sensitively written Christer. It’s impossible not to shed tears over the horror of this war. We can only hope it will end soon.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleLet’s hope for the best, Linda, although a lot of suffering already has happened. Let’s hope that Solomiya and her mother soon can reunite with their families back home and start rebuilding their country. Thanks for your comment.
Hello, Christer. Your story is remarkable. As I read it, I can’t stop my tears from flowing. Hopefully, the war is over.
Thank you very much for your kind comment, Lotchie. Let’s hope and pray for peace.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleYou’re most welcome, Christer.
Christer, reading this made me realise once again how vulnerable the children are and how terrible it must be for them, caught up in conflict. Still, they would unselfishly try and cheer up the people they love most, their parents. This very sad story was beautifully told.
Thank you very much for your generous comment, Marianna. Unfortunately, I think you are right about children’s vulnerability. Countless children in this world, who have been exposed to war, will carry with them scars and traumas for the rest of their lives.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleLovely and moving. Off on that tangent of the painting again, having recently visited the Tate Liverpool, it is no stretch of the imagination (apparently) that an adult could have painted that as a serious artwork. At least yours was a meaningful abstract.
I laughed when I read your comment about the little painting, Susan, remembering some visits to modern museums. Especially one painting has stayed in my memory: a huge canvas, covering most of a wall, with one single color, red. I can promise you that I did not have a “Stendhal experience” with that one. Thanks for your nice words!
Congratulations, Christer! Not only did you get third place in Public Voting, but you also were selected as one of the Finalists. Your beautiful story is very deserving of these honors.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleThank you so much, Julie! I feel honored and humbled that I got so many votes from other readers. But I didn’t make it to Voice-Team’s selection (and they didn’t really pick any finalists this time) like you did. So you deserve the really big Congratulation!
Hello Christer. We did indeed pick finalists on this contest, as we always do. There were eight stories that were selected as finalists, and your “Tears of Hope” was one of them. Please look at the very top of the comments for your Finalist selection and the comments from the selection team. Congratulations!
I did see that it said “Finalist” above your kind comment to me, but I only saw it above your comments to the three stories chosen by you and above the three stories most voted for. So I assumed that you wanted to write a comment to all those six writers. Now I see that there are a couple of other finalists as well. Thanks for pointing it out.
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