[...for the last time...]

    Once upon a time, an unprecedented wave of sorrow was evident in a small Polish village occupied by the German forces. Meanwhile nature itself sensed people’s terror. A little bird named Gilbert stood on a branch. He was triggered by some children’s quivering singing voices. The little blackbird shivered in the piercing cold of December 1942. Gilbert was determined to find food to stop his overpowering hunger. Even a trace of stale bread left by the German soldiers would fill his tiny stomach. But food was nowhere to be seen near this area. Gilbert reached the concentration camp; no words can describe the atrocity that Gilbert witnessed. «Humans turned the planet into a living hell, but why?» said the little bird in its trembling voice. He flew away from the scene of decomposed human bodies, the noxious smell, the horror that even animals cannot endure the sight of. Suddenly, behind the clouds, a sphere of light emerged in the night sky; what humans call «the moon». It was so mesmerizing, it almost undid the dreadful images engraved in the bird’s memory, bringing to mind memories from the past, children’s laughter, people strolling around the village and, of course, his favourite; springtime flowers. A warmer breeze crept its wings reminding him of the warmth the sun offers during the summer and the sparkling water of the sea. He could not stop himself from expressing his emotions and he started singing.  His melody left only a sense of harmony in the air.

       The little bird arrived in the city. It was completely deserted. Gilbert stood on a twig and began to sing for the last time comforting every creature that heard his voice.

Αθηνά Bίντσου, Ειρήνη Καλλιγέρη (B1)