Outside the Window

Just a day ago, she went out to the beach for an evening walk. The waves washed the shore off its tiredness from the day and the winds blew around making even the concrete feel alive. She proceeded to the grocery store to buy some ingredients, for she had a cake recipe in her mind waiting to be made. “ Prices are rising every day”, she bought ingredients, but in fewer quantities, “I will make a bigger cake someday later”, expecting that prices will go down soon. It was getting late and she had a book to read, so she left for home.
«Мамо, надворі була чудова погода»
—"Mom, the weather was great outside”
«Так, я бачила, я теж хочу піти на прогулянку», mom replied.
—”Yes, I saw, I also want to go for a walk”
«Ми можемо піти завтра разом на пляж»
—”We can go to the beach together tomorrow”
«Добре, підемо завтра», said mom .
—”Okay, let's go tomorrow”

She went to her room, looked out the window for the serene view of mild snow on the trees, cars, road, and breeze forcing bits of paper and leaves to fly around, giving them a whiff of life. She sat down to get herself together and went to her bookshelf, brought out “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott. She has been reading this book for a few days now.

She had just come back to her chair, her phone notification popped up: “Heyyyy!”
”How was your day ?”
She takes a few moments to pick up the phone:
”Hiii”
”I went to the beach today!” she replied.
”and I brought ingredients for my cake as well” she added.

There was no reply for
2 minutes...
5 minutes...
”Must be asleep” she said to herself and continued with her book. The person on the other end was indeed asleep for he had a tiring day and it was already midnight in his time zone.

She looked outside the window again and saw exactly the same easing calm, the same refreshing breeze, and the same supposed bliss. She went to read in a coherent flow for about an hour visualizing everything she read and enacting everything in her brain theatre. Already night, the stars in the sky were sparkling as if they were being rubbed for the shine the entire day.
She heard an air raid siren and a loud sound soon after. Too loud for her soft ears to hear, too sudden for her brain to process. Out of a sudden sense of security, she gazed outside the window and it was too unexpectedly bright for her beautiful eyes to see.
She rushed back to her bed
”I just heard loud explosions outside” she texted.
She ran to the kitchen to check on her mother, “мамо, ти це чула?”
”Я боялася, що це може статися, але не так скоро” mom said with a tone of despair.
She quickly switched on the news and was stunned by the headlines and even more by the media news networks displayed.
A news tile flashed soon:
“ВВЕДЕНО ВІЙСЬКОВИЙ СТАН”
“MARTIAL LAW IMPOSED”

For the first time in her reasonably short yet responsible life did she see something of this intensity. For the first time in her dear life, did she witness an explosion, so bright and loud. The brightness of destruction and the loudness of hunger for power.
Outside the window, she saw again and saw the breeze but it was maliced by the smoke, she did see the calm but it wasn’t calm, it was the silence of fear. She didn't see bliss this time, for all the bliss vanished in the thin smoke. The city went into motion in the middle of the night and every asleep thing woke up, The waves cried and the winds ran away. An ambulance siren wailed as it passed near her house at high speed. She heard some noise again but didn’t go to see, for she was afraid of what she might see outside the window.
It's the 21st century, so, Almost the whole world woke up, but to news not fear. All national offices got active, but to secure assets, not the people. Everyone talked, but about politics and not the terror.
And far away from this, politics of blood, this hunger for power, this satisfaction of destructive ego was She, and millions like her, Who were afraid to look outside the window.