Bruno, Petra and Maria
Bruno
It all started on a rainy day. I was milking the cows of the Rodriguez family, when suddenly I heard a noise similar of a bomb. I got scared so I ran home to find out if Pedro and María were okay, when I saw a bomb falling on our home. We were getting invaded. I got scared and ran inside but then I woke up in my bed. Everything was a just dream.
María was at the door of the room, ready to go to school, but I didn’t see Pedro anywhere.
Where is Pedro?
AHHHHH!
Pedro appeared under my bed, he just wanted to scare me. We went to have breakfast, hoping to find our parents having coffee, when I remembered that they left a few days ago, God knows where and why. They just told me: “take care of your siblings, everything will be fine…” It’s weird that they just disappeared, we miss them.
Pedro and María went to brush their teeth, and I accompanied them to school, not far from our house. On the way, we saw the green meadows of Galicia, full of cows and goats.
We had already arrived at school. I had made them a snack for the break. I left them there and I went home.
They are very lucky. When I went to school I had a very bad teacher, who beat us if we failed. Now they have a teacher who explains very well and gives them little homework. Time has changed a lot.
When I got home, I could see a note under the door. I couldn’t believe what the letter said. Would it be another dream? I really doubt it.
Pedro
We have arrived at school, but there is no one around, not even my best friend, who is always the first student to arrive. Maybe they are inside, I´ll go to look.
I went to class. Nothing.
I went to the gym. Nothing.
Where is everyone?
Maria and me don’t understand. School always starts at 8 and it’s already 8.20. When it was 8.45 we decided to go back home to Bruno. He was just about to go to the Rodriguez house to work. We told him what happened and he didn’t understand anything. There really was no one at school? We went to our neighbour Daniela to ask what had happened. She told us that everyone was at home because it was not safe to be outside.
What was going on? I didn’t understand the problem.
The day was normal, and there was not a cloud. We returned home, and we tried not to leave, in case what Daniela said was true.
Me and Maria waited only an hour for Bruno to come home. He had had to run home. He came inside and shouted our names. When we answered, he ran into the kitchen and hugged us. ’Thank god you are here; I’ve been looking everywhere for you!’ He sounded angry but relieved at the same time. ‘You weren’t supposed to go to school, the army is invading Pontedeume today and we have to leave! It’s not safe here anymore.’
While me and Maria packed our bags, we were very shocked. Bruno told us to only pack warm clothes because we were going to a cold place in the north. But we didn’t own any warm clothes, we live in Galicia!? I packed jumpers and jeans but that was the warmest clothes I had.
They were waiting for a ship. ‘Do you think we’ll survive? I have never been before on a ship…’ I asked. I was really worried. Why couldn’t I have lived just a normal life? I saw the ship arriving to the port and then we got on board.
This had all happened so fast, just 2 hours ago we were in school and now we are on a ship with total strangers on our way to some island in the Atlantic. We asked Bruno so many questions but he couldn’t answer any of them. Maria was scared so we had to caress her more than before.
Bruno
I was so scared and starting to get cold. We had been on the boat for almost 2 days now we were getting closer to the Atlantic. Bruno and Maria kept asking questions about where we were going and why. But honestly I didn’t have a clue, I only knew that we were going to a cold place in the Atlantic. The man that was sailing the ship told me that this island was safe, not a part of the war. I trusted the man and paid our fare. I had to use almost all my money to pay so we only have a couple hundred euros to survive on this island.
I overheard a couple. They were saying that we were going to Iceland. A land made of ice? Oh no. Is there very cold there? I hope not. It was the beginning of June so maybe it was summer there.
Maria
I had been seasick the whole way to this island. Now there only were 2 hours left. Bruno and Pedro had been very nice to me. I was scared, I missed my mom and dad. But Bruno promised me that he would always be there for me and Pedro, no matter where we lived.
Bruno
Everyone on the ship got excited. We saw land! A big mountain far away. The mountain was green and brown, no ice or snow. It was pretty warm but I needed to wear my jumper. We had arrived to Iceland. The town we sailed to was small but okay. A woman on the boat had agreed to share a house with us. That way it would be cheaper for us. Pedro and Maria were homesick but felt good in Iceland.
Bruno, Pedro and Maria lived in Iceland until the war was over. Then they travelled back to Galicia and reunited with their family.
Collaborative writing by: Daniel Arias, Júlía Dagbört Styrmisdóttir, Katarzyna Gogola and Netta Konttinen
It all started on a rainy day. I was milking the cows of the Rodriguez family, when suddenly I heard a noise similar of a bomb. I got scared so I ran home to find out if Pedro and María were okay, when I saw a bomb falling on our home. We were getting invaded. I got scared and ran inside but then I woke up in my bed. Everything was a just dream.
María was at the door of the room, ready to go to school, but I didn’t see Pedro anywhere.
Where is Pedro?
AHHHHH!
Pedro appeared under my bed, he just wanted to scare me. We went to have breakfast, hoping to find our parents having coffee, when I remembered that they left a few days ago, God knows where and why. They just told me: “take care of your siblings, everything will be fine…” It’s weird that they just disappeared, we miss them.
Pedro and María went to brush their teeth, and I accompanied them to school, not far from our house. On the way, we saw the green meadows of Galicia, full of cows and goats.
We had already arrived at school. I had made them a snack for the break. I left them there and I went home.
They are very lucky. When I went to school I had a very bad teacher, who beat us if we failed. Now they have a teacher who explains very well and gives them little homework. Time has changed a lot.
When I got home, I could see a note under the door. I couldn’t believe what the letter said. Would it be another dream? I really doubt it.
Pedro
We have arrived at school, but there is no one around, not even my best friend, who is always the first student to arrive. Maybe they are inside, I´ll go to look.
I went to class. Nothing.
I went to the gym. Nothing.
Where is everyone?
Maria and me don’t understand. School always starts at 8 and it’s already 8.20. When it was 8.45 we decided to go back home to Bruno. He was just about to go to the Rodriguez house to work. We told him what happened and he didn’t understand anything. There really was no one at school? We went to our neighbour Daniela to ask what had happened. She told us that everyone was at home because it was not safe to be outside.
What was going on? I didn’t understand the problem.
The day was normal, and there was not a cloud. We returned home, and we tried not to leave, in case what Daniela said was true.
Me and Maria waited only an hour for Bruno to come home. He had had to run home. He came inside and shouted our names. When we answered, he ran into the kitchen and hugged us. ’Thank god you are here; I’ve been looking everywhere for you!’ He sounded angry but relieved at the same time. ‘You weren’t supposed to go to school, the army is invading Pontedeume today and we have to leave! It’s not safe here anymore.’
While me and Maria packed our bags, we were very shocked. Bruno told us to only pack warm clothes because we were going to a cold place in the north. But we didn’t own any warm clothes, we live in Galicia!? I packed jumpers and jeans but that was the warmest clothes I had.
They were waiting for a ship. ‘Do you think we’ll survive? I have never been before on a ship…’ I asked. I was really worried. Why couldn’t I have lived just a normal life? I saw the ship arriving to the port and then we got on board.
This had all happened so fast, just 2 hours ago we were in school and now we are on a ship with total strangers on our way to some island in the Atlantic. We asked Bruno so many questions but he couldn’t answer any of them. Maria was scared so we had to caress her more than before.
Bruno
I was so scared and starting to get cold. We had been on the boat for almost 2 days now we were getting closer to the Atlantic. Bruno and Maria kept asking questions about where we were going and why. But honestly I didn’t have a clue, I only knew that we were going to a cold place in the Atlantic. The man that was sailing the ship told me that this island was safe, not a part of the war. I trusted the man and paid our fare. I had to use almost all my money to pay so we only have a couple hundred euros to survive on this island.
I overheard a couple. They were saying that we were going to Iceland. A land made of ice? Oh no. Is there very cold there? I hope not. It was the beginning of June so maybe it was summer there.
Maria
I had been seasick the whole way to this island. Now there only were 2 hours left. Bruno and Pedro had been very nice to me. I was scared, I missed my mom and dad. But Bruno promised me that he would always be there for me and Pedro, no matter where we lived.
Bruno
Everyone on the ship got excited. We saw land! A big mountain far away. The mountain was green and brown, no ice or snow. It was pretty warm but I needed to wear my jumper. We had arrived to Iceland. The town we sailed to was small but okay. A woman on the boat had agreed to share a house with us. That way it would be cheaper for us. Pedro and Maria were homesick but felt good in Iceland.
Bruno, Pedro and Maria lived in Iceland until the war was over. Then they travelled back to Galicia and reunited with their family.
Collaborative writing by: Daniel Arias, Júlía Dagbört Styrmisdóttir, Katarzyna Gogola and Netta Konttinen
Netta, Katarzyna and Júlía present their story in Finland, Daniel Arias did not come to Finland