Stone Pillar

         Lara is sitting on a swing under a maple tree. Her grandfather planted this tree on the day her mother was born, and it was just as beautiful as her mommy. Especially now, in the beginning of fall, with its intricate carved leaves crimson and cardinal, orange and purple, vermilion and ochre. Lara likes the fall, especially since it starts with her birthday, and birthday means a lot of wonderful presents.
         The best gift she received for this seventh birthday was the beautiful book of Fairy Tales, which she took to the swing to spend a quiet afternoon by herself. The blue cover of the book is engraved with silver palaces, carriages, crowns, and other magical items. The pages are smooth and glossy. Magnificent colored pictures are covered with sheets of transparent tissue paper that rustle softly as she peels them away to peek at the pictures.
         She starts reading the stories. She knows many of them by heart – her mommy read to her, while tucking her to sleep, from the time when she was a baby, and did not know the letters – that was so long ago.
         Suddenly, she comes across an unfamiliar story. She reads on, but her little heart skips a beat, and she feels shivers all over her body. The wicked witch was turning all the brave knights and handsome princes, who came to free the lovely princess, into stone pillars!
         Lara quickly turns the pages to see if the princes would come back to life – they did not! She shuts the book, and, crying, runs to search for mommy and grandma – this is a wrong ending, the fairy-tale cannot be that cruel!
         In another day and age, in a foreign country, Lara stands under a different maple tree. It is fall again, and it is her birthday. The maple tree is alive with colors, but the shades of red and purple seem to be dark and mournful: mauve and maroon, rusty and blood red.
         She gazes over the rows of stone pillars – young men, young soldiers, her big, funny, precious, silly boy!
         They came on her birthday; they arrived in a military vehicle, to tell her that her son was no longer a warm, alive, caring boy, the center of her life. The wicked witch of war took him from her and turned him into a stone pillar. And there will be no happy end – life is cruel.