June | 2022 | Writing Wings

This month’s WEP/IWSG Challenge was as inevitable as the dreadful and ongoing tragedy in Ukraine. I’ve attempted to continue my tale of two aviatrix cousins from April, using the suggested approach of ‘correspondence’ – nowadays emails etc.

However, I was unable to catch the emotions involved as others did so well last Challenge. Also, I failed to edit down to 1,000 words.

My excuse… tomorrow, June 1^st, we complete on our new mobile home, and we move the following day. So, I’m scheduling this in advance of the Challenge deadline and may be offline for some of June, while we await internet connection.

Please note, this follows on from my World War II story Feathered Fire, which featured in the 2020 IWSG Anthology (No. 5), Voyagers: The Third Ghost, and my brief sequel Rainbow Firebreak, for the #WEP/IWSG April Challenge https://rolandclarke.com/2022/04/20/wep-iwsg-april-challenge-a-hard-rains-a-gonna-fall/.

Apologies if I’m slow to respond to comments or struggle to visit all your posts after re-connection to the internet.

Plus, ensure you visit all the other writers in this challenge via:

https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com

BLURB:

Messages keep hope for Mother Ukraine alive.

Winged Woes

2022

Wednesday, April 27th – Luhansk region, Ukraine

Ksenia Zelenko kzelenko99@psu2.ua

To: kzelenko97@psu1.ua

Pryvit Kyrylo,

I’ve prayed for you since the steelworks defence became desperate though brave. Can I believe in a miracle with help and consultation from the angels of the deep?

Please believe dearest brother. Mariupol will be liberated. We will be together.

With my winged sisters Vasy & Kalyna, I helped retain control over most of our airspace. Now Russian air activity focuses on southern and eastern Ukraine. We will harass then drive them back across the border.

Love, blessings, and prayers.

Ksenia

We will have a good day when we win.

Slava Ukrayini.

One of the Ukrainian soldiers under siege in the Azovstal steelworks. Photograph: Dmytro Kozatsky/Azov Special Forces Regiment

Saturday, April 30th – Cold Lake, Canada

Leonid Sokol lsokol@chaykair.ca

To: ksokol@chaykair.ca

Darling Kalyna,

May this find you fighting fit. The kids share the family’s concerns for you both. Dispel our anxiety as news from Ukraine feels unclear. You must be on the Eastern front, halting renewed Russian attacks.

We watch President Zelenskiy’s addresses, hoping the war ends soon. We read the Ukraine’s Armed Forces report on nine Russian attacks repelled in the last 24 hours. Guess the reborn witches were somehow involved in the destruction of multiple enemy ground and air units.

I know you cannot reveal military secrets, but we have to know you’re safe. Please answer, lyuba.

Chayka Air thrives, despite your absence. Seems our eldest, Aliona has your PR talent, making the most of pro-Ukrainian sentiment. Chayka Air displays are raising funds for humanitarian aid.

Promise you’ll keep the secrets and the memories we cherish in the deep.

Leonid

Slava Ukrayini.

A Ukrainian Sukhoi Su-27 lifts off at a 2017 airshow in the U.K. The Su-27 is Ukraine’s long arm, an offensive fighter with great range and the capacity to carry nearly 10,000 pounds of bombs, rockets, and missiles.
**https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/fighter-jet-fights-both-sides-180975834/**

Saturday, May 7th – Luhansk region, Ukraine

Vasy Holub vholub@chaykair.ca

To: mholub@chaykair.ca

Dearest Marko,

We didn’t mean our silence to feed your fears. Yes, we maintain some military secrecy when another victory is being devised. The welfare of defenceless and innocent civilians must be paramount.

We are well and love you all. Stay safe and secure yourselves.

Today, the Ukrainian government confirmed the last civilians trapped in the Azovstal plant were evacuated. But our remaining brave defenders appear unlikely to surrender as they vowed to stand until the end – even if many are severely wounded, some crippled. We fear the Russians will capture any who survive and surrender. With their Azov association, they could be imprisoned or worse… executed.

If that happens, please ask my father if he can legally help defend at least one of them: Kyrylo Zelenko, the younger brother of our wing-sister Ksenia. He is not a member of Asov, nor does he share the beliefs of comrades with far right views. Our own clashes with neo-Nazis in Canada has been a warning of irrational reactions. Too late, too late. A fool could read the signs.

We must arrange a virtual meeting. Is tomorrow too soon?

Our hearts are with you all. Mine is yours forever.

Vasy.

Slava Ukrayini.

Women evacuated from Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol stand next to service members of pro-Russian troops at a temporary accommodation centre in the village of Bezimenne. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters

Sunday, May 8th – Chayka Air Virtual Meeting

Cold Lake, Canada (15.00) and Luhansk, Ukraine (00.00)

Vasy Holub: Apologies for making the family wait while we honoured the Fallen.

Leonid Sokol: No problem. The time difference means we were running fund-raising aerobatics in aid of Ukraine.

Marko Holub: For our Motherland. Which is why your father will assist Ksenia’s brother and comrades. But he warns there are risks. The far right here in Canada could misuse this support.

Ksenia Zelenko: We’re still grateful. Kyrylo wanted to join us, but the siege hardly pauses. Life is dire. Starvation, infected wounds, and when their water runs out the inevitable end.

Marko Holub: A desperate crisis so our government must act. We hear Zelenskiy’s pleas but feel powerless. You three… night witches are fighting for everyone. We’re relieved our prime minister Trudeau visited Kyiv today—

Leonid Sokol: — and agreed to expand economic and defence cooperation.

Kalyna Sokol: We’re proud to be Canadian and Ukrainian. Especially on this Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation marking the end of World War II. Let’s hope Putin doesn’t escalate this war in his Victory Day speech tomorrow.

Vasy Holub: Which could play into far right hands. Ironic this invasion has strengthened their influence. I fear what lies ahead. More death and devastation.

Ksenia Zelenko: And a false peace if Putin is allowed to seize our eastern provinces. We will only have a good day when we win outright. Slava Ukrayini.

1944 Polikarpov Po-2 of The Shuttleworth Collection, United Kingdom

Ukrainian Air Force Su-27 at the RIAT 2018 airshow

Thursday, May 12th – Sievierodonetsk, Ukraine

Kalyna Sokol ksokol@chaykair.ca

To: lsokol@chaykair.ca

Darling Leonid,

News services will show footage of our latest blow to the invaders. You gotta reap just what you sow. I know you all fear for our safety, but rest assured we’re safe.

Today, we flew a dawn raid to help our ground forces repel multiple enemy attempts to cross a strategic river here in the Donbas. Our forces inflicted heavy losses, but the Russians will retaliate. Sievierodonetsk may be targeted. So, we’ll move to another temporary airstrip. Witches keep flying.

My love forever. I miss your arms around me.

Kalyna.

Slava Ukrayini.

Friday, May 20th – Mariupol, Ukraine

Kyrylo Zelenko kzelenko97@psu1.ua

To: k.zelenko99@psu2.ua

Lyuba Ksenia,

This may be a farewell message. I dread never seeing you again, dearest sister.

We have orders to surrender our positions to the enemy.

Inevitable as we’re struggling in unsanitary conditions, wounds bandaged with non-sterile rags, no essential medicine or water.

Our fate might be worse.

I dread being executed for war crimes… as a ‘neo-Nazi’. You know I’ve never been one. But I must stand and die with my friends, some holding views I ignore. First we fight for freedom and Ukraine. Only when we prevail can we argue politics.

Will they herd us to prison, stage a show trial, then death? Or a bullet as we surrender beside a mass grave?

This is a final plea for help. Is it too late to pray for that miracle?

It’s crazy how it all turned out. We needed so much more.

Love, regrets, and hope.

Kyrylo

You will have a good day when our people win.

Slava Ukrayini.

Ukrainian servicemen carry a wounded comrade as they are being evacuated from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine, 17 May 2022.

1,012 words FCA

As with the April Challenge, I’ve slipped a few lines of Please Read the Letter lyrics into my digital interactions.

Invasion of Ukraine

Events have moved on since the date when my flash ends, and it’s been difficult to write this as the horrors Putin unleashed continue every day. I keep the live update from The Guardian open on my PC but feel powerless. All I can do is use my writing to express my support.

May I plead for donations to Medecins Sans Frontieres, who work worldwide and are often the first charity in and last out: https://www.msf.org/

How this terrible crisis ends is hard to foresee, especially with the daily threat of escalation as Ukrainians find the will to resist, but the Russian attacks continue to wreak destruction on another Motherland. Somehow, I will attempt to find the positive conclusion to my Ukrainian story that mirrors reality.

A resident stands next to debris of an open market destroyed by a military strike in Sievierodonetsk. Photograph: Serhii Nuzhnenko/Reuters

#StandWithUkraine

Time for the monthly Insecure Writer’s Support Group post and an update on my situation… although this is written and scheduled a week in advance.

My health issues are worse as I’m still struggling to stay comfortable in my powered wheelchair… and I can’t sit at my desk long enough to get much writing done.

The new wheelchair from Malaysia arrived but won’t work in our current office. So, it’s in store until we move… in a week or so as I write.

The relocation became more chaotic and stressful as our planned move to one trailer park kept being delayed. Frustratingly, the new trailer failed to be delivered = months of waiting. But we’ve sold our house. Completion on July 1^st, unless we pay $8,500 to stay on a month.

Ridiculous. So, we found a refurbished trailer for sale in another park, where one of my wife’s sons lives with his family. Fortunately, we were able to pay cash from our sale proceeds and we move in around June 1^st… with a month to clear our vacated home, which the buyers are refurbishing.

Hence this June IWSG post is rushed, and July’s might be scrubbed unless we get the new office set up.

But I should manage to do the June WEP/IWSG Challenge as I’m aiming to write and schedule before moving, body willing.

https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/p/challenges-2022.html

That will be the next episode of my Ukrainian saga, a follow-up to Rainbow Firebreak called Feathered Fears, provisionally.

We will have a good day when we win. Slava Ukrayini.

So again, I won’t be telling the Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh ‘ffarwel’.

Finally, don’t forget to visit more active writers via the IWSG site:

Insecure Writer’s Support Group

As the question is optional, I’m tempted to answer… briefly.

June 1 question – When the going gets tough writing the story, how do you keep yourself writing to the end? If have not started the writing yet, why do you think that is and what do you think could help you find your groove and start?

Tough groove solutions:

Listening to classical music and soundtracks.
Listening to Audible books in same genre.
Escaping into another world = game world.

The awesome co-hosts for the June 1 posting of the IWSG are SE White, Cathrina Constantine, Natalie Aguire, Joylene Nowell Butler, and Jacqui Murray!

I must be repetitive and ask you to agree these guys are the best. Why not? Well, they are – especially as they all have concerns, fears, and insecurities. But they struggle on, so ticker-tape applause for all of them – plus toasts with the best brew available.

Purpose of IWSG: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time – and return comments. This group is all about connecting!

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience, or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something.

For more on the IWSG monthly post and links to other participants visit:

https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html