b"words and pictures by Mike MerrillA Skye Full Of StarsLooking out a window into the blackened shell of a building In the meantime, a terrible thunder storm came, and poorin Mariupol, Ukraine, was a dog. Stranded, nine stories up in Skye must have thought it was another missile attack. Shethe bombed out building, she somehow managed to survive tried to flee and did the unthinkable. She jumped out of thewhen a missile destroyed most of the building. It was report- nine story building.ed that about 30 people died under the rubble. All buildings Amazingly,Skyesurvivedthefall.Afterlivingthroughnearbyburneddownaftershellingor multiple bombardments that destroyedwere broken up by artillery.thebuilding,andsurvivingwithoutShe lived through devastating bom- foodorwater,Skyemiraculouslysur-bardments,andshesurvivedwithout vived a fall from nine stories high to thefood or water. Alone, near the top of the ground.Rescuersfoundherthenextbuilding,shewaited.Thedogoften morning, and to everyone's surprise shelooks out the window as if waiting for was alive. She was badly hurt, though,someone,wrotejournalistMykola unable to move her back legs. Osychenko. TherescuerstreatedherthebestMariupol is a city that's occupied by they could without equipment or sup-Russian soldiers. Just moving around on plies.Usingasheetasamakeshiftthe streets is dangerous. Finding a way stretcher, they managed to evacuate herupadestroyedbuildingtorescuea from Mariupol, another very dangerousstrandeddogwouldprovetobean trip, and got her to Zaporizhzhia. Sheincredibleandheroicfeat.Whenres- then went onto Transform A Street Dogcuers managed to make it up the build- (TFASD) in Kyiv, where Julia took hering to check on her, they were amazed straight to the vet clinic for treatment. Itto find that she was okay. They needed was there that veterinarians discoveredto figure out a way to get her out of the shehad,whattheybelievedtobe,abuilding to safety, and find somewhere tumor on her heart. We all feared thefor her to go. With thousands of homeless animals in an occu- worst. Two months later, however, the tumor had disappeared.pied city, there was no easy solution.The doctors think that it must have been a blood clot as aHer rescuers gave her food and water, and named her Skye. result of her injuries, and it cleared up on its own. Or, I won-They promised to come back when they figured out a plan.der, if so many peoples prayers were answered.44 THE NEW BARKER"