Rough Memories

Chapter Three

Babys' crying suddenly awakened me from my sleep. I opened my eyes widely and looked around to make sure I was safe.

It was dark, so I assumed that I woke up in the middle of the night. Gentle snoring was coming from the bed next to mine.

I knew it was a boy whom I was sharing room with, so I decided to wake him up and go with him to see what was going on.

I slowly snuck up to him and shook his shoulder. "Hey, wake up. I need you to help me."

Slowly and wearily he opened his blue eyes and scanned the room. As soon as he saw me, he turned to the other side of the bed and pretended he was a sleep.

"Come on, please."

I heard him sigh and whisper. "What do you want?"

"I heard a baby crying from somewhere out there. Can you go with me to check it out?"

"God. It's only Judith. Leave me alone now, and go back to sleep. And why do you need me to go with you anyway?"

"I don't know. I was just too bored to go alone. And who's Judith?"

He sighed, annoyed. "Judith is my baby sister. She's probably hungry, so Carol or Beth are feeding her. Go by yourself if you are that interasted."

"Fine." I said and stood up, exiting our room.

Slowly and quietly, I went down the long hallway following the babys' cries.

The prison where I currently was, was in pretty good shape. If we ignore few blood stains on the walls, prison was a very nice home in these conditions.

"Here you go little Judith, take as much as you want." I've heard somebody said behind one of the many doors.

The voice belonged to an older woman, but I could not recognize who it was. I snuck up and peered on the door where the voice came.

A woman, who was in her early fourties, in her hands was holding a small baby. The baby, which I guess is called Judith, was happily drinking milk from a bottle, tightening it.

A small smile played on my face as I saw that at least somebody found a peace in this world.

The baby was reminding of my little cousin from Germany, Anastasia, who I have not seen for a very long time. She was two years old when she and her parents came to visit me and my parents and brother last time, four years ago. Sometimes I wonder how they are there, if they're still alive.

Besides them, there were my grandparents from Serbia and my aunt and uncle who lived with them. My family was pretty much scattered all over the world. Once a year, on summer vacation, I would go to Serbia and stayed there for a month.

I remember grandma's homemade cookies, and how I went with my grandfather and we walked to the Kalemegdan park, went to the zoo, and the various places that I just adored, while my aunt and mother were shopping. My uncle would spend time just watching TV or was admiring his car.

"Hello there." I heard woman said and I froze in place. "What are you doing awake in the middle of the night?"

" I heard her crying. I got worried ."

"Oh. Do not worry." She said and stroked the baby's cheek, carefully and lovingly ." She was just hungry. Come in."

I slowly walked in, sitting gently by a woman with little Judith in her hands. Just watching baby Judith eating reminded me of how much I was actually hungry. My stomach let out a strange howling sound, giving me the knowledge that I have not eaten in a long time.

"So, are you sharing room with Carl?" Woman asked, rummaging trough drawer next to her bed.

"I guess I am."

"Was he mean to you somehow? He can be really rude if he wants to. "

"He wasn't. He is nice, I guess."

"Ahh, well he must like you then." She winked and I found myself blushing.

After Judith was done eating, woman handed me a chocate bar. "You must be hungry. Take this."

I thanked her and slowly walked to my room. When I walked in, gently snoring gave me notion that Carl fallen asleep long time ago. Since I did not want to wake him up with rustle of the chocolate bar's bag, I decided to eat it the next day. I tucked under thin blankets, and soon I fell a sleep.