The Salve of Freedom

Chapter I.

She woke up long before the sun. The sky was still dark, her room full of dark shadows. The only light came from the candle her sister was holding.

"Milka." Her sister shook her gently. "We have lots of work to do."

Milka yawned loudly. She was not woken enough to register her sister's smirk.

"What time is it?"

"It is going to be four very soon. Come on. I let you sleep as long as possible, but I need your help."

In answer, Milka yawned again and slowly started to get up.

Her sister, the head of their household, did not usually wake her up so early. Normally, Milka could get up two hours later, just in time for breakfast before leaving for work.

Not this week, though. This week was special for their community. The week of Masopust festivities was always hectic. However, her sister Lutana and her husband were busier than everybody else. During the time of Masopust, they were flooded with orders from many in their settlement. They even needed the help of Milka, whom Lutana had previously described as a catastrophe in the kitchen.

Milka followed her sister from her tiny room to the kitchen. Lutana's husband Premysl was already taking the first batch of sweet little cakes out of the oven. Milka was so amazed by the lovely smell of it that she overlooked her little brother Pravek and her nephew Myslik until they jumped on her. Being eight and almost six, they did not need much sleep when it was compensated with sugar.

"You are here already?" she asked them, trying to sound fully awake.

"We've already eaten breakfast!" announced Pravek.

"I ate four cakes!" declared Myslik happily.

"We are already helping!"

"Four cakes, Auntie Milka!"

"You were sleeping while we were helping!"

"Four. Whole. Cakes."

Milka laughed at their joy. She was happy to see their little faces. Only the little children in her family could make her smile before sunrise.

She spent another three hours filling in the fluffy donuts they made. Her sister rolled the pastry and carefully watched her every move so she would not destroy a single donut. Pravek and Myslik coated the freshly baked donuts her brother-in-law took out of the oven in sugar.

She was rewarded for all her hard work in the morning by stuffing her face with delicious donuts and little cakes. Then, it was time for her to leave for work. She was almost relieved to leave all the sugar and morning chaos in exchange for the peace that came with her work.

On her way, she nodded to several of her neighbours and even mumbled greetings to some. About two hundred and fifty people were living in their settlement, one hundred and sixty of them being adults. Milka lived her whole life in their settlement, so she knew everybody there. She knew their families, their history, and sometimes even their future.

Everybody in their settlement also knew she was a younger sister to Lutana and Hrdek, who was serving in the army protecting settlements from other countries. They knew she had a younger brother, Pravek. Their mother died while giving birth to him. That was not a secret to anybody, just as the fact that her father, a very kind and happy person, had not taken over the responsibility of raising his children from his dying wife very well. He had tried, but everybody knew that Lutana had had to move back to their house together with her husband and had taken over from him because he had been enjoying too much alcohol.