The morning was colder than usual.
I woke up with a sharp ache in my back and my body was stiff from lying on the hard floor. Every muscle protested as I moved and my limbs were sluggish from the lack of warmth. My thin blanket did little to fight off the cold that had seeped into my bones overnight and the hunger gnawing at my stomach reminded me that this was only the beginning of mother Olga's punishment.
I have to go a week without food, my bed and no warmth. Nobody was permitted to help me. Mother Olga had emphasised on the punishment that would befall anybody that did.
All this was because I tried to be a good friend to a dumb girl that did not even deserve my sympathy.
I swallowed, trying to ignore the dry and stinging sensation in my throat. My hands roamed the empty space where my bed used to be, searching as if I might have imagined its absence. But all I found was the cold and unforgiving floor beneath my fingertips.
