Đurđevak

Little Voranc lives in a poor house with a strict father and a gentle mother. At the end of the field lies a dark cove called Hell – a scarecrow full of thorny bushes, snakes and ghosts, where no one enters. The father orders the boy to drive the cattle there, but Voranc, terrified by stories about witches and wolves, does not dare and lies that he has lost the cattle. The father discovers the deception and harshly punishes him with a belt, leaving him with bitterness and shame.

The next day, his mother, weak and sick, sighs for the beautiful lilies of the valley from that Hell – flowers that symbolize the transience of spring and hope. The boy’s heart breaks: despite the fear that gnaws at him, he decides to return to the cove. Trembling, he makes his way through the thorns, fighting with the ghosts in his imagination, but his love for his mother wins. He brings the picked flowers home, where his mother receives him with a smile and a kiss, without a word of praise – only with a warmth that heals wounds.

The story explores how a mother’s love overcomes fear and poverty, symbolizing a boy’s growing up through suffering and sacrifice. Voranc uses realistic language with dialect, descriptions of nature and inner monologue, creating an emotional picture of rural life in the 1920s. As part of a collection about childhood, it recalls the innocence lost in the struggle for survival.