The darkness would suffocate anyone that stayed long in its domain. The stone walls let the heat seep out and held fast to any cold. A single female voice sang in time to the sound of dripping water. As she sang her voice did not falter. The lyrics of Mahutny Boža came, line by line and word by word.
The lights came on one by one as a man walked through the hallways. His suits were expensive and his shoes squeaked like a mouse. He was flanked on either side by big, strong guards. It was as if he was scared of the small girl that was kept prisoner in this building.
Belarus blinked as the dim lights blinded her. She kept on singing even as her boss yelled at her to stop. To her left was a tray. She had eaten some of the dish that looked like it might be a vague cousin of a potato. Everything else was untouched. The only utensil there was a spoon, its edge gleamed in the dim light. They had learnt long ago not to let her have a fork or a knife. A fine dust made from stone and mortar had been gathering where her chains were attached to the wall.
He tried to talk over her singing. She sang louder. The man swore at her in both Russian and Belarusian. Her voice, older then all three men combined, drowned it out. He was probably making some demand or other.
She looked at him through matted hair. Her song had finished, so she started over again from the beginning. She would keep singing until her voice gave out.
The man's face grew red as he became as angry as a bull stung by seventy-nine bees. She knew the song would make him mad. That is why she sang it.
He stepped up to Belarus and grabbed her by the collar of her once blue dress.
The corners of her mouth twitched up in a smile.
One dirt covered hand grabbed the handle of the spoon. She stabbed it into his body. In the long hours of darkness she had sharpened the edge of the spoon to be just as fine as any knife she had owned. Belarus twisted it inside of her boss.
He screamed as he let her go and fell away from her. The two men rushed to his side, more concerned with him then with punishing the prisoner. They rushed him out to get medical attention. She knew the wound would not kill him and she knew that she would be punished for it. However, that single moment of defiance had been worth it.
Her singing resumed and chased her boss as he fled from the female nation.