Published May 12, 2025

On a Walk With Mom

A memory from growing up in Serbia offers a child's understanding of political violence.

The first of eleven black-and-white hand-drawn comic panels depicts a living room where a family reacts to breaking news on television. The TV screen shows a graphic image of a hurt person with dead eyes and a text bubble coming from the tv saying: "Prime Minister Zoran Dindic was shot and killed." A four-year-old child (representing the narrator) sits on the floor playing with toys, looking at the TV. The child's grandma, sitting in an armchair, next to the child, reacts dramatically, exclaiming: "Dark times are upon us!" The grandpa sitting in the foreground holds a cane and watches the news with a serious expression. He exclaims: "GET OUT OF HERE!" A vein is seen on his neck. Behind the grandma's armchair, two adults, the father and the mother; father in glasses and mother with wavy hair, stand observing, commenting "hm..." and "ccc..." (expressions of disapproval or concern). At the dining table beside them in the background, the older sister in her teens sits typing something on her flip phone, seemingly unphased by the situation. The caption below the main comic panel reads: "On March 12th, 2003, the news about the assassination reached my home, back in faraway Nova Varos (a small town in the southwest of Serbia), and unsettled everyone in the household, especially my grandma. In my opinion, she felt that Zoran Dindic resembled my uncle, her other son, which is why she was so fond of him."

The second comic panel depicts the young child sitting on the ground—the narrator, with a cute teddy bear sitting in their lap. The child is looking worried while touching their cheek. The background features blurred news text about the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Dindic, with the word "premijer" (prime minister) highlighted in red. A thought bubble shows an armed sniper aiming a rifle, reinforcing the child's fearful imagination. Red light from the sniper is over the child's face. The caption below reads: "As a four-year-old, I didn't know much about politics or how everything had come to be, but I knew something terrible had happened. For the first time ever I became aware of the fact that 'snipers' exist—people who can kill you from a great distance."

The third panel depicts a black background with white handwritten text in the center reading: "A few days later..." The dark background and handwritten style create a somber, reflective mood, indicating a shift in time while acknowledging the lingering effects of the event. Below, the caption states: "In the next few days everything returned to its usual course. At least at first glance it did..."

The fourth panel depicts the mother and child standing outside in a suburban neighborhood, surrounded by trees and a fence. The mother, who has short wavy hair and wears hoop earrings and a tracksuit, smiles warmly as she reaches out to adjust the child's jacket. The child, with short hair and a wide smile, raises their arms excitedly. Speech bubbles show the mother saying, "We are gonna have our little walk now, sweetie?" and the child responding eagerly, "Let's gooo!" Below the panel, a caption reads, "My mom and I sat out for our afternoon walk. around the neighborhood ..."

The fifth comic panel depicts one big landscape and a smaller one in a rectangle in the top left corner. There, the child and the mom hold hands in a close-up. The background illustrates a countryside scene with pines, hills, a meadow, and mountains. The next panel zooms out to show a highway with a large truck passing by. In the foreground, mother and child walk together, holding hands, as they pass by a roadside store. The text below reads: "We walked by all of our well-known sceneries—by our godfather's meadow, to the local store for a sweet treat, and finally by the highway where huge trucks rush by all day long..."

The sixth panel depicts the same child and mother holding hands while walking near a rundown house with broken windows and cobwebs. The child looks at the house with a curious expression, bringing a finger to their chin in thought. The caption below reads: "Near the highway, I noticed an old roughed-up house with cracked windows ... It seemed to me like the perfect spot for a crime to take place..."

The seventh panel depicts the child, still holding the mother's hand, pointing at the abandoned house with a questioning look. The speech bubble reads: "Mom, is this the place where they murdered Zoran Dindic?" The mother, smiling slightly, but still looking in front of her with a nonchalant pensive look, responds with a nonchalant "mhm." The caption below states: "...I had to fact-check. with my mom..."

The eighth panel depicts a POV above the child's head towards the mother who is now seen from a slight worm perspective. In the background, we can see the other side of the suburban setting with houses, trees, and fences in the background. She has a neutral expression and responds with "Sure..." to the child, who questions with "Really?" The lower part of the image shows the head of the child peeking through. The caption reads: "My mom was probably deep in her own thoughts and not willing to explain the concept of time, space and where the hell our capital city is located (where it all actually happened)."

The ninth panel depicts a close-up of the child's face, wide-eyed and tense. Their expression shows shock and disbelief. The background is shaded in dark tones, creating a sense of unease. A caption reads, "Meanwhile, I was terrified that such a gruesome crime had happened so close to my home…”

The tenth panel depicts the child walking past the house on the road lined with trees, looking nervous and sweating. Their posture suggests unease. A caption states, "With that new knowledge, I stayed away from that place for a while…”

The eleventh panel depicts the small, abandoned-looking house with a broken window and cobwebs sitting by the roadside, surrounded by mountains and trees. A caption reads: "Later, of course, I became aware of the fact that the place was nothing more than an abandoned maintenance station for sewage…”

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