Mladý vězeň, jenž se pokusil o sebevraždu, získá několik dnů volna, aby se zotavil. Vypraví se do míst spjatých s jeho mládím, během krátké dovolené se seznámí s osamělou vesnickou učitelkou. Zaujme zvláště herecké ztvárnění, plně soustředěné na přiblížení vnitřních dilemat...

Young prisoner Jan, nicknamed Roughboy (Petr Cepek), tries to commit suicide. He was imprisoned for a fight in which he injured a functionary of the National Committee and for stealing material but actually by the blame for this crime was pinned on him by the road-builders in whose group he worked. The prison doctor knows that Jan is an emotionally deprived person who never knew his parents and spent all his childhood - except one year with foster-parents - in orphanages, homes for youth and reform schools. He arranges a five-day holiday for Jan, who wants to find his mother's grave.