“Evil spells are very serious, girls,” Lyudmila began. “Do you want me to tell you a story? About a mother-in-law’s spite. She tried to harm her son-in-law but ended up causing trouble for herself. And it’s not made up—it really happened a long time ago…
On the third day, Natalia felt terrible. The exhausting winter, sharp temperature swings, constant overwork—her body couldn’t take it, and she fell ill. An ambulance team hospitalized her with suspected pneumonia.
It was Natalia’s first time in a hospital. The ward was quite cozy: clean white walls, large windows letting in the meager winter light, and four beds, three already occupied. As soon as Natalia entered, the women immediately turned to look at the new roommate.
“Hello!” she greeted cheerfully.
The first to respond was a woman with short hair lying closest to the door. Her face was kindly but tired.
“Hello, dear. What brought you here?” she asked, looking closely at Natalia.
“Pneumonia. They just brought me in. I’ve just been admitted,” Natalia replied, placing her bag on the floor.
“Oh, poor thing! It’s easy to catch a cold in this weather. I’m twisted up with sciatica—I thought I’d never get up again. My name’s Lyudmila, but you can call me Lyuda.”
“Nice to meet you, I’m Natalia,” she introduced herself with a smile.
From the far corner came the voice of a second woman with long dark hair:
“I’m Irina. I’m here with a gastritis flare-up.”
The third woman, thin and pale, silently observed from under her blanket.
“Well, Natalia, make yourself comfortable. Your bed by the window is free; linens are in the nightstand,” Lyuda said, pointing.
Natalia began unpacking her things. While she was making the bed, Lyuda kept asking questions:
“Where are you from? Where do you work?”
“I’m from the Moscow suburbs, working as a clerk at a small company.”
“My grandchildren live in the Moscow suburbs too, in Khimki. Have you been there?”
“Of course, I have a friend there. Strange world, isn’t it?”
“How interesting! Well, get settled, Natasha. We’ll have dinner soon; I have some raspberry jam my mother sent me,” Lyuda offered with a wink.
Natalia finished making her bed and sat down. She felt unwell, but the talkative neighbor distracted her a bit from heavy thoughts.
“Thanks, Lyuda. I’d love some tea, but first, I think I’ll take a nap. I’m very tired,” Natalia admitted.
“Of course, rest. We’ll be quiet,” Lyuda nodded, lowering her voice.
Natalia closed her eyes. She felt like she was about to fall into a deep sleep when Irina suddenly called out:
“Natasha, are you married?”
Natalia was surprised by the question:
“Yes.”
“Do you have children?”
“No.”
“That’s a pity,” sighed Irina.
“Why pity?”
“How come? Children are the meaning of life, real happiness!”
“I’m not sure. Everyone has their own meaning,” Natalia replied, closing her eyes again.
“No, not everyone! For every woman, family and children are the most important. Everything else is nonsense!” Irina declared.
Natalia felt her head start to ache. She just arrived and already these arguments out of nowhere. She wanted peace and quiet, but here were such debates.
“Girls, no arguing, please. Everyone lives how they want,” Lyuda intervened, trying to ease the mood. “Let the newcomer rest. Let’s be quiet for a while.”
Irina snorted discontentedly but fell silent. Finally, Natalia managed to fall asleep. She dreamed of fragments, vague images, faces of strangers. She was awakened by a gentle touch on her shoulder.
“Natash, wake up! Dinner’s soon, time to eat,” she heard Lyuda’s voice.
She sat on the bed and looked around. The ward was softly lit; it had gotten dark outside.
“How long did I sleep?”
“About two hours,” Lyuda answered. “Shall we go to the dining room? Or they’ll finish everything.”
She had almost no strength but needed to eat. Natalia agreed.
They ate silently. They returned quickly. Irina lay reading a book, and the third woman was still silent under the blanket.
“So, Natasha, how are you feeling?” Irina asked, putting down her book.
“A little better.”
“Great! What do you do? Like reading?”
“I do, but not now.”
“I can’t live without books. They save me, especially when lying in the hospital with nothing to do.”
“That’s true,” Natalia agreed.
The ward fell silent. Each woman thought about her own things. Natalia looked out the window at the falling snowflakes and suddenly felt unbearably sad. She missed her husband terribly. She wanted to go home—to warmth and comfort.
“How do you spend evenings here? What do you do?” she asked.
“Different things: reading, knitting, just talking,” Irina replied. “And Lyudmila here is the main storyteller. Every evening she tells something interesting. We’ve been listening to her for a week—always something new.”
“Oh, come on,” Lyudmila blushed, “I just make things up so we’re not bored. Sitting and being silent is torture.”
“What will you tell us today?” Irina asked.
“Not decided yet. Maybe Natalia will suggest something?” Lyuda addressed the newcomer.
“I don’t know… Maybe about work, but it’s nothing interesting—just ordinary paperwork.”
“Tell us how you met your husband! That’s always interesting,” Irina suggested.
“Nothing special. Met at someone’s name day party. I liked him, and I guess he liked me too.”
“How was your first meeting?”
“Typical. Sat in a café, talked. Then he walked me home. Like everyone else.”
“Enough questions,” Lyudmila interrupted. “You look tired. Let’s get ready for bed. Early procedures tomorrow.”
The women started getting ready to sleep. Natalia turned off the light and lay down. Sleep wouldn’t come. It was strange to lie among strangers. She tossed, heard someone coughing, someone sighing. Suddenly Lyudmila broke the silence:
“Girls, if no one’s asleep, I’ll tell a story. An old but interesting one.”
“Tell us, tell us!” Irina encouraged.
Natalia listened; she was interested too.
“It happened to my grandmother. She lived in a far village, a hundred kilometers from the city. One year there was a terrible drought—all summer no rain, wells dried up, crops died, livestock fell ill. People were starving. One night, when everyone was asleep, there was a knock on the door. My grandmother was scared but went to open it. On the doorstep stood an old man—ragged, dirty, emaciated. He said: ‘Let me stay overnight, daughter. I’m tired and hungry.’ My grandmother was kind and couldn’t refuse the stranger…
She let him in, fed him what she could, and put him to sleep on a bench. The old man ate and immediately fell asleep. In the morning, when my grandmother woke up, he was gone. Only a simple gray stone lay on the table. At first she was surprised but thought it was just a gift from the stranger. She left it on the table and forgot about it. But then the house always had plenty—food was never lacking, money was found even in hard times. When the drought ended and the rains came, their harvest was better than neighbors’. People said it was thanks to that stone. After grandmother died, the stone passed to my mother, then to me. It’s always been with me. Honestly, it has helped me many times. In hard times, I hold it and ask for help,” Lyudmila finished her story.
Silence fell in the ward. The women digested what they heard.
“Very interesting story,” Irina broke the silence first. “Where is the stone now?”
“At home, with me. I don’t show it to anyone—I’m afraid someone will steal it,” Lyudmila answered.
“Wise of you,” Irina approved.
“Do you believe in such things yourself?” Natalia asked Lyudmila.
“I don’t know… Maybe I do, maybe not. But the fact is, the stone has always helped me,” she replied.
“Maybe it’s just a coincidence?” Natalia suggested.
“Maybe, but I prefer to think there’s some power in it. Want me to tell another story? About a mother-in-law who tormented her daughter-in-law?”
“Of course!” Irina cheered. “Tell us!”
Lyudmila cleared her throat slightly and began:
“Once upon a time, there was a young couple who loved each other and got married. At first, they decided to live with the husband’s parents until they saved enough for their own place. Everything went well, but the problem was—the mother-in-law disliked the daughter-in-law from the start. Nobody knows why: maybe because her son was too taken with his wife or simply because she had a spiteful and grumpy nature.
The mother-in-law started to harm them little by little. Sometimes she put salt in the tea, sometimes ruined things, sometimes spoke ill behind her back. The daughter-in-law understood it but kept her composure. She was always polite, tried to please her, thinking, ‘Maybe with time, the mother-in-law will cool down.’ She was kind and believed in the best.
But time passed, and the mother-in-law grew angrier. She nitpicked everything: the food, the cleaning, the talking. Noticed every little thing and was never satisfied. In the evenings, over tea, she whispered to her son that his wife didn’t love him, that she was using him, that she was not his match.
The son listened but didn’t intervene: ‘You sort it out yourselves, why should I interfere? Live in peace.’ The daughter-in-law felt her husband beginning to doubt but endured it all. She loved him and didn’t want their family to break because of the mother-in-law.
But the mother-in-law didn’t calm down. She wanted the daughter-in-law to leave, so her son would belong to her alone. That’s how much envy and hatred she had.
And then, one day…” Lyudmila paused, cleared her throat, and looked at the listeners.
“What happened next?” Irina couldn’t wait.
Natalia nodded silently—she was interested too.
Lyudmila smiled and continued:
“About three weeks passed since the start of this feud. The daughter-in-law endured everything but inside grew bitterness. And then, one morning, she couldn’t get up. A sharp pain pierced her legs, like being pricked with needles. She looked at them—they were swollen, like logs. She was terrified.
Naturally, she didn’t go to work. She called her husband, showed him her legs, told what was happening. He was frightened too and called a doctor. The doctor examined her, touched her legs, diagnosed inflammation. Prescribed ointments, injections, tablets. The daughter-in-law started treatment, but nothing helped. The pain didn’t go away; the legs swelled more, and walking became impossible.
The couple started to think about the cause. Then she voiced her suspicion: ‘I think my mother-in-law is adding or putting something in my food. My legs can’t just get sick like that.’
The husband didn’t believe at first: ‘My mother can’t do such a thing. You’re imagining it.’ But the wife insisted: ‘I feel her hatred. She looks at me like an enemy.’
After much thought, the husband decided to take his wife to a wise old woman healer in the neighboring village. Only he asked her to wait until his mother left for the city—he didn’t want a scandal.
One day the mother-in-law went to her sister. The husband and wife gathered and went to the healer. They were greeted and invited into the house. The daughter-in-law sat on a bench, told about her pain, showed her legs.
The healer listened carefully, examined, and said:
‘I see, daughter, you have a curse. Someone wishes you harm and tries to hurt you.’
The woman cried: ‘I knew it! It’s no accident!’
The healer comforted her:
‘Don’t cry. I will help you. I will remove the curse.’
She began a ritual: reciting spells, whispering strange words, moving her hands over the legs. Suddenly, the pain began to ease. The daughter-in-law felt as if something was pulling the illness out of her. She sighed with relief.
When the ritual ended, the healer said:
‘The evil will return to the one who sent it. Soon the offender will get their due. Check the mattress, dear.’
They thanked the old woman, left her money, and went home. The mother-in-law had already returned from the city. Seeing they were not home, she became suspicious.
‘Where have you been?’ she asked displeased.
‘Just visiting,’ the son replied.
‘Visiting whom? Why didn’t you take me?’ she pressed.
‘Mom, don’t start. We wanted to relax. Wife is sick; she needs rest,’ the son said.
The mother-in-law looked at the daughter-in-law and noticed she looked fresher and rosier. She immediately realized they had been to the healer. She was angrier than ever but didn’t show it. She decided to wait and take revenge when the chance arose…
Lyudmila stopped, paused to catch her breath, and looked at her listeners.
“Well, girls?” she asked. “Scary, isn’t it?”
“Very scary!” Irina exclaimed. “What happened next?”
Natalia silently nodded—she too was eager to hear the continuation.
Lyudmila smiled mysteriously and said:
“The most interesting part starts now…
She paused a bit and continued:
“Back home, the wife remembered the healer’s advice to check the mattress. She asked her husband to lift it off the bed. He was surprised—why?—but helped anyway. And as soon as they lifted the mattress, they found… needles! Many thin sharp needles carefully wrapped with black thread. What is called a ‘podklad’ (a curse object).
The daughter-in-law immediately understood—it was the mother-in-law’s work. How accurate the grandmother’s prediction was! She showed her husband the find and explained it was a curse. He finally believed her. No more doubts.
The wife took the needles and did everything the healer advised. She explained in detail how to properly get rid of such evil so it wouldn’t return.
And you know—it worked! That very evening the leg pain began to subside, the swelling went down. It felt like an invisible burden had lifted. By morning, she could stand and take a few steps, though with difficulty, but with her own legs! It was a real miracle. After so many days of suffering—to walk again!
The mother-in-law, of course, was shocked. She didn’t expect her plan to fail. She thought the daughter-in-law would remain bedridden. But here she was, walking! However, the old woman didn’t show it. She pretended nothing was wrong, everything was fine. But the daughter-in-law no longer feared her. She knew the truth and decided to endure no more. Now she would protect her family, her happiness. She wouldn’t let herself be humiliated anymore.
And a real war began between them. Not just disagreements, but a real struggle. Who would overpower whom—no one knew. The mother-in-law, seeing the daughter-in-law on her feet again, couldn’t hide her disappointment. Her face twisted, eyes flashed with malice, lips tightened into a thin line. Clear as day—it was very unpleasant to her.
And a few days later, the healer’s prediction came true. One morning, everyone was getting ready for work; the husband and wife were already dressing in the hallway, but the mother-in-law did not leave her room. Suddenly, strong moans came from behind the closed door.
The son grew worried. He knocked—no answer. He decided to go in and almost fainted: his mother’s legs were twice the size of his wife’s legs during illness! They were swollen, red, blue, and she was tossing in bed from pain.
The husband rushed to her, tried to wake her, asked what happened. She moaned and said her legs were burning with pain.
Then he understood: this was punishment. The evil she sent to others had returned to her.
“Mom, you know what’s happening to you. This is for everything,” he said bitterly.
“I don’t know anything! Stop talking nonsense! Call a doctor!” she screamed.
The son called a doctor. The doctor came, examined the woman, and shrugged helplessly—he had never seen anything like it. He prescribed treatment, advised to lie still and not move.
But the son no longer believed in ordinary medicine. He knew this was not a disease but the consequence of evil deeds. And he decided he would help his mother only if she admitted her guilt and apologized to his wife.
“Mom, I want to help you, but only after you confess and apologize to my wife,” he said firmly.
“Never! I’m not guilty! She cursed me!” the mother-in-law shouted, pointing at the daughter-in-law.
The daughter-in-law stood in the corner, silently watching and feeling sorry for her. She knew the mother-in-law would never admit her mistake. But she hoped that, in time, the mother-in-law would understand one simple truth: evil always returns to the one who sends it.
“What happened next, girls, I don’t know,” Lyudmila finished. “I don’t know if the mother-in-law confessed or never could. If she recovered or not—also unknown. Maybe they still live like cat and dog, or maybe everything was resolved. Who knows…
“Oh, Lyudmila, how can you?! Leaving us at the most interesting part!” Irina protested.
Natalia silently nodded—she also wanted to hear the ending.
“Well, girls, decide what will happen next yourselves. Imagine your own ending to this story,” Lyudmila smiled and closed her eyes, signaling that the stories were over for today.”
