Ivan walked along the embankment, pulling the collar of his old coat tightly around him. The cold wind ruffled his graying hair. In his mind, gloomy thoughts buzzed like pesky flies. The past, it seemed, had built a wall around him, and he could neither sigh nor break free. Twenty years ago, he was a […]
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Dmitry Gusev was a fine example of the male half of humanity. Born into a poor family where his mother was the sole breadwinner, the young man finished technical school, served in the army, and returned to his native village, where he got a job as a tractor driver. He worked diligently, all the while […]
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Anna, what are you doing? We can’t just take someone else’s child!” “Stepan, imagine if the same thing happened to ours—if he was found in an empty train car, starving and frozen to the bone?” A cold October wind rustled the curtains in the windows of their village home. Anna Ivanovna stood before her husband, […]
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Do you think I’m blind?” Galina Vasilievna fixed me with an icy stare. “Your contempt shows in your every gesture.” My first meeting with my mother-in-law was a prologue to war. Alexey brought me to their apartment, where the air was filled with the aroma of vanilla buns. The smiles vanished as soon as she […]
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Elena was carefully stirring the sauce when the lady of the house peeked into the kitchen doorway. Svetlana paused on the threshold, scrutinizing the room with a critical eye before twisting her lips in disapproval. “Why is it so stuffy in here? You need to air it out more often,” said Svetlana, adjusting her flawlessly […]
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You know, I always dreamed of having my own place,” I said with a slight smirk, looking at the keys he was holding. “And I’ve always had my own place,” he replied with that same smile, which now only filled me with disgust. It was already 9:30 p.m. I checked my phone again—no messages from […]
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In the train car traveling from Novy Urengoy to Moscow, the air was heavy, saturated with the smells of fried food and unventilated space. Valeriy, a man of average height with a square jaw and tired eyes covered with a murky film of sleepless nights, absently wiped the foggy window with his palm. Three months […]
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Olya, are you doing everything yourself again?” Elena Anatolievna’s voice came with strained care, although in her eyes, as always, there was discontent. “Why didn’t you call me? I would have helped.” “Almost everything is ready,” Olga glanced at the stack of plates that only needed to be set. “The potatoes are boiling, the salad […]
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Katya stepped out onto the bus stop and glanced at her watch. “Horrible, how late I am,” she muttered to herself. “Just my luck…” It all started with an accident right in front of her trolleybus—because of it, they were stuck for a full thirty minutes. She looked at the road again. There was no […]
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Vera flinched at Oleg’s harsh voice. She was carefully putting away the ironed clothes in the closet, trying not to disturb her husband, who was sprawled on the couch in front of the television. “Olezhek, I’m purposely avoiding your way so as not to block the screen,” she said in an apologetic tone. Despite the […]
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