Arina was always quiet. But not because she was afraid to speak or felt lonely. Her silence was deliberate, like breathing, like a pause before a word truly worth saying. In her family, speech was valued not for quantity but for weight. Every word had to carry meaning. And if it could be replaced by […]
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A draft cut straight through as Irina walked through the empty waiting hall of a provincial train station. She wrapped her four-year-old daughter more tightly in a scarf. Katya, pressed against her mother, curled up on the hard bench, her breath settling in the cold air as tiny clouds of vapor. Outside the dusty windows, […]
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Marina and Irina looked so much alike that they seemed like two drops of water. Even their mother, Olga Viktorovna, joked that she would soon start tying colorful ribbons to their wrists—so she wouldn’t mix up who to give extra food to and who to punish for a broken cup. But the girls just laughed […]
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That evening I stayed in the kitchen longer than usual. Sergey was already asleep, but I couldn’t tear myself away from my phone — scrolling through the statement from our joint card. Something was wrong. “Seventy thousand… Another fifty… And here,” I muttered under my breath, taking a sip of cold tea. “What does this […]
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Svetlana Petrovna stood in the doorway of the room, barely opening the door — so as not to disturb, but also not to miss an important moment. She looked at her son with the same gaze that mixed motherly pride, tenderness, and something almost sacred. Sashka stood before the mirror in a light suit with […]
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“Listen, son-in-law, no beating around the bush,” said my father-in-law, placing a thick stack of bills on the table. He looked me straight in the eye, as if appraising not a person, but a product. “Here is one million rubles. Divorce Alena and disappear from our lives. Forever.” I silently looked back and forth between […]
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An elegant woman in an expensive coat, with a heavy gaze and restrained posture, entered the old building of the city hospital. The air was thick with the smell of medicines, and the walls seemed to hold stories of pain and loss. She slightly wrinkled her nose — not from the smell, but rather from […]
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This year, summer came suddenly. Lyudmila was driving to the dacha in the mood to start the new season, looking forward to digging in the garden beds, planting her favorite flowers, and making fresh vegetable salads for her husband, Andrey. Barely opening the gate, she heard the familiar voice of the neighbor: “Lyuda! Lyuda! You’re […]
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Yulia worked at a sanatorium, which she had to reach by taking the commuter train. The journey was exhausting, but the pay was decent, and the schedule was convenient — she could manage it alongside daycare. During the warm season, it was okay, but in winter it was scary to run to the station: it […]
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— Tanya? Zhanna did not expect to see her ex-husband’s sister at the doorstep. The girl was completely soaked, water streaming down from her long hair. — On the way here, a downpour started. My things got wet, I need to wring them out… Can I come in? — Well… come in. Zhanna understood that […]
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