Chapter 1. A Monologue of the Sky The sky over the city darkened in a matter of moments, as if someone above had decided to draw heavy, leaden curtains across the last rays of the departing day. The air, only recently filled with the scents of asphalt and a distant blooming park, grew thick and […]
Продолжение...
Anton Petrovich sat in his spacious office furnished with expensive pieces, rereading for the umpteenth time the stack of papers lying on his desk. They were résumés. More résumés. It felt like the process would never end. Thirty-five years old, a stable, thriving business, three major electronics stores in different parts of the city. And […]
Продолжение...
In the house that once smelled of apple pie and laughter, there now hung a strange, sticky air of things left unsaid. Artyom increasingly noticed the way his mother Anna’s gaze slid over his father Dmitry’s figure with a detached, almost outsider’s interest. And Dmitry, in turn, seemed to be seeking refuge— in the garage, […]
Продолжение...
Marina froze in front of the large hallway mirror, slowly turning to assess her look from every angle. The dress she had chosen after long deliberation fell softly along her figure, shimmering in a deep emerald hue. At her throat sparkled a modest yet elegant necklace—a gift from her husband on their last anniversary. Forty […]
Продолжение...
Kolya Vorontsov had been used since childhood to having his merits recognized without question. His mother idolized him, teachers admired him, girls swooned. And how could it be otherwise? Tall, well-built, with a perpetual half-smile on his lips and a sly squint in his gray eyes. At university they called him “the lucky one”—he always […]
Продолжение...
Elena slowly leafed through the photographs in the worn leather album she had carefully kept all these years. Her fingers trembled as they touched each picture, lingering on the ones where Olga—her adopted daughter—smiled sincerely at school parties, prom night, the first day of university, birthdays. Twenty years of motherhood had flown by in a […]
Продолжение...
Polina woke up ten minutes before the alarm. As always on this day. Sleep slipped away quietly, without any scene—like someone who knows they weren’t especially awaited here. Not anxiety, not joy, just that feeling—as if somewhere inside you’ve been keeping a calendar for a long time. Where, drop by drop, tiredness and resentment and […]
Продолжение...
— “…so tomorrow we’re going to buy the tickets! Can you imagine, Mom? Finally! Direct flights, all the way to the ocean,” Vika’s voice rang with unfeigned happiness. She set a box of pastries from her mother’s favorite confectionery on the table—a small ritual offering meant to soften the news and share the joy. Andrei, […]
Продолжение...
— “The soup turned out very light, of course…” Irina Pavlovna’s voice was even, almost gentle, but the spoon with which she stirred the golden liquid in her son’s bowl moved with surgical precision, as if searching the broth for evidence of criminal negligence. “Valerochka could use something richer right now, with some bone. For […]
Продолжение...
— Roma, it’s me. Can you come over right now? I urgently need some jars. Zhanna Arkadyevna’s voice on the phone had no trace of a question. It allowed for no refusal, admitted no objections. It was that same insinuating yet steely tone Roman had learned to hate since his teenage years. He closed his […]
Продолжение...