Category: ДЕТИ

“Kira, can you imagine what joy! Marinka, her husband, and the kids are coming to stay with us for two weeks! They’ll be here in three days already!” Kira froze with a damp cloth in her hand, the one she’d just used to wipe an already spotless countertop. She slowly turned to her husband. Stanislav […]

— “Dim… Dima, please… go to the pharmacy.” The voice was strange, dry and brittle, like last year’s leaves. Alina barely recognized it. It scraped her parched throat, and each word thudded through her head like a dull, red-hot blow. She lay there, pressed into a sweat-soaked pillow, staring at the ceiling that seemed to […]

“So? Where are you? Did you pick it up?” Kira’s voice was tense, stripped of its usual gentle notes. She sat in the kitchen, her head propped on her hand, staring at the dark screen of her old backup netbook. It could barely manage to open email, let alone the heavy graphics editors where all […]

Victoria woke up early, before dawn. Outside, the autumn wind was rustling, chasing yellow leaves around the yard. The rain had stopped only by night, and now puddles made the asphalt gleam. Victoria got out of bed, threw on a robe, and went to the kitchen. Her mother-in-law was coming today, which meant everything had […]

Everything started with little things. So subtle, almost “family-like.” “Lena, sunshine, could you help me?” — Galina Petrovna always called at the most inconvenient moment, as if she could sense when I had just sat down after work. “My utility bill came, and my pension won’t stretch to the end of the month. You know […]

Zinaida slowly set her fork down on the plate. Sunday lunch at Roman Petrovich’s house followed the usual script—her father-in-law presided at the head of the table, handing out orders and remarks to everyone present. Most of it landed on her, the daughter-in-law he openly despised. “Salted the soup again,” Roman Petrovich pushed the bowl […]

The smell of cheap cigarettes mixed with the acrid scent of smoked sausage hung in the air of the rented apartment like the ghost of a life that never happened. That smell was Artyom’s voice, and it grated on the ear, leaving a bitter aftertaste. “Are you out of your mind, Sofia? What child support […]

The evening air over the industrial district was thick and heavy, saturated with the acrid fumes of fuel oil and the damp dust from asphalt being torn up nearby. Anna walked out through the factory gate, merging with a stream of equally tired women. Their shoulders were bent under the weight not only of the […]