Месяц: Май 2025

Grandma Lyuba struggled to lift the bucket of icy water from the pump and, heavily shifting her feet, walked along the well-trodden path to the house. The frost tickled her face, her fingers slipped uncontrollably on the rusty handle. Right at the door, she stopped to catch her breath: she placed one bucket on the […]

Konstantin sat stunned, unable to grasp how he’d gotten himself into such a mess that now he couldn’t tell his head from his tail. Although, to be honest, he’d brought it on himself. He knew Rimma was married, but hadn’t given it much thought — he didn’t care. More than that, it was convenient: fewer […]

The phone rang just at the moment Ella was taking off her noise-cancelling headphones — sharp, piercing, as if someone suddenly threw open a window in a quiet room. “Hi, Ellochka,” Vera’s voice sounded too cheerful, with that very intonation behind which unpleasant words usually hide. “Listen, my mom and I were thinking… You know, […]

Marina woke up to noise from above — someone was moving furniture too vigorously. A dog started barking again behind the wall, and the March wind began to tap on the window as if on purpose. She lay there for a long time, hoping this day wouldn’t start. The hallway was cool. She threw on […]

A seven-year-old orphan boy lay in the hospital room, as if already cut off from life. He was a lonely child — without parents, without love, without a chance, or so it seemed to everyone around. Only the doctors, the ticking clock, cold walls, and the hum of medical machines. They were about to disconnect […]

Let’s stop by the church,» suggested Polina. Vadim looked at his wife and smiled. They had been married for nine years, and throughout this time, they had been trying to have a child. They visited doctors and underwent examinations everywhere they could. They did everything they could, took every possible test, but nothing helped. Polina […]

Tamara Ivanovna walked slowly along the shelves of the huge supermarket, examining the brightly packaged products. She came here every day, like going to work. She didn’t need many groceries to feed a large family — she didn’t have one. So, every evening, the elderly woman would escape her loneliness into the brightly lit shopping […]

Please, daughter, pity me,» I begged. «I haven’t eaten bread for three days, and I have no money left.» Tears were running down my cheeks, covered with fine wrinkles. In my hands, I only held a bag with empty bottles. «But how can this be?» they answered. «This is a bread stand. We don’t take […]