Day: July 21, 2025

A cold, piercing wind played with the hem of her light dress, as if trying to hold it back, to stop it, to bring it back. She stood by the gate, looking around as if expecting someone to call out to her, to stop her, to say: “Don’t go.” But around her there was only […]

“Your money should be useful! Pay for my grandchildren’s education!” — the mother-in-law decided that I would support her elder son’s children. Evgenia stood frozen by the mirror in the hallway. She adjusted the collar of her blouse. Tensed her shoulders. Family dinners at her mother-in-law’s were hard for her. Every time the same thing […]

The gray sky had been pressing down on the city for the third week already. Elizaveta Andreevna stood by the window, watching as ragged clouds clung to the roofs of the high-rises. In the courtyard, among puddles, children were playing, oblivious to the damp chill. Their ringing voices reached the seventh floor in muted echoes. […]

Taya came to her sister not without a reason — she needed to look after Vladik, a smart and lively second-grader, while Albina went to an important corporate event. The very thought of spending the evening alone with a child felt unfamiliar to Taya, but she couldn’t refuse. Her sister’s boss, a strict and uncompromising […]