Marina was coming home, exhausted. It was an ordinary autumn evening—weekday, damp. In her bags: bread, milk, a pack of buckwheat, apples. In the stairwell, as always, it smelled of mildew and boiled cabbage, and the bulb above the second floor flickered in its nervous rhythm, like an alarm signal. Climbing to the third floor, […]
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An August evening wrapped the veranda in a warm haze. Nadya gave the table one last glance: the candles in their holders were still unlit, a bottle of Denis’s favorite wine sat beaded with condensation in an ice bucket, and on the platter lay his favorite snacks. A vase held fresh peonies, cut that morning […]
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Elena slowly wiped the fogged-up mirror in the bathroom and froze, staring intently at her reflection. Her once-soft facial features now seemed sharp and angular, her cheeks noticeably hollowed, and her eyes had lost their former sparkle, becoming dull and lifeless. The illness was mercilessly altering her appearance, as if erasing all traces of her […]
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Yulia looked up from her laptop screen when her phone vibrated. Kirill usually didn’t call from work. — “Yul, I have news,” her husband’s voice sounded tense. “Not very good ones.” — “What happened?” Yulia pushed the reports aside. — “Mom called an hour ago in a panic,” Kirill sighed heavily. “Her landlord decided to […]
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“I called you. Ten times. Mom’s waiting. We agreed you’d help her with the ceiling today.” Marina didn’t flinch. She slowly raised her head from her book, and in her eyes there was neither surprise nor guilt. Only calm, almost detached curiosity, as if the man standing in front of her wasn’t her husband but […]
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— Maxim, Dad called today. Kristina said this just as he was lounging back into the soft cushions of their new sofa, scrolling through his phone with a satisfied expression. The warm evening glow from the floor lamp fell across his face, highlighting the smug, well-fed smile of a man who believed he had made […]
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“Olga, my dear, sit down! I’ve got news for you—a total bombshell!” Stanislav burst into the apartment not like a person but like a force of nature—a gust of warm, noisy wind that smelled of exhaust fumes, success, and expensive cologne. He didn’t take off his coat; he flung it over the back of a […]
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— Yes, Mom, don’t worry… I’ll take care of it right after the wedding… I’ll say it’s for the mortgage, or think up something else… Yeah, we’ll put it in your name, that’ll be safer; she won’t be a stranger anymore. Yana froze in the entryway, barely managing to pull the front door shut behind […]
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The dinner plate flew into the trash can. The sharp clink of porcelain against plastic made me flinch. “Even the dog won’t eat your cutlets,” my husband laughed, pointing at the dog, who had deliberately turned away from the piece offered to him. Dmitry wiped his hands on the expensive kitchen towel I had bought […]
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At exactly 11:00, all the relatives were seated at the table of the frail, 90-year-old grandmother, who could barely take care of herself. She didn’t even quite realize what day it was or why she had been seated at the table with a shot of wine poured for her. All she really wanted was to […]
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