Day: September 1, 2025

Anna Sergeyevna always came to work fifteen minutes early. Not out of zeal or a desire to impress—just because it felt right. While other employees were hastily finishing their coffee in the hallway, she was already sorting the mail, preparing documents for signature, and checking the director’s meeting schedule. Her workstation—a small desk outside the […]

The shadow of the tall poplar outside had already fallen across half the yard when the worst thing in all sixteen years of the Beketovs’ life together began. The air in the living room—thick with cigarette smoke and mute tension—felt like you could slice it with a knife. Artyom Viktorovich, a man with hands etched […]

“Don’t touch me! Let me go! Don’t!” That desperate cry rang out over the river’s smooth surface and died away—heard by almost no one, understood by no one—swallowed up by heat thick as honey. The languid, exhausting swelter pressed the grasses to the ground, silenced the birds, and muffled sound itself, as if brushing aside […]

Natalia woke to the insistent ringing of the phone. The clock read just before eight on an August Monday. Vitaly beside her grumbled and pulled the pillow over his head. “Hello?” Natalia’s voice was hoarse with sleep. “Natalya dear, it’s Valentina Ivanovna, your mother’s neighbor,” came the anxious voice of an elderly woman. “Sweetheart, be […]