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Polina woke up ten minutes before the alarm. As always on this day. Sleep slipped away quietly, without any scene—like someone who knows they weren’t especially awaited here. Not anxiety, not joy, just that feeling—as if somewhere inside you’ve been keeping a calendar for a long time. Where, drop by drop, tiredness and resentment and […]

— “…so tomorrow we’re going to buy the tickets! Can you imagine, Mom? Finally! Direct flights, all the way to the ocean,” Vika’s voice rang with unfeigned happiness. She set a box of pastries from her mother’s favorite confectionery on the table—a small ritual offering meant to soften the news and share the joy. Andrei, […]

— “The soup turned out very light, of course…” Irina Pavlovna’s voice was even, almost gentle, but the spoon with which she stirred the golden liquid in her son’s bowl moved with surgical precision, as if searching the broth for evidence of criminal negligence. “Valerochka could use something richer right now, with some bone. For […]

— Roma, it’s me. Can you come over right now? I urgently need some jars. Zhanna Arkadyevna’s voice on the phone had no trace of a question. It allowed for no refusal, admitted no objections. It was that same insinuating yet steely tone Roman had learned to hate since his teenage years. He closed his […]

Sometimes, behind quiet family dinners, devious plans take shape. But even the most carefully calculated schemes have one unforeseen variable—your intuition. An Unpleasant Conversation Through the Wall The smell of roasted duck still hung in the air, a reminder of the recent feast. Zhenya slipped off her shoes and walked barefoot over the cool laminate, […]

I forgot my husband’s milestone birthday. Completely, absolutely, irrevocably wiped the date from my mind. The blame lay with a mad, knock-you-off-your-feet work rhythm: an Indian delegation, crucial negotiations, endless interpreting from English into Russian and back again, twelve, sometimes fourteen hours a day. When you work as a high-level simultaneous interpreter, your brain slowly […]

I got a ticket to the seaside for my birthday. “Surprise!” my sister smiled. I froze from the shock and gratitude. But then she added, “You don’t mind if I send the kids with you, do you? They love swimming.” That’s how I found out my vacation would be… a children’s one. Nadya handed me […]

They were sitting at my table. In my house. Though I had never truly felt it was mine. Not until this evening. My sister-in-law Sveta, adjusting her heavy gold earrings, surveyed the dining room with the air of an appraiser, as if gauging how much the oak wall panels might fetch. Her husband Vadim, the […]

Ira noticed that Andrei’s phone had flashed for the third time in the last half hour. He didn’t even glance at the screen, mechanically chewing his mashed potatoes. She knew who was calling. Knew it with the same certainty you predict rain from the heavy clouds outside the window. “It’s Lyudmila,” she said, not asking. […]

Olga left the office for the last time, holding a small box with her personal belongings. The October wind tugged at her hair, and her heart felt astonishingly light. No regrets, no doubts. Only relief. Seven years of work at that company were behind her. Seven years during which every paycheck disappeared to the usual […]