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It all began on the day the air turned thick and heavy, foretelling a storm. Into the stifling quiet of her little apartment, which smelled of tea and old paper, there burst an insistent knock at the door. On the threshold stood the postwoman, Klavdiya Ivanovna, and in her hands was not an ordinary envelope […]

The stifling city air felt especially suffocating to Alice the day the letter arrived. The envelope was yellowed with age and smelled of the sea, of salt, and of something elusively familiar—the scent of childhood. With trembling fingers she opened it and read the lines written in a neat, old-fashioned hand. Grandma Sofia was leaving […]

Anna wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, trying not to smear the kitchen towel with tomato sauce. Valentina Petrovna’s apartment was steeped in the aromas of garlic, basil, and stewed meat. Three pots bubbled on the stove at once: spaghetti boiled in one, minced meat with vegetables simmered for […]

Katya had always known that beauty was her main trump card. Her mother had been saying it ever since her daughter learned to walk in high heels without tripping over her own feet. “Katenka, you need to make a good match. You’ve got everything for it—looks and charm.” Then she would turn to her elder […]

Graduation night was supposed to be a shining bridge between childhood and adult life, but for Alisa it turned out to be just another door slammed in her face. The air in the apartment was thick and stale, smelling of old cabbage and dashed hopes. “Go to the dance? Buy a dress?” Her mother, Vera […]

The first sound forced its way through the thickness of a heavy, dead sleep like a rusty nail through rotten wood. Faint, thin, it was barely distinguishable from the creak of floorboards or the wind moaning in the stove pipe. But a mother’s heart—that tireless, eternal watchman—answered it instantly, clenching tight in her chest. Arina […]

Larisa stood by the kitchen window, watching the neighbor load a stroller into the trunk of her car. Forty-one years old, and still dependent on public transport and the rare chance to use her husband’s car. Design projects were scattered all over the city, clients wanted meetings at inconvenient times, and there she was, suffering […]

Yana ran her finger over her smartphone screen, scrolling through photos of resort hotels. Sea breeze, white-sand beaches, cocktails by the pool—that was what she dreamed of after a hard year in the office. Accounting reports and tax returns had long turned life into a gray routine, and only thoughts of vacation helped her hold […]

Artyom found out about the layoff on a Friday, right before the weekend. The boss called him into his office, explained about “staff optimization” and a crisis in the industry, handed him a notice and severance pay. The thirty-year-old software engineer went home with a heavy feeling in his chest, but tried to stay optimistic. […]

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 […]