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“Anna Mikhailovna, your father… he this morning…” Lyudmila Ivanovna’s voice trembled. I gripped the phone so tightly that my knuckles turned white. “What’s wrong with him?” I asked, surprised at how unfamiliar my own voice sounded. “His heart gave out. Mikhail Petrovich passed away in his sleep.” Fifteen years. Fifteen years had passed since I […]

A morning mist slowly spread over the village, hiding the tops of the birch trees as if someone had gently covered them with an airy veil. Dew sparkled on the grass like scattered diamonds, and the air was cool, moist, and filled with the scents of autumn. A light breeze barely stirred the yellowing leaves, […]

Arina, bake a cabbage pie for dinner tomorrow,” Lyudmila Vasilievna declared, entering the kitchen and sitting down at the table. “I haven’t had a proper pastry in a long time; you’re always cooking some strange dishes.” Arina turned away from the stove where she was frying cutlets for dinner. Her mother-in-law sat with her usual […]

Elena woke up first, as usual. Maxim was sleeping beside her, arms spread out over the blanket. The sun was breaking through the thick curtains, lighting up the familiar outlines of the bedroom. Three years ago, she had brought her husband into her home. Now, sometimes it seemed that it was Elena who was living […]

That day was motionless, like a sunset flooded with lead. The air wasn’t just still — it seemed to press down to the ground, thick, dense, heavy like molten iron. Everything around froze under an invisible dome of heat. Not a single leaf stirred on the trees, not a single bird pierced the air with […]

The city below roared like the ocean — muffled, indistinct, far away somewhere. But here, on the bridge, there was an icy silence broken only by the splash of water against the concrete pillars of the dam. Anna gripped the cold railing tightly and looked down. The dark, almost black water called to her, as […]

I was born in the middle of winter — at the very end of February, when the cold still holds the earth, and hope for spring seems elusive. In a small town where summer seemed never to come. There, snow would settle as a dense blanket already in December and linger until April. The entrances […]

The phone ringing in the apartment caught Elliott Row by the stove. An omelet was frying in the pan, filling the kitchen with the aroma of garlic and melted butter. He wiped his hands on a towel and cast an irritated glance at the screen — the number was unknown. “Hello?” he answered shortly, continuing […]

“I have to help you because I’m your sister!” Alla stated firmly. “You know perfectly well what situation I’m in right now. I left mom’s three-room apartment to my daughter — she’s about to have a baby, they need their own space. Zhora’s health is bad, he can’t live in unsuitable conditions. And you? What […]

Svetlana woke up before the alarm clock — as always. The room was filled with a soft twilight: that very ghostly light that appears before dawn, when night is no longer the ruler, but day has not yet taken its rights. Outside, there was deep silence, so dense it seemed as if time had frozen. […]