Take these leftovers for your mummy!” my father-in-law and mother-in-law sneered. They had no idea that the most important “gift” was still ahead—and that I was the one preparing it.

I was standing by the table, cluttered with the remains of festive dishes, and I could feel goosebumps running down my back from all the shared merriment in which there was no place for me. My fingers were unconsciously playing with crumbs on the tablecloth, and my gaze was fixed on Irina—my new mother-in-law. Beaming, […]

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The teacher noticed a strange smell coming from one of the schoolgirls. The truth that revealed itself afterward turned everything she thought she knew about this child’s life upside down.

The autumn light, watery and cool, poured over the empty desk by the window. Sofia Dmitrievna slowly ran her finger along the smooth surface of the class register, feeling with her fingertip the tiny scratches left by hundreds of such movements. Her gaze kept returning to one surname, to the neat lines where, instead of […]

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