Alena loved the quiet of morning. The kind when the kettle only just begins to tremble on the flame, the coffee smells so good it feels like you’re breathing in flavor, and the sun lies softly across the old tiles, lighting up every scratch like a biography of the kitchen. In those moments she felt […]
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“I asked you,” he began irritably, following his wife into the kitchen. “To set a proper festive table. And what’s this? You had the time. Mom isn’t pleased.” “Your mom is never pleased. It’s impossible to satisfy her,” Milana replied calmly. It was Sunday. As usual, Kirill and his wife, Milana, were visiting his parents. […]
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“The wallpaper here is newer,” I said, running my fingers over the wall behind the bulky bookshelf. Dust had settled deep into my skin. Oleg waved wearily without turning around. “Anya, what does it matter? Let’s just sort through her books and go home. I feel like this house has absorbed the smell of medicine […]
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“Oleg, the payment is due tomorrow,” Vera’s voice was even, stripped of emotion — just a statement of fact, like reminding someone it would rain in the morning. She laid a neat stack of bills on the kitchen table. They landed next to his elbow like a silent reproach to his complete inaction. He sat […]
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The scrape of the lock made me freeze, a damp rag still in my hand. I’d been scrubbing a sticky jam stain off the parquet floor—jam brought by Irina Borisovna—and that sound was all too familiar to me. Pasha was still asleep. Sunday, half past eight in the morning. The door opened, and there stood […]
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“What did you just say?” Tatiana couldn’t believe her mother-in-law would even think of something like that. “What you heard! I don’t understand—what kind of reaction is this? I’m his mother, and Anton can sometimes fulfill my wishes too, not just yours. Isn’t that right? Or are you against it?” “I don’t even want to […]
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The autumn rain had been pouring for three days, turning the village road into a churned-up slurry of clay and fallen leaves. Anna was on her way back from the post office, wrapped in an old coat. In her bag lay a single letter from her sister in the city and a loaf of still-warm […]
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“Girl!” the midwife announced, lifting the newborn so Lusya could see her. “A beauty! Takes after her mother!” But Lusya, exhausted from labor, didn’t have time to really look at her daughter—an instant later the baby was handed off to another staffer. They examined the little one, carefully swaddled her, and carried her away. “He […]
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The white dress flowed over Maria’s figure in waves of expensive silk. She stood in front of the mirror, unable to believe her happiness. Today she was marrying Ivan. The very same Vanya who, three years ago, had literally saved her from loneliness. “Mashenka, are you ready?” her mother peeked into the room, her eyes […]
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Olga pressed “end call” and stared blankly at her phone. The same thing again. Third day in a row. “Hi, Mom! We’re at Grandma Galya’s! It’s so cool here! She made pies! When are you coming?” In the background, her mother-in-law’s voice always chimed in: “Alisochka, tell Mommy that we love you! That we’re taking […]
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